Creating a Lively Discourse
Central to this program is Shared Inquiry™, a method of actively interpreting a text with others in a group. During sessions, teachers serve as Shared Inquiry discussion leaders, posing thought-provoking questions and guiding students to reach their own interpretations of the text. These real-time discussions give students the opportunity to develop social and communication skills as they interact with their gifted and talented peers. Gifted and talented language arts students gain experience in:
- Presenting ideas logically and persuasively
- Supporting their opinions
- Listening actively and carefully to others
- Agreeing and disagreeing constructively
- Responding to other students’ ideas, questions, and comments
- Revising ideas and evidence based on Shared Inquiry discussion
- Writing description, narrative, expository essays, and persuasive essays
Teachers may also offer enrichment activities for gifted middle school students to express themselves creatively, to explore topics of special interests, and to integrate cross-curriculum subject matter into their language arts projects.