Enhancing Enrichment

Are you a gifted and talented teacher? Whether you’re new to the position or a veteran teacher looking for new ideas, this post includes everything needed for your gifted and talented classroom.

If you’re new to the position and looking for tips to get started in your new role, check out this blog post with my top 10 tips for new gifted and talented teachers.

Please note that some of the links are Amazon affiliate links and I will earn a small percentage, at no extra cost to you, to help support the website if you purchase using the link.

Basic Supplies

While students often bring a backpack full of supplies to their regular classrooms, this is not usually true for specialist teachers. Whether you create an Amazon wishlist or are lucky enough to have a budget, it is important to include basic school supplies.

• Pencils: Ticonderoga pencils sharpen the best.

• Pencil Sharpener: This heavy duty sharpener has lasted a few years and is still in great shape.

• Erasers: I keep these in every table bin.

• Folders: Plastic folders hold up much better than paper.

• Notebooks: Wide ruled notebooks work best for elementary students.

• Clipboards: These are great if students want to work around the room.

• Crayons: The crayola class set lasts all year.

• Markers: Students seem to prefer markers for posters and projects.

• Dry Erase Markers: I like to have a variety of colors of dry erase markers.

• Dry Erase Boards and Erasers: Students use these for math warm-ups. Read more about the activities I use here.

• Tissues: This is always the item that runs out first.

Organization

While organization is important for any teacher, it really becomes more important for specialist teachers. Instead of staying in one classroom all day, you might work in multiple rooms in more than one building!

While keeping digital files on the computer is the most effective, it is also important to keep physical items organized and these items definitely help.

• Rolling Cart: I use this cart to organize math activities for early finishers.

• Book Bins: I keep one bin for each grade. I print off student papers a week ahead of time and keep them in the grade level bins.

• Table Bins: These are great for student tables. They are used to store pencils, erasers, and dry erase markers for easy access.

• Paper Rack: I keep blank paper, lined notebook paper, and graph paper available for students to use.

• Desk Organizer: This is the desk organizer I have on my desk to keep track of pens, markers, post-it notes, paper clips, and scissors.

• Board Organizer: This magnetic board organizer holds markers and erasers so they do not end up all over the board.

• Backpack: Backpacks aren’t just for kids. This has been a great backpack to transfer my laptop back and forth between schools.

• Folders: I keep a folder for each school in my backpack. If I have something that needs to go to a different place, I put it in the folder right away so I don’t forget.

• Plastic Bags: I use a variety of sizes of bags to store math manipulatives.

• Plastic Tubs: These are the plastic storage bins with lids I use for makerspace materials. Read more about makerspace supplies below.

Games

I have another post all about using games with gifted and talented students, but here are some new additions that I am adding to my school wishlist.

• Prime Climb: This is a board game that makes working with numbers exciting. Players roll dice and move their pawns around a spiral board by adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing. The spaces are color coded to show prime factors, which helps students see how numbers are built. The goal is to land both pawns exactly on the center space, 101.

• Qwirkle: This is a fun strategy game that my students often choose on choice days. You add wood tiles to a row with the same color or shape. You get extra points for completing the set.

• Catan: I just added this to my own wishlist. It was recommended to me by another gifted and talented teacher.

Are you interested in games? Find my top 10 must-have board games for math enrichment in this blog post.

Books

No classroom is complete without some good books to read aloud. Here are some of my favorites.

• The Wild Robot: I just ordered this one myself. I am planning to read it aloud to my reading enrichment class.

• The Westing Game: I use this in my literature discussion groups with 5th grade. I use it along with this reading response bookmark that you can download for free. Students love figuring out the mystery.

• The Eleventh Hour: My fourth grade reading enrichment students work in pairs to unravel this mystery. They love deciphering the clues on every page.

• Rube Goldberg’s Simple Normal Humdrum School Day: We create simple machines to trap a leprechaun in this St. Patrick’s Day project. This book is a great introduction.

• Rosie Revere Engineer: I use this book before beginning our invention unit.

• Not a Box: This is a quick read to use for creativity. It shows all of the things that a box could be changed into. Use the free drawing starts from the Free Resource Library for a quick and fun creativity challenge.

• The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes: I like to read this book at the beginning of the year to address perfectionism and growth mindset.

Resources

Most gifted and talented programs do not have a set curriculum. This flexibility is great for meeting the individual needs of students, but often leaves you wondering what to teach. Here are some resources that I have found helpful.

• Perplexors: These math puzzles are great for critical thinking.

• Word Winks: These rebus puzzles are so fun to figure out.

• Crypt-O-Words: These puzzles are great for advanced vocabulary.

• 101 Math Puzzles: These puzzles are great for math warm-ups. Read all about how I use math warm-ups here.

• Genius Hour in the Classroom: This is a great resource for students to choose a topic they are passionate about and learn more about it.

• Invention Unit: This unit has everything you need for students to create their own inventions.

• Digital Math Resources: This digital resource bundle, also available for 5th and 6th grade, allows students to design spaces on a budget.

Makerspace Materials

One thing that I include in both my classrooms is a makerspace. Makerspaces are helpful to have materials on hand for STEM projects and project based learning. While my first step is always to collect recyclable materials such as cardboard, paper towel tubes, newspaper, and plastic bottles, it is also helpful to purchase some basic supplies.

• Glue Tape: It is really helpful to have glue tape on hand for projects. I really like this tape for our 3D House Projects.

• Pipe Cleaners: This variety pack includes 200 pipe cleaners that can be used for a variety of projects.

• Craft Sticks: This is the one of the most used items in our makerspace. It is particularly helpful for building bridges.

• Balloons: This 120 piece kit is a great addition to your makerspace for a variety of STEM projects.

• Aluminum Foil: Foil is really helpful for STEM projects including this Build a Boat project.

• Circuits: This is a great kit to learn how circuits work.

• Copper Tape, Lithium Batteries and LED Lights: These are all used to make simple light up circuits.

If you are lucky enough to have a large budget or grant you may also want to consider some more expensive options.

• 3D Printer: The Creality Ender 5 has been great for easy prints in the classroom.

• Inside Garden: We have grown spinach, kale, and chard with this IDOO Hydroponics Growing System.

• Sphero Robot: This small robot can be programmed with block coding.

• Lego Robotics Kits: These robots are built out of Lego pieces. They can then be coded to move using an online app.

I hope you found a new helpful item to add to your classroom wish list. What did I leave off the list? I would love to hear your other must-haves for the gifted and talented classroom. Feel free to comment below.