Addressing the Needs of Gifted Students through Responsive Teaching 

Presenter: Kandice McLurkinCoordinator; Academic English Mastery ProgramLAUSD

Introduction by: John Charles PeroCoordinator; Psychological ServicesLAUSD

What is Responsive Teaching?

“The use of cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethnically diverse students to make learning encounters more relevant to, and effective for, them. The pedagogy teaches to and through the strengths of these students.”

Dr. Geneva Gay

Why is Responsive Teaching Necessary?• Obviously, students present with vast amounts of Diversity

(more to come)• Individual student diversity plays a significant role in their

response to instruction• Effective teaching (all students learning to their full potential)

must consider individual student characteristics

Types of student Diversity• Language• Academic skills• Cognitive skills• Gifted Special Needs• Learning Styles • Motivation• Cultural views• There are others

The Key to Effective Teaching with Diverse Populations…

…An In-depth look at Responsive Teaching

Line Up Activity

Decide where you place in a line up from novice to expert

Instructional Strategy:Line Up Activity

Cooking

Dancing

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MeaningMaking

Effective Expression

Language Developmen

t

Content Knowledge

Foundational Skills

Conduct a Close Reading of excerpts of Chapter 2 of ELA / ELD Framework

Motivating and Engaging Learners pgs. 19 – 21

Focus Question: Why must educators keep issues of motivation and engagement at the forefront of their work to assist students in achieving the CA CCSS for

ELA/Literacy and CA ELD Standards?

Respecting Learners pgs. 21 – 24

Focus: Cite evidence from text that can be used to support why using one of the 5 Instructional

Areas of CLR is vital for culturally and linguistically diverse students to have equitable

access to the CCSS ELA/Literacy and ELD Standards.

Text Coding Symbols

Five CLR Pedagogical AreasWhen looking at instruction from the what and the how perspective there are five general areas that we have identified where CLR can have immediate impact by increasing student motivation and engagement.

CLRExpanding Academic Vocabulary

(Responsive Vocabulary)

Increasing Student Engagement and

Decreasing Classroom Management Challenges

(Responsive Management)

Using all types of Texts Culturally and Linguistically

(Responsive Literacy) Infusing Situational Appropriateness with

Language and Behavior

(Responsive Language)

Creating an Inviting Learning Environment for Student Success

(Responsive Environment)

Learning Behaviors Spectrum

TRADITIONAL SCHOOL NORMS FOR BEHAVIOR

*teacher-centered approach

*standardized/rule-driven

*quiet

*stationary/low movement

*time specific

*competitive

*deductive

*turn-taking

*mainly verbal communication

*teacher-centered and led

*field independent

*intrapersonal

CULTURAL BEHAVIORS SPECIFIC TO UNDER-SERVED YOUTH

*student-centered approach*preference for variation/spontaneity*sociocentric*high movement*cooperative*inductive*overlap*many ways to communicate*purpose-driven*affective*field-dependent*interpersonal

Cultural Learning Behaviors Strategies

Sociocentric/Interpersonal Protocols for Discussion, morning song (while they socialize and prepare for the day), non-volunteer Participation Protocols (equity and inclusiveness)

High movement Give One/ Get One, Tea Party, Silent Appointment, Musical Shares, Inner Outer Circle, Corners, Circle the Sage

Cooperative/Interdependent Numbered Heads Together, Put Your Two Cents In, Three Step Interview, Jigsaw, Team-Pair-Solo, Partners, Send-a-Problem, Roundtable, Round Robin Brainstorming, Whip Around, Train, Give a Shout Out, Call and Response, non-volunteer Participation Protocols (equity and inclusiveness)

Highlighting/Performance Corners, Roll ‘Em, Train, Pick-a-Stick, Circle the Sage, Numbered Heads Together, Whip Around, role plays, poetry slam, speeches

Musical/Auditory Call and Response, Musical Shares, Give a Shout Out, chants, rhymesOverlap Give a Shout Out, Numbered Heads Together, Corners, Tea Party (some

greetings)

Purpose-driven Participation Protocols, visual organizers depicting unit activities, Thinking Maps, explicit direct instruction, Morning Report/Daily Agenda, real-world connections and applications

Inductive Visual organizers, Thinking Maps, frontloadingField dependent Visual organizers, Thinking Maps, frontloading, accessing prior knowledge,

personal connections, culturally and linguistically responsive literature/text/content, Personal Thesaurus, Personal Dictionary, thematic instruction

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Create Instructional Range

Collaborative Learning Across the Curriculum is a Required Skill!

Common Core State Standards recognize that students need to develop skills to collaborate in

academic work – skills for teamwork, active and skillful participation in

discussions, and inquiry-based collaboration.

Culturally Responsive Discussion Protocols

• Build upon the strengths of the sociocentric, cooperative/collaborative, interpersonal learners

• Opportunities for movement• Explicit teaching of ways to interact

in a variety of forums for a variety of purposes, i.e. situational appropriateness

• Structured and consistent effective and engaging classroom management

• Student centered• Some designed for quick discussion

and others are designed for project-based interdependence/collaboration

Culturally Responsive Participation Protocols

• Used to explicitly communicate to students how the facilitator or teacher wants the students to respond during whole group instruction. Non-voluntary forms of responding are important because they promote equity and accountability for learning.

• Decreases cultural misunderstandings and validates a variety of cultural behaviors and practices

• Communicates high expectations for participation and accountability

• Opportunities to practice situational appropriateness

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.L.4Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.L.5Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.L.6Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when encountering an unknown term important to comprehension or expression.

College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Language

New Ways of Talking About LanguageLanguage Diversity Language Deficit

Show What You Know

Four Areas for Infusing CLR Pedagogy• Responsive Classroom

Management• Use of attention signals strategically:• Use of movement activities

strategically: • Collaborative opportunities (extended

beyond protocols)

• Responsive Academic Vocabulary

• Evidence of leveling vocabulary words (tier 2 and tier 3)

• Evidence of reinforcement/practice activities

• Use of vocabulary acquisition strategies (word structure, apposition, context clues, synonym replacement)

• Responsive Academic Literacy• Use of CR text and media• Connected to the standards and unit

theme• Use of engaging read-alouds• Use of effective literacy strategies

• Responsive Academic Language• Code-switching opportunities• Sentence lifting/Retellings/Role

playing/Teachable moments• Revising (phonetics, markers, syntax, and

vocabulary

Seven Steps to Becoming Culturally and Linguistically Responsive

1. Identify your underserved or bad customer service.

2. Turn on your deficit monitor to identify where your biases may be.

3. Distinguish between race and culture. 4. Develop an understanding of the “rings of

culture” and the complexity of culture for the purposes of instruction.

5. Become knowledgeable about non-standard language varieties, their sounds, rules, and grammars.

6. Recognize where CLR pedagogy can be infused into your teaching.

7. Provide regular and consistent opportunities for code-switching in your teaching.

Culturally Responsive Educators Must:

Change in Mindset• Acknowledge the legitimacy

of cultural and linguistic behaviors/practices and heritage

• Commit to use a wide variety of instructional strategies

• Teach students how to praise their cultural behaviors and heritages as a means to appreciating other heritages and behaviors

Change in Skill-Set• Increase CLR strategies

and activities in the five pedagogical areas

• Infuse CLR into everyday teaching, beginning with lesson planning

• Commit to going culturally responsive, responsive, and traditional as needed instructionally