Titan Hill: Literacy
What are the characteristics of gifted readers?
According to Winebrenner (2012), you can identify gifted readers by looking for students who:
Comprehend reading materials that are two or more years above grade level.
Understand abstract ideas quickly and easily; have very little to learn from being required to participate in grade-level reading instruction.
Know, understand, appreciate, and use advanced vocabulary.
Love to read and do so with great concentration and enthusiasm.
Make connections between various reading selections and between what they are reading and other content areas.
Understand authors' styles and the uses of various literary elements.
Read earlier than age peers. Some are spontaneous preschool readers; some start school having already mastered basic reading skills. Most learn to read independently soon after classroom instruction begins.
Need less drill to master reading skills and techniques, because they usually learn new content after one direction instruction lesson.
Need opportunities to read at their own pace and demonstrate previous or early mastery of reading skills and vocabulary.
Interact with what they read in creative ways. Gifted students don't simply read and absorb. They also question, examine, contemplate, argue, discuss, elaborate, and come up with newideasbased on whatthey read. They speak and write using complex sentences and vocabulary that are significantly more advancedthan what is being produced by their age peers.
Have interests in reading that set them apart from other readers. Their preferences may include sicence, history, science fiction, biography, travel, poetry, and informational texts, even sometimes those written for adults.