Discovering and Developing Talents in Spanish-Speaking Students

¡Atención! Recognize the strengths of Spanish-speaking students!

With the growing population of Hispanic students, it′s more important than ever to persevere beyond the language barrier and nurture their gifts and talents. This book provides teachers and leaders with the skills needed to uncover each child′s abilities and ultimately boost achievement for gifted Spanish-speaking students. Packed with strategies, suggestions, and materials teachers can use immediately to enhance instruction and assessment, this book shows how to:

• Recognize students′ unique strengths
• Identify and develop the gifts of bilingualism and different cultures
• Create challenging learning experiences for every student in the class
• Adapt tools and strategies to meet each learner′s unique needs
• Connect with parents and the greater Spanish-speaking community

Included are testimonials from teachers and students; examples of communications with and from parents; selected poems from gifted students; and inspirational stories from adults who overcame language challenges to earn college degrees and achieve successful careers. Too often, Spanish-speaking students are overlooked, miscast into special education, or not recognized for their abilities. This book shows you how to uncover the creativity in each one of your students.

Joan Franklin Smutny is founder and director of the Center for Gifted, a Northern Illinois University Partner. She directs programs for thousands of bright, talented, and gifted children in the Chicago area annually. She also teaches creative writing in many of these programs as well as courses on gifted education for graduate students at the university level. She is editor of the Illinois Association for Gifted Children Journal, contributing editor of Understanding Our Gifted, and a regular contributor to the Gifted Education Communicator, Parenting for High Potential, and the Gifted Education Press Quarterly. Smutny has authored, co-authored, and edited many articles and books on gifted education for teachers, parents, and administrators, including Challenging High Potential Spanish Speaking Students (2012), Teaching Advanced Learners in the General Education Classroom (2011), Manifesto of the Gifted Girl (2010), Differentiating for the Young Child, Second Edition (2010), Igniting Creativity in Gifted Learners, K–6 (2009), Acceleration for Gifted Learners, K–5 (2007), Reclaiming the Lives of Gifted Girls and Women (2007), Designing and Developing Programs for Gifted Students (2003), Underserved Gifted Populations (2003), Gifted Education: Promising Practices (2003), Stand Up for Your Gifted Child (2001), The Young Gifted Child: Potential and Promise, an Anthology (1998), and Teaching Young Gifted Children in the Regular Classroom (1997). In 1996, she won the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) Distinguished Service Award for outstanding contribution to the field of gifted education. Kathryn P. Haydon has been an advocate for early second language learning, and has taught and developed curriculum for preschool and elementary school Spanish programs. She has also worked extensively with high-school aged Hispanic students as a college essay writing coach. The founder of Ignite Creative Learning Studio in Ojai, California, Kathryn is a nationally-known writer and speaker, and a teacher and mentor to gifted and creative students of all ages. A former second grade teacher, she is a published author on teaching, creativity, parenting, and early foreign language instruction, and her work was featured in Igniting Creativity in Gifted Learners, K-6 (Corwin, 2009). Kathryn holds a B.A. from Northwestern University in Spanish and Latin American language, literature, and culture. She serves on the Torrance Legacy Creative Writing Awards committee for the National Association for Gifted Children. Olivia Gutierrez Bolaños is the Coordinator of Curriculum and Instruction in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District where one of her responsibilities is overseeing the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) Program. She taught bilingual education for 11 years and was a principal for 12 years. Olivia comes from a family very similar to the students she has worked with. Her ability to create an atmosphere of “familia” within the school community and her knowledge of Hispanic culture has helped lead to the academic success of her students. Olivia has seen the GATE Spanish Parent group flourish in the district in just three years by making a few changes to better meet their needs. Gina M. Estrada Danley has been a teacher of gifted and talented students since 1997. She taught junior high English for 11 years and has served as district GATE resource teacher in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District for 4 years. Having had her own life powerfully impacted by participation in the Future Leaders camp at age 13, she has since been the assistant co-director for the Future Leaders annual summer retreat, dedicated to empowering young Latino/Chicano students to fulfill their leadership potential. A strong advocate for gifted education, Gina is proactive with the California Association for the Gifted (CAG). She facilitated the local regional affiliate’s Best Practices Workshop for educators and parents of gifted and talented students. She has also been a presenter at CAG’s annual conference, where she has shared best practices on reaching high-performing Hispanic students.