Acknowledgements Chapter 1: Introduction: We Are Intellectual Archaeologists Chapter 2: What Are They Thinking? The Cognitive Processes of Gifted Learners Chapter 3: Money Managers: Investments, Risk, and Payoffs Chapter 4: Building a Miniature Golf Course: S.T.E.A.M. .(Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) Chapter 5: Calculating Probability: Building a Funfair Chapter 6: Small Business Administration: A Hands-On Economics Project (Coauthored by Terri Zazove) References About the Authors Common Core State Standards Alignment
Kenneth J. Smith, Ph.D., works at Sunset Ridge School District 29 in Northfield, IL, a suburb of Chicago. He currently runs the district-wide enrichment program. In 1995, Ken earned his Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from Columbia University in New York. He was an American Memories fellow for the Library of Congress, and his articles have appeared in The Middle School Journal and Gifted Child Today.
I've recently become acquainted with a Prufrock Press title for
math that feeds both my inner bibliophile and interest in
education. The 2011 math edition of Challenging Units for Gifted
Learners: Teaching the Way Gifted Students Think (Smith, Kenneth
J., Ph.D. and Susan Stonequist) is an excellent tool for
homeschoolers, after-schoolers, and classroom instructors alike.
Providing both a road map for instructors who may not be familiar
with mathematical precocity as well as engaging math units that
incorporate financial planning, the building of a miniature golf
course, and the probability of winning carnival games, Challenging
Units provides real-life challenges for math smart middle schoolers
who may not be motivated by traditional math units.,Susan
Hyde,Raising Maine, 1/21/11
Smith takes each of these complex, "ill-defined problems" and
breaks them down into well-constructed units. He introduces each
unit with a research-based "cognitive connection" and then
transitions into step-by-step, teacher-friendly lessons...I really
appreciate the creativity of the units combined with the simplicity
of the daily lessons. It's the exact formula that I feel teachers
need. Plus, these units will truly challenge my 6th graders. I'm so
used to having to increase the rigor of all my curriculum, it's
quite a great feeling to plug something right into my schedule and
not feel like I'm shortchanging my students.,Ian Byrd,Byrdseed
Gifted, 2/9/11
Having personally witnessed Dr. Smith and Mrs. Stonequist's
outstanding gifts in the implementation and teaching of many of
these units first-hand, I was excited to learn that the units were
committed to a formal writing process and published so that
students across our county might benefit from their wisdom. Drawing
upon his research work in cognitive psychology from Columbia
University in New York, Dr. Smith enlightens readers on the
different ways in which gifted learners think and process
information and how to reach gifted learners in different ways.,Dr.
Howard J. Bultinck,Northeastern Illinois University, 3/14/11
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