I recently read Ungifted by Gordon Korman with my gifted and talented 3rd – 5th graders. This book provides many discussion opportunities with gifted and talented students.
When I was reading the book the first time, after about four chapters in, I could already see some characteristics of my current and past gifted and talented students. An interesting journal entry would be to have students write which character they identify with most and why. It would be interesting to see their thoughts compared to your own thoughts regarding which characters you see your students in.
There are a few characters in the story who are twice-exceptional. It would be a great way to talk about being gifted and having a disability, especially since some of your students can probably relate.
Ungifted presents a lot of gifted stereotypes. You could have a great discussion about students’ thoughts and feelings about those stereotypes. You could then extend this to stereotypes for other people (girls/boys, different cultures, etc.).
Here are some other discussion topics, activities, and questions you can complete with your class using Ungifted:
- Have students do a character analysis using the iceberg analogy. They can then complete one for themselves to do a deep analysis of who they are and understand themselves more.
- “‘You’ve been blessed with an incredible gift, and you’re wasting it!’ Oz was constantly telling me. “You should be getting a hundred percent on everything!'” (page 101)
- Ask students how they feel about what Dr. Oz told Noah. Should students get 100% on everything because they are gifted?
- Have a discussion about the pressure of being gifted.
- Chloe keeps saying she wants someone “normal” at the Academy (pages 31 to 45). What is “normal”?
- When Donovan first gets to the Academy, he tries to cheat. Have a conversation on why cheating isn’t okay and what to do if you don’t understand something.
- The Academy is a school for all gifted students. Have students discuss one of the following questions, depending on if they currently attend a school like the Academy.
- What would be the pros and cons of attending a school just for gifted students? Would you like to attend one? Why or why not?
- What would be the pros and cons of attending a regular school that is not just for gifted and talented students? Would you like to attend one? Why or why not?
- “<<Hypothesis: Being gifted doesn’t automatically make people social outcasts.>>” (page 122) ~ Discuss how some people who are gifted tend to not have the social skills that other people do, but not all gifted people are like that.
- When taking the test to see if he belongs in the Academy, someone hacks into Donovan’s computer and takes the test for him. Donovan clearly knew this happened, however, he did not know who it was or that they were going to do it in the first place (pages 172-174). Have a discussion about cheating on the gifted tests and if Donovan should have reported it right away.
- “…gifted programs are an essential resource for a school district” (page 197). Have a discussion about why this is true and what would happen if gifted programs were not around.
- Have a discussion about being gifted and unmotivated (page 196).
- “For the first time since I’d landed at the Academy, I truly belonged” (page 205).
- What does it mean to belong?
- How can we make others feel like they belong?
“Challenge isn’t going to come from any curriculum, no matter how hard they make it. It’s going to come from life” (page 273).
You could also have a discussion of the above quote about how life can be challenging and ways to cope with it to make it a good challenge.