Teaching The Gifted And Talented Oral Communication And Leadership

As part of the "Educating Gifted and Talented Students" series, the booklet offers the teacher guidelines for facilitating communication abilities in gifted children. Following an introduction, a first chapter lists characteristics of students gifted in speech communication and leadership. The essence of giftedness in speech communication and leadership is seen to be the capacity for effective flexibility. Additional characteristics of leadership and speech communication abilities are mentioned in a second chapter and three methods (including showing ambiguous pictures to students and asking them to describe what they see portrayed) for identifying leadership and communication abilities are outlined. A final chapter, which makes up the bulk of the booklet, describes strategies for teaching oral communication. A purposes section discusses the general directions or goals for communication instruction aimed at the gifted. The section on practices suggests methods for achieving those goals, methods especially applicable for gifted students. A programs section deals with integrating the suggested methods into the classroom setting. Among procedures considered are experiential learning, individualized learning, independent study projects, and internships. Appendixes include information on introspection activities, teacher/student agreement on course ground rules, a troubleshooting checklist, a leader's brief, and steps for program evaluation. (SBH)