Workshop Descriptor:

Title: GIFTS and GIVERS, Award-Winning Literature with Classroom-Ready Curriculum for Grades 3-6.

Books: More than 23 cross-genre selections from respected literature-award lists including the Junior Library Guild, Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List^SM for 2009-2010 and Kids' Wings Award Books.

Audience: Librarians, Teachers, and Administrators Grades 3-6 (Bring a FRIEND!)

Descriptor and Focus:
Each child is born with special gifts and talents. Research classifies eight of these as multiple intelligences. Education recognizes others as character traits. Religion identifies them as gifts of the spirit. Whether you call them multiple intelligences, character traits, or gifts of the spirit, it is important that students recognize and develop their strengths. By seeing the value of their gifts and talents, they realize the values of their own lives and the importance of their determination to develop and use these gifts and talents for good.

But identifying and recognizing their gifts and talents is just the first step. When they join with others of different talents and contribute their own strengths to group processes, they can multiply the potential in their gifts.

Award-winning literature provides a myriad of scenarios filled with people who recognize their strengths, develop their talents, use their gifts, and who become the givers. Literature can become the catalyst for a student to discover that his or her gifts can change hopelessness into hope, uselessness into direction, darkness into light, takers into givers, and fear into courage. Educators become the givers when they put the right book into the hands of a child who is searching for strength in skills, focus, or character. The special talents of story characters and real people can become role models to inspire students to develop their own talents as they persue their dream. It is these gifts and talents that can be identified as foundational to success in making choices that can enrich the lives of friends, family, and community around them.

Outstanding literature with focused instructional strategies in the Gifts and Givers workshop help clarify the characteristics of gifted and talented students in your classroom. The real-life lessons cross disciplines and teach strategies for nurturing creative and critical thinking for your gifted and talented students. They increase creative problem solving and group interaction within your classroom. Literature from all genres will inspire your students to discover how characters' gifts grow and multiply as they become givers. From here, it is only a short hop to relating these techniques to their own lives.

Award-winning literature for grades 3-7 can transform your classroom into a vibrant, interactive, exciting place.

You will receive a bound professional guide filled with hundreds of pages of creative, active ideas--excellent for literary circles as well as for individual and whole class interaction and tutoring. The activities are perfect for extending and enriching your G/T curriculum as well as an excellent source of material for directing literature circles and tutoring for all students! Join us for a breath of fresh curriculum that includes laughter, songs, problem solving, character building, and new approaches to skill building!

Participants will:
...participate in extension activities for award-winning literature.
...explore ways to integrate the curriculum around literature and library resources that enable students to become enthusiastic and skillful in research, project building, and problem solving.
...understand the possibilities that literature has for weaving respect and developing character in every aspect of a child's life.
...receive Gifts and Givers, an extensive guide with hundreds of pages of activities for over 23 books. The CD inside contains the book in pdf and PowerPoint formats as well as additional activities and games. Also included is a site license to allow the material to be shared within your school.
...receive on-going website extensions and support through Kids Wings' website
...receive a 6 hour gifted-and-talented certificate

A foundation in great literature is essential in our preparation for standardized testing, and most importantly, for a LIFELONG LOVE OF LEARNING. Character lessons, academic skills, and authentic life skills are transmitted through refreshing, authentic ways as a natural part of fine literature. Hone those skills in our workshop and guide, Gifts and Givers.

Let this award-winning literature lead your students into an active, integrated curriculum that is rich in character, reading and math skills, science, social studies, research, problem solving, internet projects, and FUN...all keyed into Gardner's Multiple Intelligences and TEKS objectives with creative TAKS practice. This authentic learning will help improve your students' preparation for the future...preparation that values right over wrong from character to TAKS! Come enjoy the curriculum that transforms award winning literature into high test scores!

The units in our guides can be used for exciting parent participation in your school's tutoring program!

Workshop Schedule