Students. The strategies used in this study are relevant not only for a classroom
of gifted students but would be considered good teaching methods for any group of
students. This sample of students happens to be a gifted population because that is the
group of students that this researcher teaches and to which she had access. However, this
special group of students does share some unique characteristics and learning needs.
The 19 students who participated in this study were all fifth graders and part of a
self-contained gifted classroom. This means that they were in this class with the same
teacher and students all day, every day, for all subjects. In the majority of school districts
in Arizona, programs for the intellectual top 5% of the population, or gifted, are usually
offered on a pull-out basis or as a cluster program. In a cluster program, the gifted