Gifted and talented students may demonstrate many, but not all, of the following characteristics:
· Advanced vocabulary for chronological age
· Ability to retain a great deal of information; outstanding memory
· Longer attention span, persistence and intense concentration
· Hightly developed curiosity and a limitless supply of questions
· Great imagination, frequent daydreamer
· May be able to “track” two or more things simultaneously (example: their daydreams and your words)
· Wide range of interests
· Strongly motivated to do things that interest them, may be unwilling to work on other activities
· Prefers complex and challenging tasks to “basic” work
· Ability to learn basic skills more quickly and with less practice
· Resists challenging work for fear that the struggle will be seen by others (“If my teacher and peers see me struggle, they will conclude I’m not so smart.”)
· Procrastinates to the point that work never even gets started
· May be reluctant to move from one subject area to another
· May cry easily in frustration that their work at school can never be perfect
· May prefer the company of older students or adults
· Sensitivity, advanced sense of justice and fairness, and global awareness
· Sophisticated sense of humor; may be “class clown”
· Operates on higher levels of thinking than their age peers; is comfortable with abstract thinking
· Interest in experimenting and doing things differently
· Transfers concepts and learning to new situations
· Sees connections between apparently unconnected ideas and activities
· Brillant thinker, but absentminded about details or where their work might be found
· Catches on quickly, then resists doing work, or works in a sloppy, careless manner
· Asks for lots of help and reassurance from the teacher (“Is this all right” Is this what you want: Please repeat the directions.”)
· May prefer to work alone; resists cooperative learning
· May be “street smart” while not doing well on school tasks
· Standardized test scores may be significantly better than class performace.

Adapted from Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom by Susan Winebrenner, copyright 1992. Used with permission from Free Spirit Publishing Inc., Minneapolis, MN; (800)735-7323. ALL RIGHTS RESERVERED.

Webb, J., (19820. Guiding the Gifted Child (p.46). Used with permission from givted Psychology Press, Scottsdale, AZ.