Using the Arts to Differentiate Curriculum for the Gifted

Abstract

This article describes how the arts may be used as interdisciplinary tools to enhance and deepen the learning experience for students. They may be (a) direct adaptations of the core curriculum, (b) added emphases in instructional approaches, and/or (c) an integration of artistic media into interdisciplinary concept learning. An organizer provides teachers with a way to integrate arts into an existing lesson, higher order questions to guide learners in understanding the artifact selected for consideration, and a reproducible rubric to assess a student’s developing sensitivity to the role of aesthetic experience in learning at a deeper and broader level.