1. Supporting and Guiding Precocious Readers
Shared by: Anita Parker, NBCT
3rd Grade
Old Donation Center
Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Virginia Beach, Virginia
August 21, 2010

2. What do we mean by “talented readers”?
Proficient readers who
- understand complexities of language
- automatically integrate prior knowledge and experience
- use higher order thinking skills (analysis, synthesis, evaluation)
- communicate their ideas
- have a repertoire of skills they use to create meaning as they read
- read beyond their chronological age (may have been self- taught)
- are voracious and enthusiastic
- have advanced vocabulary
- read quickly
- may relate literature to their own lives
- may look at books to solve problems

3. - above average ability - task commitment - creativity
Joseph Renzulli (University of Connecticut) named three areas of traits that are interrelated in talented students. These may be considered in identifying talented readers:
- above average ability
- task commitment
- creativity

4. Above Average Ability Task Commitment Creativity
Advanced IQ
Long attention span
Complex thoughts & ideas
High scores – LA achievement tests
Voracious reading
Good judgment & logic
Higher levels of reading than peers
Selection of high level of reading materials
Formation of relationships between concepts
Large vocabulary
Spontaneous reading to prove/disprove points
Original ideas & products
Good memory of things read
Appreciation of beauty
Strong text comprehension
Sense of humor
Early reading
Divergent thinking
High level – sensitivity, empathy
Problem-solving strategies to answer questions
Concern over moral, ethical issues; sense of justice

5. Gifted Readers Like...
A classic study by Dole and Adams surveyed gifted students to elicit their perceptions of the most important attributes of good reading materials. A summary of those findings is included here.
• Sophisticated beginning-to-read books • Nuanced language • Multidimensional characters • Visually inventive picture books • Playful thinking • Unusual connections; finding patterns and parallels within and among books • Abstractions and analogies • A blend of fantasy and non-fiction • Extraordinary quantities of information about a favorite topic • Books about gifted children

6. Things to Consider in Selecting Literature
Picture books
Award books
Different genres, series, and authors
Reading levels
Librarians, teachers, other children and parents
Web sites available (see list)

7. Encouraging Your Talented Reader
Model reading in the home
Read with your child
Use picture books
Encourage discussions
Begin a reading journal or log

8. UNLUCKY ARITHMETIC Thirteen Ways to Raise a Nonreader
BY DEAN SCHNEIDER AND ROBIN SMITH
Never read where your children can see
Don’t expect your children to enjoy
you.
reading. Kids’ books are for teaching
Put a TV or computer in every room.
vocabulary, study habits, and morals.
Don’t neglect the bedrooms and kitchen.
Buy only 40-watt bulbs for your lamps.
Correct your child every time she
Under no circumstances read your child
mispronounces a word.
the same book over and over. She
Schedule activities every day after
heard it once, she should remember it.
school so your child will never be bored.
Never allow your child to listen to books
Once your child can read independently,
on tape; that’s cheating.
throw out the picture books. They’re for
Make sure your kids only read books
babies.
that are “challenging.” Easy books are
Don’t play board games together. Too
a complete waste of time. That goes
dull.
double for comic books and Mad
Give little rewards for reading. Stickers
magazine.
and plastic toys are nice. Money is
Absolutely, positively no reading in bed.
even better.

9. WORDS OF WISDOM
"The things I want to know are in books. My best friend is the man who'll get me a book I [haven't] read." ~ Abraham Lincoln
"So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install, A lovely bookshelf on the wall." ~ Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
"Children are made readers on the laps of their parents." ~ Emilie Buchwald
"There are many little ways to enlarge your child's world. Love of books is the best of all." ~ Jacqueline Kennedy
"To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark." ~ Victor Hugo, Les Miserables
"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island." ~ Walt Disney