Brain-Based Learning With Gifted Students

Lessons From Neuroscience on Cultivating Curiosity, Metacognition, Empathy, and Brain Plasticity: Grades 3-6

Kathryn Fishman-Weaver

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000490800
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Brain-Based Learning With Gifted Students combines relevant research in neuroscience with engaging activities for gifted elementary students in grades 3-6. This book:

• Teaches how development and learning processes happen in the brain.
• Helps students and teachers explore specific brain-based concepts together.
• Includes a concise research overview on why each concept works and matters.
• Offers extension ideas to deepen the activities and strategies for applying each concept to other content areas.
• Aligns to gifted programming standards.

Through the lessons in this book, students will learn how to cultivate curiosity, neuroplasticity, metacognition, empathy, and well-being. Grounded in research on the latest findings in neuroscience, this book empowers gifted education teachers with relevant information on brain-based learning.

Grades 3-6

Introduction
Why Neuroscience?

DOI: 10.4324/9781003233367-1

In the last 25 years, researchers have made important discoveries about the brain. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (2020), “Scientists have learned more about the brain in the last 10 years than in all previous centuries because of the accelerating pace of research in neurological and behavioral science and the development of new research techniques” (para. 2). These discoveries directly matter for educators’ work in the classroom. Knowing that “learning consists of reinforcing the connections between neurons” (Willis, 2006, p. 14), it behooves teachers to explore how this research on brain-based solutions might help better address students’ complex learning needs. Neuroscientists working in the fields of learning and education explore how behaviors, thoughts, and feelings intersect with learning and how brain processes help or impede learning. Neuroscience and new work around neuroeducation have led to important advancements in understanding cognition, retention, memory, sensory processing, learning disabilities, emotional regulation, and giftedness. This information is vital for creating differentiated lessons that work in diverse classrooms. Further, learning about the brain is an empowering and relevant source of inquiry for both students and teachers.

There are many excellent resources on neuroscience, brain-based learning, and the nature and needs of gifted learners. What differentiates this book is its invitation for teachers to learn about neuroscience with their students. Actively and intentionally including students as learners in this inquiry is a guiding force of the following chapters.

As a result of recent work around growth mindset (see especially Carol Dweck’s [2006/2016] work), schools have learned more about neuroplasticity. Key takeaways include:

• ■ when it comes to learning, process matters more than product;
• ■all brains continue to develop over time, and;
• ■ educators can teach students to respond to challenges in ways that make them more able to solve complex problems both now and in the future.

Learning about mindset was transformative to classroom practices. As a school administrator and teacher, I have been struck by the power of teaching young people about neuroplasticity. When children learn that they can become more adept at working through challenges, they become more open to challenge and more confident in their approaches to learning. Understanding how learning happens makes for better learners. As I watched this happen in classroom after classroom, I started to wonder how teaching students about their brains might lead to cognitively healthy and more engaged classrooms.

KEY CONCEPT

Neuroplasticity: The ability of the brain to reorganize (and grow) synaptic connections.

When students learn about cardiovascular health, they make choices that are healthier for their hearts and circulatory system. When they join an athletic team, coaches teach them the rules of the game and also how their muscles work and can grow stronger. Brain-Based Learning With Gifted Students offers similar research-based information for educators and students to explore how learning happens and how they can become more adept learners. Understanding how the brain works is a relevant and engaging topic of inquiry for the gifted education classroom.

Lessons from neuroscience give teachers a platform to better understand the particularities of giftedness, including asynchrony, affective development, emotional regulation, and talent development. This field also provides compelling interdisciplinary language to help students understand their unique brains. Imaging technology and research continue to show that the human brain is complex and individualized. Yeh and colleagues (2016) at Carnegie Melon used imaging technology to show that (1) every human brain is unique, (2) connections are very plastic, and (3) researchers can chart some changes in the brain due to social and environmental factors. They stated, “The specific brain characteristics that define an individual are encoded by the unique pattern of connections between the billions of neurons in the brain” (para. 1). In the words of neuroscientist Nicole Tetreault (2019), the brain is “as distinctive as a fingerprint” (para. 2). It is important and empowering for children to know that their brains are unique, special, and constantly developing over their lifetime.

How to Use This Book

Each chapter is organized around a specific neuroscience concept for educators and their students to explore together. This book is not a scripted curriculum; instead it provides research-based information and engagement opportunities aligned with big ideas in science. The activities and lessons in this book give students an opportunity to learn about neuroscience within the context of understanding and caring for their unique brains and those in their communities.

The chapters include three distinct sections:

• ■ A clear and concise research overview on why this concept works and matters. The research rationale gives educators important background information for the unit of study.
• ■ Specific activities and reproducibles for teaching this concept in your classroom. Each set of activities concludes with a synthesizing “make it stick” project.
• ■ Extension ideas and transfer notes. These are ways to stretch and deepen these activities based on the unique interests and needs of your students. This section includes a discussion of how to apply this brain-based concept to other content areas.

Big Ideas in Science

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States, 2013) identify a set of crosscutting concepts that connect scientific domains. Calling out crosscutting concepts helps students understand the interrelating knowledge between science fields as students build a worldview of observing and understanding phenomena scientifically. This book focuses students’ (and teachers’) attention on five Big Ideas in Science informed by the NGSS. These include: Patterns, Cause and Effect, Structure and Function, Stability and Change, and Interdependence.

Eight Essential Concepts

There are eight key neuroscience concepts in this book:

• ■ Concept 1: Brain Anatomy 101
• ■ Concept 2: Interrogative Inquiry
• ■ Concept 3: Maximizing Metacognitive Moments
• ■ Concept 4: Sparking Connection With Wonder
• ■ Concept 5: Social Cognition
• ■ Concept 6: Neuroplasticity
• ■ Concept 7: Emotional Regulation
• ■ Concept 8: Keeping the Brain Healthy

Although I was purposeful in designing a scope and sequence, I know readers may have different pressing needs in their classroom. For example, you might need background information and activities on social cognition right now. If so, start there and then return to the beginning and work through the units as intended with your students.

Gifted Programming Standards

The chapters in this book are presented for inquiry with gifted students. All activities are aligned to the updated National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC, 2019) Pre-K–Grade 12 Gifted Programming Standards. A chart listing the standards addressed in each chapter can be found in the NAGC Programming Standards Alignment at the end of the book.

A Few Introductory Notes

Brain-Based Learning

Whenever teachers engage students in learning, problem solving, critical thinking, or connecting their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, they are also engaging the brain. Learning and the brain are integrally connected. Although classrooms are learning-rich spaces, are they brain-based spaces?

How much do educators know about the brain? How much professional development do teachers receive on cognition, affect, and neuroscience? Are teachers engaging in brain-based learning by chance, or are they building their practices on a body of well-vetted research about the brain? Classroom communities are deeply invested in learning, memory, emotional regulation, and decision making; therefore it makes sense for both students and teachers to know more about how this process happens in the brain.

I encourage educators to think of this as the intersection between brain science and classroom practice. In the last 10 years, brain-based learning has gained popularity as a high-interest topic for educators seeking to better understand and serve the diverse learners in their classrooms. Brain-based learning refers to instructional strategies grounded in the neuroscience of learning. Although teachers engage the brain whether or not they have in-depth knowledge of brain processes, won’t they engage students more effectively if they know more about how the brain functions and processes information? Those working in neuroeducation believe this is a worthy hypothesis. Throughout the following chapters, I invite you to test this hypothesis in your school community.

Democratizing Neuroscience

Embarking on this project sent me into a notable spiral of imposter syndrome. Before anyone found out I was working on such a project, I wanted to be sure that I could answer any question that might come up about the amygdala, hippocampus, or frontal cortex. I dove into highly technical texts on neurology, neuroscience, and neuroeducation. I took detailed notes and quizzed myself on the function of the thalamus, the occipital lobe, and reticular activating system.

My fascination with the brain wasn’t new. Diagnosed with chronic migraines as a toddler and identified as gifted in elementary school, I have long been interested in understanding both the brain at large as well as the particular functions of my own unique brain. In first grade I brought in an MRI scan of my brain for show-and-tell and then gave a presentation on magnetic imaging. During my graduate program in special education, I studied cognition as it related to learning disabilities and differences. My Ph.D. research explored the affective domain. All of this is to say: I had valid reasons for proposing this project, so why the hesitation to tell others?

I knew just enough about the brain to know how little I knew, and I was worried about being found out for my limitations. As professionals, we must stop doing this to ourselves. Although I certainly don’t have the same understanding of brain function that a neurologist or neuroscientist has, my experiences with how brain-based research impacts teaching and learning offers a valuable perspective for classroom practice. In fact, educators are among the best-suited professionals to shed light on how neuroscience can be translated to the classroom.

Teachers, particularly teachers of students who learn differently, including those in gifted programs and special education services, need and deserve access to the latest research in neuroscience. Given their professional work, these educators also have experiences and questions that could push brain-based research forward in new and exciting ways. Just as a teacher can appreciate a journal about a memory study, a neuroscientist can appreciate an academic paper on reading development. In fact, in both of these examples, cross-disciplinary connections strengthen what the reader brings to these texts. In this highly connected world, this book is, in part, a call to cultivate interdisciplinary conversations about the brain and learning.

It is my great hope that Brain Based Learning With Gifted Students sparks this same joy for discovery and exploration in your own classrooms, schools, and districts.

KEY TERMS FOR EDUCATORS

• • Brain-based learning: Instructional strategies grounded in the neuroscience of learning; the intersection between brain science and classroom practice.
• • Growth mindset: Dweck’s (2006/2016) applied theory on achievement and learning based on nurturing persistence and process while celebrating challenge and resilience.
• • National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC): National organization with strong state-level connection focused on education, advocacy, community building, and research around supporting gifted and talented students and educators working with these populations.
• • Neuroeducation: A division of neuroscience focused on brain processes that help or impede learning, cognition, retention, memory, sensory processing, learning disabilities, emotional regulation, and giftedness.
• • Neuroscience: Interdisciplinary field of science studying the brain.

Chapter 1
Brain Anatomy 101

DOI: 10.4324/9781003233367-2

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

• How can learning about the key structures of the human brain help you become a better learner?

BIG IDEAS IN SCIENCE

• Structure and Function
• Interdependence

Brain-Based Teaching and Learning Requires Knowledge About the Brain

Despite all of my years of schooling, I had very few formal lessons on the anatomical features of the human brain. My high school and college biology classes briefly covered brain function as it relates to the central nervous system. However, they didn’t dive into any of the specific or unique features of the human brain. My psychology classes covered development broadly, often reminding me that my prefrontal cortex (PFC) would not be fully developed until ages 25–28. Other than my not-yet-fully-rational PFC, the brain as an object of study was largely missing from the classes I took in my teens and early 20s. This seems like an important missed opportunity.

A lot has changed since I took high school science. The addition of dynamic courses such as AP Anatomy and Physiology, AP Psychology, and Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Biomedical Science give high school students more access to l...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction 1 Why Neuroscience?
• CHAPTER 1 Brain Anatomy 101
• CHAPTER 2 Interrogative Inquiry
• CHAPTER 3 Maximizing Metacognitive Moments
• CHAPTER 4 Sparking Connection With Wonder
• CHAPTER 5 Social Cognition
• CHAPTER 6 Neuroplasticity
• CHAPTER 7 Emotional Regulation
• CHAPTER 8 Keeping the Brain Healthy
• Conclusion
• References
• About the Author
• NAGC Programming Standards Alignment