Enrichment

Students that are more able can also be encouraged through the use of enrichment activities and study support opportunities. Enriching a curriculum for history students can be done with relative ease. A project on most areas of British history can be enriched through a visit to a museum of relevance to the topic, which makes the content both more interesting and more easily accessible. Use of local historians as speakers and debating societies can also prove to be of great value to the more able historian as they will be able to develop a more detailed interest in areas of History that are perhaps skimmed over within lessons.

Other forms of enrichment can be best utilised through study support activities and after school clubs. A History club that deals with given topics in greater detail and over a longer period of time can provide students with further opportunities to develop skills. Local history is an ideal focus for such clubs. Students can be asked to research areas of direct relevance to themselves and can learn through a wide variety of mediums. There are obvious links with other subject areas here: geography, Art and ICT are perhaps the easiest subject areas to make links with here.

Alternatively, students in a study support group can be expected to work through tasks that are more difficult with a greater level of support and guidance. Many students like to attempt to rise to the challenge and, in my experience, have thoroughly enjoyed being asked, and shown how, to cope with language aimed at students 2-3 years older than themselves.

A combination of these methods, along with an emphasis upon rewarding the additional work, can have a great impact upon the students involved. Within my after school clubs I ensure that students are able to have access to all of the schools ICT facilities, they receive an e-mail account and are allowed to use it for some none school related e-mails. Students in the groups have responded positively to being provided with additional access and the responsibilities that go with these privileges.

Other activities that can be used to enrich and motivate students are prize quizzes and competitions, a history magazine run and edited by students, a history department website with content and activities produced by the students and differentiated homework activities.

Pages within this article.

Introduction,Defintions and Identification of Gifted and Talented Students,Characteristics of effective provision in the subject,Ideas for classroom provision,Withdrawal groups,Differentiating by task,Enrichment,Conclusions

 

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