Apparently, "push in" is the opposite of "pull out".
Well, there are many models of differentiation. For gifted students you may find that the best differentiation will be compacting the curriculum based on the results of pre-assessments. Pre-assessments will also help you identify the specific instructional needs of all your students.
And of course, once you've compacted, you need to decide whether you want to enrich or accelerate with students' extra time. Math is a well-structured field, so math teachers are more likely to compact and accelerate. Language arts teachers are next most likely to compact. Social studies--the least.
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I teach social studies (world history), and I love the idea of compacting in theory. I'm working with too much in the way of new content and concepts for it to be practical. I just try to fill in here and there with sponge activities (like puzzles that use the new vocabulary) and optional challenge assignments. In my class, challenge assignments are an opportunity to demonstrate insight, understanding, or work beyond grade level expectations. It can be the difference between a B (Proficient) and an A (Advanced).
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Challenge: Some Hindus throughout the centuries have argued that the caste system needs to go, yet it has persisted for thousands of years. How have the ideas of karma, dharma, and reincarnation helped convinced generations of Hindus that the caste system is fair?
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This one is advanced because it requires a level of historical empathy beyond expectations for most 6th graders (how does a person whose experiences and beliefs are different from your own think about this new issue), and because the evaluation level (is this fair?) is the highest tier of critical thinking.
As a general ed teacher, I have students in my 6th grade class who are gifted, and some who read on first or second grade level. I have a simplified textbook for struggling readers, and I also show a bunch of videos. The very fact that it's a video instead of a text helps many of my students. I try very hard to find videos that are quirky or interesting (by my own high standards of quirky and interesting), so my gifted students won't be bored.
My students checked "Made me think" many, many times by the names of videos on the survey I gave them at the end of the year, and that's what I was aiming for.
