Depth and Complexity – An Introduction for Teachers
Depth and Complexity is a powerful, but often misunderstood, framework for teaching students to think more like experts.
Writing Differentiated Lesson Objectives
My early lessons didn’t even have objectives, let alone good objectives! Here’s how to build four-part, differentiated lesson objectives.
Differentiate with Low Floors and High Ceilings
Starting with grade-level material and trying to extend up is a fool’s errand. It’s SO much simpler to aim high and scaffold down.
Asking Questions That Make Students Think
How can we ask questions that make students think rather than just remember?
Difficult vs Complex Tasks
What separates difficulty from complexity? And why do complex tasks lead to much more natural differentiation?
Creating Sequences of Questions
High-level questions on their own simply aren’t enough. We must create sequences of questions!
Why I Don’t Use “Create” in Bloom’s Taxonomy
The word “Create” can mask low-level tasks. Here’s why I avoid using it in objectives.
Why “Challenging” May Not Be The Right Goal
So many of us say, “I want to challenge my students!” But, would you want a job that you describe as “challenging”?
Improving Wait Time
How much time do students get to think? How much time do students need to think? How can we bring those into alignment?
Lesson Makeovers: 3 Big Ideas
After looking at dozens of lessons folks sent in, I came up with three big ideas to address.
Can Students Solve Your Classroom Layout Problems?
What if your students designed your classroom layout?
Introduction to Differentiation
When differentiating, most teachers simply start in the wrong place!
Introduction to Puzzlements
How I accidentally discouraged curiosity in my classroom.
Multipotentiality: Excellent at Many Things
Why being good at many things can be a bit of a burden.
Curriculum Acceleration: Step by Step
Melanie Bondy, of Mine Vine Press, explains how to accelerate curriculum for your advanced students.
Depth and Complexity: Patterns and Quadrilaterals
Why just “identifying patterns” isn’t deep enough.
What if Dr. Seuss Covered a Poem?
Rather than just “paraphrasing” a poem, what if we did a cover version?
Complex Task: Subjective Graphs
What would it be like if students graphed characters from stories? Historic leaders? Elements from the period table? Objects in space?
Don’t Make A Mere Model!
This task is all about the product, but completely ignores how students will think.
Updating Old Questions: Conflict and Character Change
I update an old question about conflict and character change in the story Hatchet.
Moving Students from “On-Level” to “Advanced” in Writing
What separates our on-level writers from our advanced writers?
Differentiation of the Environment
Lisa explains how Log Cabin Living changed her classroom environment. Sort of.
Creativity Beyond The Fluff
Just because a task is “creative” doesn’t mean students are at the top of Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Students and Personality Types
How can our students be so different? And how can we help them to understand themselves and each other better.
Updating Old Questions: Pay Raise
How I’d update a low-level, overly engaging math question.
Assessing Differentiation Strategies with Student Products
Student products give an instant glimpse into whether differentiation is happening on your campus.
Improving These Novel Study Questions
Let’s fix these nine, underdeveloped discussion questions!
An Inductive Exploration Of Geometry
With inductive thinking, students will work from parts to whole, discovering big ideas along the way!
Running A “Notice, Wonder” Lesson
Use these puzzling images to build a classroom culture that is comfortable with curiosity, ambiguity, and taking intellectual risks.
Fancy Product? Simple Thinking – Wax Museum
A big, impressive product doesn’t mean that there was big, impressive thinking.
Teaching Criticism
Ask students to go beyond “I don’t like it” and form critical opinions based on a set of criteria. Students can produce written arguments or turn their opinion into oral presentations.
Addressing Disorganization
Know any kids who, despite their brilliant minds, have a bit of a hard time keeping things in order, turning things in on time, or remembering to put their names on their papers?
From “Identify” to “Analyze” – Famous Structures
Rather than just learning about one structure, let’s climb Bloom’s and think more deeply.
The Limits of Hands-On Activities
Many “hands-on” activities limit students by stopping at a low level of thinking. Here’s how to fix it.
Multiple Perspectives in Primary
Even our youngest students can learn to think from multiple perspectives!
Engagement Isn’t The Goal
While “engagement” is fun, it shouldn’t be our main goal.
When to Go Deeper? When to Just Move On?
When should teachers take the time to build an advanced version of something? And when should they just let students move along?
Unexpected Intensities
Do you know a student who’s a little bit… intense?
Ethics In The Young Elementary Classroom
Can we get students as young as kindergarten discussing ethical issues? Learn some ideas for integrating these multiple perspective problems throughout your curriculum.
Running A Group Investigation Lesson
Learn to lead a lesson that is built entirely on student curiosity.
Reduce Anxiety: 5 Question Rule
Adults can limit anxiety by implementing the Five Question Rule.
Introduction to Watercolor
Cindy Phan shares her method of introducing watercolor to students using a mosaic technique.
Universal Themes
Universal Themes are an easy way to connect lessons, units, and content areas, even going across grade levels, and into students’ personal interests.
Curriculum Compacting
Melanie Bondy explains how compacting will help you to “shrink the curriculum” and give students opportunities to use their time more effectively.
Models of Instruction: Inquiry Training
Want your students to ask better questions? Why not train them to inquire!?
Add Layers To Direct Instruction
Take direction instruction beyond a monotonous practice of the same skill over and over.
Going Beyond “Name That Genre!”
What will my students do after they’ve named the story’s genre?
Graphic Organizers and Higher Order Thinking
A few quick tips on how to better use graphic organizers to support higher-order thinking.
My Top 5 Depth and Complexity Mistakes
I spent about a decade making some pretty major mistakes in my use of depth and complexity.
What Makes A Math Puzzle Actually Puzzling?
This math puzzle wasn’t so puzzling. What went wrong?
Who Asks The Questions? And Who Answers?
What would the pie chart look like for these three situations: the teacher asks the students, a student asks the teacher, or a student asks another student a question? I can tell you my pie chart would have been very lopsided.
Reduce Anxiety: Worry Time
Adults can learn to help students reduce anxiety with the tool Worry Time.
Meeting Gifted Students’ Social and Emotional Needs
How can you tell if your students’ social-emotional needs are being met on your campus?
Depth and Complexity and Graphic Organizers
Let’s see a few examples of how Depth and Complexity slides nicely into any graphic organizer.
Don’t Just List Ethical Issues
My students made a list of problems… and we stopped right there.
Context Clues and Classics
How to use a classic to revamp a study of context clues.
Aim High, Scaffold Down in Math
A high level of thinking in math also requires the support of thoughtful scaffolding.
Think Like a Disciplinarian (or an Expert!)
Here’s how I got better at using the Think Like An Expert technique.
Help Students to Memorize Anything
How to memorize the countries in Africa, the Japanese writing system, or a deck of cards.
Updating Old Questions: Volcano from Two Perspectives
How I’d break down and rebuild a task about judging a volcano.
Updating Old Questions: Comparing Two Leaders
How I’d upgrade a dull “which one is better” question.
Climbing Bloom’s with Depth and Complexity
Combine higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy with the prompts of Depth and Complexity!
Complex Task: What Would X Think of Y?
Here’s a simple task that will add complexity to any content from any grade level!
Improving Evaluative Questions
How to improve questions at the “evaluate” level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.
An Introduction to Models of Instruction
As a new teacher, I only knew one model of instruction: Direct Instruction. I was like a chef who only knew how to deep fry!
Concept Formation
A model of instruction that moves from specific examples to concepts to one big idea.
Asynchrony (For Adults)
In some areas, a student may be shockingly advanced, while in others… surprisingly average. This is asynchrony in action.
Complex Task: Academic Tournaments
Who would win in the Tournament of Least Useful Geometric Shapes or Bravest Shakespearean Characters? Create an academic tournament and watch your students’ brains sweat!
Content Imperatives
Learn to use the Content Imperatives, a set of five additional tools that work with Depth and Complexity.
Differentiate With Frames Across Disciplines
The Frame graphic organizer is a tool for studying one topic using four different angles.
Building “Not Like The Others” Tasks
A delightfully ambiguous framework that is quick to prepare, but can last forever!
All About Pre-Assessment
A collection of helpful tips about differentiating through pre-assessment.
Developing Questions that Prompt Thinking in Math
Math is a particularly tricky subject for asking higher-level questions. Here are a couple of techniques I’ve used to prompt students to think, not merely calculate.
Impostor Syndrome
Students who breeze through school may run into problems in college.
Beyond Identifying a Story’s Problem and Solution
So your students can identify a story’s problem and solution. Then what?
Comparing Fraction Strategies
Comparing fraction strategies? Let’s take it even further!
Depth and Complexity Walkthroughs
You’re implementing Depth and Complexity, but how do you know if you’re doing it well? Five things to look for.
Exposing Students to Classics
Some kids are exposed to a wide range of classic art, music, and films at home and others aren’t. Let’s even the playing field by quickly integrating classics into our lessons.
Go Beyond “Identify Figurative Language”
So students can identify a simile, metaphor, and hyperbole. What next?
Go Beyond “Explain This Quote”
I’d show a quote and then ask, “What does this quote mean?” And that was it!
Inductively Analyze Website Reliability
Rather than giving students rules to apply to websites, let them analyze websites to create rules.
From Summary to Synthesis
Here’s how you can move from merely “summarizing a text” to a high-level task that culminates in synthesis.
New Uses for Everyday Things
Here’s how Joelle Trayers gets even her youngest students ready to think in unexpected ways.
Brain Needs or Heart Needs
We think of gifted kids as only having academic needs, but – in their own words – they also have many needs of the heart.
Comparing Strengths and Weaknesses
Go beyond merely explaining strengths and weaknesses and get students thinking in interesting ways.
From “Too Many Choices” To “One Quality Task”
Fixing an under-developed (but interesting) task that was originally part of a choice menu.
Why “Analyze” Is My Favorite Level of Bloom’s Taxonomy
Analyze is like a gateway that connects the lower- and higher-levels of Bloom’s. But make sure you’re truly asking an Analyze-level question!
Explain Concepts with the Frayer Model
Giving a definition just doesn’t cut it! Use the Frayer Model to explain (and assess!) vocabulary.
Fixing My 👓 Multiple Perspectives Question
I asked “How could two experts’ perspectives regarding information from this reading selection differ from one another.” Yikes!
My Worst Depth and Complexity Worksheet
This very common Depth and Complexity worksheet has many problems. And I used it for years!
Rethinking Extension Menus
Is creating nine, two-sentence tasks really an effective way to differentiate?
From Frantic Questions to Sensible Sequence
Why was I asking five, unrelated, low-level questions in a row?
We have Unanswered Questions – Now what?
My students listed Unanswered Questions and then… we moved on! Oops.
Building Creative Confidence with the Torrance Tests
Here are a bunch of ways to quickly practice creativity with your students for zero dollars.
The Curse of Knowledge and Checking for Understanding
How knowing your material well easily becomes a curse… and what to do about it!
Response to Lit: An Inductive Approach
Here’s how one teacher uses inductive thinking to help students respond to literature.
Assessing Differentiation Strategies With Walkthroughs
How do you know, when you’re walking through a class, whether the students are receiving appropriate work?
Writing Concept Attainment Lessons
In a Concept Attainment lesson, we give students examples and non-examples of a concept — without telling them what that concept is!
Misconceptions About 🏛️ Big Idea
For too long, I let my students turn in blah Big Ideas. Here’s how I fixed it.
A Chapter’s 🏛️ Big Idea
Let’s improve “Create a title for this chapter. Explain why your title fits the 🏛️ Big Idea.”
Help my students remember these confusing terms!
When we want students to memorize two terms, we actually shouldn’t aim for memorization!