“This was the best money I have ever spent on a teaching tool.” ~ a teacher in Wisconsin

Alabama ELA Standard: 3.R3

Expand background knowledge and build vocabulary through discussion, reading, and writing.

Holiday Worksheets

Holiday Worksheets

Writing prompts, non-fiction analysis, and science topics related to Christmas and Hanukkah.

Power Can Be Fast, Slow, Loud, or Quiet

Power Can Be Fast, Slow, Loud, or Quiet

Power may seem loud and fast, but it can also be slow and quiet.

Power can be Visible or Invisible

Power can be Visible or Invisible

What are examples of unseen Power? And can invisible power be more powerful than visible power?

Plexidemokinesis (Greek and Latin)

Plexidemokinesis (Greek and Latin)

What on earth is a Plexidemokinesis? Break apart the Greek and Latin roots, figure out what it should mean, then invent what it describes.

Geosynth (Greek and Latin)

Geosynth (Greek and Latin)

What on earth is a Geosynth? Break apart the Greek and Latin roots, figure out what it should mean, then invent what it describes.

Aquamorphotron (Greek and Latin)

Aquamorphotron (Greek and Latin)

What on earth is a Aquamorphotron? Break apart the Greek and Latin roots, figure out what it should mean, then invent what it describes.

Pyrostasis (Greek and Latin)

Pyrostasis (Greek and Latin)

What on earth is a Pyrostasis? Break apart the Greek and Latin roots, figure out what it should mean, then invent what it describes.

Greekymon Studies – Round 3

Greekymon Studies – Round 3

What might a creature named “Aquacornus Rex” be like?

Greekymon Studies – Round 2

Greekymon Studies – Round 2

What might a creature named “Hypermnemonicus” be like?

Greekymon Studies – Round 1

Greekymon Studies – Round 1

What might a creature named “Ursolunascope” be like?

How to Reset Your Brain When You’re Flooded

How to Reset Your Brain When You’re Flooded

Allison Edwards explains how changing your senses can reset your brain.

What If… Long Life?

What If… Long Life?

What would the consequences be if all people lived much, much longer?

Create A Civ: Capital City

Create A Civ: Capital City

Every great capital is part geography, part human design. Research real ones, then build your own from scratch.

Word Pyramids

Word Pyramids

Start with a one letter word, add another letter, then add another. How tall can you make the pyramid?

Famous Structures

Famous Structures

The Eiffel Tower, the Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House — group them, pick the best from each group, then design your own.

Back to School: Rewriting The Beatles’ “Help!”

Back to School: Rewriting The Beatles’ “Help!”

Can your students come up with a one-syllable word to sum up their time away from school? And then rewrite The Beatles’ song Help!?

Introducing Universal Theme of Change

Introducing Universal Theme of Change

Everything changes. But how does it change? Students brainstorm dozens of examples and boil them down to one big idea.

Introducing Universal Theme of Systems

Introducing Universal Theme of Systems

So what could you do with a Universal Theme of Systems? Well, here’s an introduction that will get your students’ brains sweating.

Introducing Universal Theme of Power

Introducing Universal Theme of Power

So what could you do with a Universal Theme of Power? Well, here’s an introduction that will get your students’ brains sweating.

Microchess (Chess Variant)

Microchess (Chess Variant)

What if we played chess on a board that’s only 4×5?

Parabolic Curve Art

Parabolic Curve Art

Create mathematical art with curves that, well, aren’t curvy.

Writing About Art: Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog

Writing About Art: Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog

Look closely at Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog. What do you notice? Now turn those details into a poem you didn’t know you could write.

Create A Civilization: Design A Flag

Create A Civilization: Design A Flag

What makes for a good flag? What makes a bad flag?

Art Lesson: Two-Point Perspective

Art Lesson: Two-Point Perspective

Let’s get students’ art really popping with two-point perspective!

Game: Snakes

Game: Snakes

In this grid-based strategy game, who will be the last to add to the snake?

Word Ladders Introduction

Word Ladders Introduction

You won’t believe how this spelling and vocabulary puzzle will get kids’ brains sweating over the smallest of words.

Change Leads to More Change

Change Leads to More Change

Can you think of a time in your life when “Change lead to more change?”

Order Can Be Natural or Constructed

Order Can Be Natural or Constructed

When is order natural and when is it designed by people?

Problems Lead to New Rules, Which Lead to New Problems

Problems Lead to New Rules, Which Lead to New Problems

Problems create rules. Rules create new problems. Can you trace the cycle in history, stories, and your own life?

Systems Are Made up of Other Systems

Systems Are Made up of Other Systems

A clock is a system. So is a rainforest. So is your school. Once you see systems inside systems, you can’t unsee it.

SCAMPER: Scaffolding Creativity

SCAMPER: Scaffolding Creativity

Asking students to “think creatively” won’t get you far. They won’t know how to start, they’ll get stuck with simple ideas, or they’ll just go completely wild. SCAMPER is a tool for scaffolding the process of creativity.

Upgrade Research Questions With Depth and Complexity

Upgrade Research Questions With Depth and Complexity

Ever ask students to create research questions? Were their ideas a bit… blah? My own students had a very hard time writing questions they didn’t already know the answer to! This video is how I solved that problem: upgrade research questions with depth and complexity.

Chomp

Chomp

Chomp away at your opponent in this grid-based strategy game.

Col – A Strategy Game

Col – A Strategy Game

The first person to run out of regions loses in this strategy game.

Game: Notakto

Game: Notakto

What if you only played Tic-Tac-Toe with Xs and you could play on multiple boards?

Dots and Boxes

Dots and Boxes

Who can make the most boxes from dots in this strategy game?

Sprouts

Sprouts

Learn how to play the abstract, paper-and-pencil game Sprouts.

More Specific than “Smart”

More Specific than “Smart”

When students are told that they’re “smart”, what does this word actually mean to them? (Psst. It isn’t what we intended.)

Building Creative Analogies

Building Creative Analogies

We’ll take two seemingly unrelated pieces of content (say volcanoes and the human body) and then build analogies to connect the two ideas. In the end, students can create a skit, comic, or story relating the two concepts.

Create A Civilization: From Hunter Gatherers to Farmers

Create A Civilization: From Hunter Gatherers to Farmers

What happens when your civilization suddenly has a surplus of food? Think of the possibilities!

Content Imperatives: Origin

Content Imperatives: Origin

Take students back to the beginning by using the Content Imperative ⏺️ Origin.

Depth and Complexity: 👄 Language of the Discipline

Depth and Complexity: 👄 Language of the Discipline

Imagine a construction worker who doesn’t know the name of a screwdriver or a doctor who can’t remember what to call your neck. It’s pretty hard to communicate well without knowing the 👄 Language of the Discipline!

Educational Valentines

Educational Valentines

Let’s make valentines with an educational twist!

How to Play Go

How to Play Go

Ready to learn a 2,500-year-old Chinese board game? Let’s… Go!

Reduce Anxiety: Brain Plate (Tool 3)

Reduce Anxiety: Brain Plate (Tool 3)

When a student’s brain is full of worries, everything feels urgent. Brain Plate helps them sort what’s real from what’s noise — and actually do something about it.

Reduce Anxiety: Change The Channel (Tool 2)

Reduce Anxiety: Change The Channel (Tool 2)

Reduce anxiety by learning to “change the channel.”

Reduce Anxiety: Square Breathing (Tool 1)

Reduce Anxiety: Square Breathing (Tool 1)

Reduce anxiety by breathing in a square pattern.

Asynchrony: Developing At Different Rates (For Students)

Asynchrony: Developing At Different Rates (For Students)

For students! In some areas, a student may be shockingly advanced, while in others… surprisingly average. This is asynchrony in action.

Teaching Empathy With Faberge Eggs

Teaching Empathy With Faberge Eggs

The story of the Fabergé Eggs is heartbreaking. It’s also the perfect way to build empathy in your classroom.

Common English Words From Other Languages

Common English Words From Other Languages

Bored with typical spelling studies? Let’s dig into the origins of common English words from other languages!

Greek and Latin Dinosaur Names

Greek and Latin Dinosaur Names

Let’s create a new dinosaur using Greek and Latin stems!

Intellectual Intensity

Intellectual Intensity

Do you know someone who becomes a bit overexcited by ideas?

Think Like An Economist

Think Like An Economist

How would an economist read Goldilocks? How would they see a rainforest? How would they study the American Revolution?

Engineering: Build A Bridge

Engineering: Build A Bridge

Using real bridges as their starting point, students will construct bridges out of straws and paperclips.