Holiday Worksheets
Writing prompts, non-fiction analysis, and science topics related to Christmas and Hanukkah.
Halloween Worksheets
Crosswords, image analysis, and writing prompts for Halloween!
Not Like The Others: 19th Century Presidents
Four 19th century presidents. One doesn’t belong. But which one? That depends on your argument.
A System Similar to a Cell
Which parts of a cell serve a similar job to the parts of a cruise ship, human body, computer, or other system?
What’s In My Brain: Austin vs Los Angeles
We’re looking at capital cities.
What’s In My Brain: Narwhal vs Penguin
We’re looking at the arctic vs the antarctic.
Plant Adaptation Tournament
Who will win in a tournament of eight plants with Interesting adaptations!?
Precipitation Tournament
Eight types of precipitation battle it out in this tournament.
Not Like The Others: US States
How is each of these states not like the others?
Not Like The Others: Branches of the US Government
How is each part of the United States Government not like the other parts?
Analyze Paragraphs: Baseball
Three paragraphs about baseball. They all cover the same topic — so what makes each one different? Now combine them into one super-paragraph.
Analyze Paragraphs: Cucumbers
Three paragraphs about cucumbers. They all cover the same topic — so what makes each one different? Now combine them into one super-paragraph.
Analyze Paragraphs: Empire State Building
Three paragraphs about the Empire State Building. They all cover the same topic — so what makes each one different? Now combine them into one super-paragraph.
Analyze Paragraphs: Tomatoes
Three paragraphs about tomatoes. They all cover the same topic — so what makes each one different? Now combine them into one super-paragraph.
Analyze Paragraphs: Wolverines
Three paragraphs about wolverines. They all cover the same topic — so what makes each one different? Now combine them into one super-paragraph.
Paradox: Rebuilding A Ship
What if we completely rebuild something slowly? What if we completely rebuild it all at once? Is it still the same thing?
Not Like The Others: Natural Disasters
Four natural disasters. One doesn’t belong. But which one? That depends on your argument.
Not Like The Others: Countries
How is each of these four countries not like the others?
Paragraphs: Systems of Sentences
Blow up a paragraph into individual sentences. Now reassemble it. The clues hiding in each sentence will surprise you.
What Would Poetry Think About Prose?
Poetry and Prose meet at a party. What would they say to each other? How would they feel about each other’s style?
Upgrading Compare and Contrast Writing
Upgrade compare and contrast writing with just a couple of key words.
Create A Civilization: Calendars
Why 12 months? Why 30ish days? Why 7 days in a week? Your civilization could organize a year in any way you want!
Content Imperatives: Parallel
Get students thinking broadly by exploring similarities across multiple topics. Combine with Depth and Complexity for bonus points!
Depth and Complexity: 📈 Trends
Has something been changing recently? What might be causing that? What are the effects?
Depth and Complexity: 📚 Across Disciplines
No topic is an island! With the 📚 Across Disciplines prompt, students note connections within and across multiple fields.
Depth and Complexity: ⏳ Change Over Time
Want to get students thinking about how a topic has changed or might change in the future? The ⏳ Change Over Time thinking tool is just what you need!
Depth and Complexity: Patterns
Can your students spot anything that repeats? Or that has stopped repeating?
Better Stories Part 1: The Big Idea
We open our unit on narrative writing with a big idea: “structure increases creativity.” I show how this is true by bringing in examples from across all disciplines.