What’s In My Brain: Grass vs Mold
Two columns. One is an example, one isn’t. Can you figure out the hidden rule before the big reveal?
Notice, Wonder: Dazzle
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Notice, Wonder: Burton Island
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Notice, Wonder: Tenzing
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Power and Traditions
We compare the power of traditions shared by millions with smaller traditions shared by perhaps just one family.
Power – Blue Whale vs Krill
Sure, a Blue Whale is huge. But does a tiny krill have more power?
Power Can Be Fast, Slow, Loud, or Quiet
Power may seem loud and fast, but it can also be slow and quiet.
What’s In My Brain: Spain vs Germany
One column is an example. The other isn’t. Can your students figure out the hidden rule before the reveal?
What’s In My Brain: Italy vs Normandy
We’re looking at countries vs states (and other smaller regions).
What’s In My Brain: Tree vs Tree
Let’s look at deciduous vs coniferous trees.
New Uses For A Cardboard Tube
So, what can a cardboard tube be used for other than holding wrapping paper?
What’s In My Brain: Crocodile vs Tree Frog
Is it a reptile or an amphibian?
Student Introductions With Depth, Complexity, and Frames: Level Two
Once students know the prompts of Depth and Complexity, let’s take them much higher up Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Van Gogh Self-Portrait Tournament
Who will win the tournament of Van Gogh self-portraits!?
A Character’s Playlist
What playlist of songs best goes with a character’s change over time?
Notice, Wonder: Sombrero
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Squiggles Collection 3
Everyone starts with the same squiggle. No two drawings end up the same. What do you see?
Squiggles Introduction
What do you see in this squiggle?
Squiggles Collection 1
Everyone starts with the same squiggle. No two drawings end up the same. What do you see?
Squiggles Collection 2
Everyone starts with the same squiggle. No two drawings end up the same. What do you see?
New Uses For A Chair
So, what can a chair be used for other than, you know, sitting in?
New Uses For A Pencil
So, what can a pencil be used for other than writing and drawing?
New Uses For An Aluminum Can
So, what CAN a CAN be used for other than storing liquids?
Notice, Wonder: Silver Torch
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Notice, Wonder: Barringer
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Notice, Wonder: Rosetta
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Phrases to Join a Discussion
Want your classroom discussions to go a bit more smoothly? Train students to use a few simple phrases and it’ll make all the difference in the world.
Categorize and Re-Categorize Countries
Put these countries into groups. Then do it again. Then… do it one more time. How does re-re-grouping the same places reveal new patterns and give new insights?
Categorize and Re-Categorize Animals
Put these animals into groups. Then do it again. Then… do it one more time. How does re-re-grouping the same creatures reveal new patterns and give new insights?
Stories with the Same Problems and Solutions
Have you ever noticed that some stories have awfully similar problems? What if we looked for the most unusual way of solving a repeating problem?
Discussing An Important Decision from History
How would people with two different perspectives discuss a decision from history?
Notice, Wonder: A House
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
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!?
Chess Variant: Monster Chess
What if you had really weak chess pieces, but you could always move twice?
Notice, Wonder: SLS Test
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Notice, Wonder: Butterball
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Notice, Wonder: Ramses
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Notice, Wonder: Craters
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Notice, Wonder: Bloom
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Notice, Wonder: Skylight
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Microchess (Chess Variant)
What if we played chess on a board that’s only 4×5?
Notice, Wonder: Scales
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Notice, Wonder: Swirls
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Anti-Checkers
Sure, anyone can win at checkers… but can you lose!?
Four Player Chess
Tired of boring ol’ chess? Then you need to try FOUR PLAYER chess!
Looping Grid Art
Pick a few numbers, draw some corresponding lines on grid paper, and you’ll end up with some interesting, looping math-y art!
Notice, Wonder: Green Circles
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Notice, Wonder: An Orange Thing
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Game: Wild Tic Tac Toe
Imagine Tic-Tac-Toe, but both players can both play as both X and O throughout the whole game!
Self Portraits: Pointillism
Turn your students into a bunch of Monets with q-tips and some tempera paint.
Notice, Wonder: Kuiseb
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Game: Snakes
In this grid-based strategy game, who will be the last to add to the snake?
Jotto
Who can guess the codeword first?
Math Game: Heaps
Try this a simple (but surprisingly strategic) subtraction game!
Notice, Wonder: A Long Line
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Notice Wonder: Blood Falls
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Think Like A Philosopher
What would Socrates have thought if he watched Frozen?
Order Can Be Natural or Constructed
When is order natural and when is it designed by people?
Virtue or Vice?
Aristotle noted that positive traits and negative traits are often the same thing, but just in different amounts. The right amount is a virtue, but too much or too little and it’s a vice.
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.
Plurals: An Inductive Spelling Lesson
Plural nouns in English are deliciously fascinating. Yet most plural lessons are so dull! In this experience, students are given a pile of plurals and then inductively create groups and pull out rules and patterns.
Notice, Wonder: Forest
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Notice, Wonder: Akron
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Notice Wonder: Electronics
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Notice Wonder: Turbine
Your students will be surprised by the size of this turbine… and by what’s hanging from it!
Notice Wonder: Z-Machine
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Notice, Wonder: Climber
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Notice, Wonder: A River
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Notice, Wonder: The Cliff
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
What’s In My Brain: Painting vs Painting
Two columns of sentences. Something is different about them. Can you figure out the rule?
Notice, Wonder: Michael
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Notice, Wonder: Etna
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Game: Order and Chaos
Imagine Tic-Tac-Toe if both players could play as both Xs and Os!
Bulls and Cows
How quickly can you break the numeric code?
Notice, Wonder: Plateau
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Notice, Wonder: A Ship
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Chomp
Chomp away at your opponent in this grid-based strategy game.
Col – A Strategy Game
The first person to run out of regions loses in this strategy game.
Game: Notakto
What if you only played Tic-Tac-Toe with Xs and you could play on multiple boards?
Dots and Boxes
Who can make the most boxes from dots in this strategy game?
Sprouts
Learn how to play the abstract, paper-and-pencil game Sprouts.
The Thinking Hats
So… do your students moan when forced to work in a group? Part of the problem is that lack the structure to work well with peers. Edward de Bono’s Thinking Hats are a perfect tool to help with this problem.
How to Play Go
Ready to learn a 2,500-year-old Chinese board game? Let’s… Go!
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 by learning to “change the channel.”
Reduce Anxiety: Square Breathing (Tool 1)
Reduce anxiety by breathing in a square pattern.
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.
Creating A Classroom Motto
Starting with specific examples of fantastic classroom behavior, your class will end up with one sentence summing up their expectations. It’s a classroom motto!
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.
Intellectual Intensity
Do you know someone who becomes a bit overexcited by ideas?
Think Like An Economist
How would an economist read Goldilocks? How would they see a rainforest? How would they study the American Revolution?