What’s In My Brain: Ramp vs Bike

Two columns. One is an example, one isn’t. Can you figure out the hidden rule before the big reveal?

What’s In My Brain: Inventions vs Discovery

We’re looking at inventions vs discoveries.

What’s In My Brain: Tree vs Tree

Let’s look at deciduous vs coniferous trees.

What’s In My Brain: Crocodile vs Tree Frog

Is it a reptile or an amphibian?

What’s In My Brain: Narwhal vs Penguin

We’re looking at the arctic vs the antarctic.

Great Sloths – Mixed Up Paragraph

Can you use the context clues to get these sentences about great sloths back into the correct order?

The Moon – Mixed Up Paragraph

Can you use the context clues to get these sentences about The Moon back into the correct order?

The Great Sphinx – Mixed Up Paragraph

Can you use the context clues to get these sentences about The Great Sphinx back into the correct order?

Coral Reef – Mixed Up Paragraph

Can you use the context clues to get these sentences about the coral reef back into the correct order?

Automobiles – Mixed Up Paragraph

Can you use the context clues to get these sentences about automobiles back into the correct order?

Washington, DC – Mixed Up Paragraph

These sentences about Washington, DC got scrambled. Can you put them back in order using nothing but context clues?

Earthquakes – Mixed Up Paragraph

Can you use the context clues to get these sentences about earthquakes back into the correct order?

Not Like The Others: Branches of the US Government

How is each part of the United States Government not like the other parts?

Think Like A Historian

Here’s how effects be causes and causes can be effects!

Generalization: Change Leads to More Change

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

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?

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!

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?

Teach Non-Fiction Writing Structure With Fractals

Did you ever notice that the structure of an essay is very similar to the structure of a paragraph? Hmm…

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.