Indiana ELA Standard: 5.CC

What’s In My Brain: Primary Sources

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

Notice, Wonder: Fountain

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

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 in Autumn

Autumn was once powerful because of the harvest. What gives Fall its power now?

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.

Power can be Visible or Invisible

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

Founding The Colonies

13 colonies activities including a word search and task cards packed with facts. Plus, students will create their own colony with a name, story, and map!

Hero or Not A Hero?

Students will determine what makes a hero a hero.

Notice, Wonder: Brooklyn

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

St. Patrick and Other Legends

How would real people feel about the legends that have been created about them?

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?

New Uses For A Cardboard Tube

So, what can a cardboard tube be used for other than holding wrapping paper?

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.

Greekymon Studies – Round 1

What might a creature named “Ursolunascope” be like?

Van Gogh Self-Portrait Tournament

Who will win the tournament of Van Gogh self-portraits!?

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?

Robot Writing: Acropolis

One painting of ruins. Three robots. Three pieces of writing. Who wrote it best?

Squiggles Introduction

What do you see in this squiggle?

Squiggles Collection 2

Everyone starts with the same squiggle. No two drawings end up the same. What do you see?

Pig Pen Cipher (Codes Part 2)

Let’s encode some secret messages with a cipher that was actually used during the American Civil War!

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.

Discussing An Important Decision from History

How would people with two different perspectives discuss a decision from history?

Notice, Wonder: Critter

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

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!

Drawing An Impossible Triangle

Here’s how you can draw The Penrose Triangle, an example of an impossible shape.

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!

Drawing Knots, Level 2

How to draw a more complex version of this twisty Henri Matisse knot!

Drawing Knots, Level 1

How to draw a simple version of this twisty Henri Matisse knot!

Notice, Wonder: Krzywy Las

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Scales

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Vortices

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Swirls

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Witch’s Fingers

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Parabolic Curve Art

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

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!

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?

Inferring With Art: A Couple

What’s going on in this room? There are shoes everywhere! Are those… oranges? Let’s make some inferences!

Inferring With Art: Two Women

What are these two women up to? What’s that thing she’s holding? Let’s make some inferences!

Game: Wild Tic Tac Toe

Imagine Tic-Tac-Toe, but both players can both play as both X and O throughout the whole game!

Art Lesson: Two-Point Perspective

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

An Escher-Style Tessellation Project

Create a piece of repeating art in the style of MC Escher!

Self Portraits Part One: Line Drawings

Anyone, yes anyone, can create a (somewhat) realistic self-portrait using these steps. Anyone!

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?

Math Game: Heaps

Try this a simple (but surprisingly strategic) subtraction game!

Writing Sample: The Jungle Book (Bagheera)

A passage from The Jungle Book to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

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?

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.

How Renewable Is That Resource?

Which resource is more renewable? And which is easier to find?

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!

Create A Civilization: A Change In Government

It’s a great moment for your civilization! Power is moving from the hands of a few to a more democratic government.

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!

Writing Sample: Peter Pan

A passage from “Peter Pan” to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

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: Cute Baby vs Fast Cheetah

Can students spot similes vs metaphors?

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!

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!

Simple or Compound Sentences – What’s In My Brain?

Can your students spot simple sentences vs compound sentences?

Paradox: The Barber’s Paradox

The barber shaves everybody who doesn’t themselves. So… does the barber shave himself?

What’s In My Brain – The Park vs The Museum

We’re looking at the past progressive tense and the simple past tense.

Student Introductions with Complexity and Frames

How have you changed over time? Students introduce themselves through the lens of change — and learn a Depth and Complexity tool in the process.

Paradox: Crocodile Dilemma

A crocodile makes a deal. But the deal creates a paradox. Can your students untangle a 2,000-year-old logic puzzle?

Paradox: The Liar’s Paradox

Nothing like a paradox to get your kids brains exploding 🤯! This one starts with five simple words: “This statement is a lie.”

Chomp

Chomp away at your opponent in this grid-based 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?

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.)

Improving Presentations 1: Watching The Greats

Get better at giving presentations by studying the greats!

Content Imperatives: Paradox

How can one idea pull in opposite directions, being both true and false or right and wrong at the same time? It’s time to explore Paradoxes!

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: Parallel

Get students thinking broadly by exploring similarities across multiple topics. Combine with Depth and Complexity for bonus points!

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!

Depth and Complexity: 📚 Across Disciplines

No topic is an island! With the 📚 Across Disciplines prompt, students note connections within and across multiple fields.