TEKS ELA Standard: 2.11.B

Any Shape With Just One Cut

Danny MacAskill: The Slabs

Mechanical Dinosaur Costume

from a single piece of paper

Apple Harvesting Machine

Backdraft in Slow Motion

hot coffee as ice cubes are added

best pre-game warmup trickshots

carves the most delicate patterns

just drawing some Peanuts characters

creating faux-shadows on street

Insects Made From Plant Clippings

jetpacks flying over Dubai

one piece of rolled-up paper

working Lego car

toss leftover tea in -40°C

floating ball of water

Shredding Paper With Lego

Wood Bending Machine

Scythe vs Brushcutter

Boiling Water at -41°C

Time Lapse of a Tiny Painting

Hair Dryer Kinetic Art

Making a Chain Link From a Red-Hot Rod

Halloween Problems and Solutions

When we try to solve a problem, sometimes we end up creating new problems. Which lead to new solutions. Which lead to new problems.

Improving Shakespeare’s Repetition

Let’s help William Shakespeare with his use of repetition.

Rainclouds – Mixed Up Paragraph

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

Super Specific Similes: Quick Baby

Let’s make this simile about a quick baby even more specific.

Super Specific Similes: Stinky Seaweed

Start with a basic simile. Now make it more specific. Now even more. Watch how much better writing gets with each round.

What If… No Sleep?

What would the consequences be if no one had to sleep anymore?

Writing About Art: Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons

Look closely at Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons. What do you notice? Now turn those details into a poem you didn’t know you could write.

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.

Changing Coordinating Conjunctions

What happens when we switch out a “but” with a “so”? An “and” with a “for”? How can such tiny words make such big differences?

Writing Technique: Triple Anadiplosis!

Have students mastered the art of anadiplosis: ending one sentence with the beginning of the next? Now it’s time to take it to the next level!

Doubling Up Writing: Anadiplosis

Repeating words can be what you want, if what you want is an interesting effect. (Psst, that’s an example of anadiplosis!)

Writing Sample: A Christmas Carol (Cold)

A passage from White Fang to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

Writing Technique: 3 Dependent Clauses

A specific technique to help students add some spice to their writing. We’ll be writing sentences with three dependent clauses.

Writing Technique: Contrast With Synonyms

A specific technique to help students add some spice to their writing. We’ll be contrasting two ideas using synonyms.

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.

Pronouns With Too Many Antecedents

What happens when a pronoun could refer to more than one noun? Big problems!

Upgrading Compare and Contrast Writing

Upgrade compare and contrast writing with just a couple of key words.

Improving Presentations 3: The Storyboard and Slides

It’s time to turn that outline into a storyboard and then some actual slides.

Writing Clear Directions

Can you write directions so clear that a group of kids can put a toy together with no illustrations?