Playlist: Bookmarks
Domesticated Animals Tournament
Which domesticated animal will win the tournament?
Shift Cipher (Codes Part 1)
Let’s encode and decode secret messages like Julius Caesar!
Lipogram: Rewrite “Twinkle, Twinkle”
What if we rewrote a piece of writing without using certain letters?
Looking Closely at Holiday Photos
Let’s write from multiple perspectives using an old timey holiday photo!
Writing About Art: Impression, Sunrise
Look closely at Impression, Sunrise. What do you notice? Now turn those details into a poem you didn’t know you could write.
Tournament: 8 Wonders of the Solar System
Which location is the most wondrous place in the solar system?
Exploration Technology Tournament
Which of these pieces of exploration technology is most important? Most underrated? Most long-lasting?
Precipitation Tournament
Eight types of precipitation battle it out in this tournament.
Tournament of Ancient Inventions
Which of these inventions of the ancient world is most influential? Least useful today? Most taken-for-granted?
Writing About Art: Chōshi in Shimosha
Get your students writing some pretty darn impressive poetry based on Japan’s most famous artist.
Not Like The Others: Stars
How is each of these stars not like the others?
Writing About Art: The Scream
Your students will turn the iconic painting The Scream into a vivid, sensory poem.
Concept Attainment: Art
Can your students tell the difference between cubism and abstract art?
Thinking With Art: Head Down
One artist, two paintings. Notice details, compare, synthesize, then find a parallel in another creator’s work.
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.
Exposing Students to Classics
For TeachersSome kids hear Mozart at home. Others don’t. Let’s make sure every student gets exposed to the classics — art, music, and film.
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.
Dots and Boxes
Who can make the most boxes from dots in this strategy game?
Why Is Our Calendar So Weird!?
Why are there 12 months? Why don’t weeks fit into months evenly? Why don’t weeks fit into the year evenly? What’s going on with the calendar!
The Resiliency Tournament
Your students will set up a tournament to determine which person or character best demonstrated resiliency.
Improving Presentations 1: Watching The Greats
Get better at giving presentations by studying the greats!
Studying and Remixing “The Raven”
Ready to push kids beyond the boring, old ABAB rhyme scheme and into something a bit more complex?
Introduce Symbolism with Pixel Art
Create a pixelated icon that represents the essence of a character!
Ways to Start a Sentence – Part 3
Your students’ sentences all start the same way. Here are three techniques that fix that overnight.
Ways to Start a Sentence – Level 2
We’ll show students how to add more variety to their writing by starting sentences with a reason, a prepositional phrase, and a simile.
Ways to Start a Sentence – Level 1
‘Add more variety!’ teachers say. But how? This lesson gives students actual techniques instead of vague advice.
Greekymon
Rather than just memorizing word parts, students will use those word parts to create four possible products.
Common English Words From Other Languages
Bored with typical spelling studies? Let’s dig into the origins of common English words from other languages!
Intellectual Intensity
Do you know someone who becomes a bit overexcited by ideas?