Playlist: Bookmarks
Notice, Wonder: Dazzle
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Updating Old Questions: Conflict and Character Change
For TeachersI update an old question about conflict and character change in the story Hatchet.
Idiom Tasks
Four fantastically terrific tasks for a weekly idiom study.
Introducing Universal Theme of Conflict
So what could you do with a Universal Theme of Conflict? Well, here’s an introduction that will get your students’ brains sweating.
Parabolic Curve Art
Create mathematical art with curves that, well, aren’t curvy.
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!
A Lunar Survival Mission
A favorite of mine! This task is delightfully complex and ambiguous, forcing students to make choices without enough information and with no right answer. How will they survive on the moon for three days?
Not Like The Others: Charlotte’s Web
Four Charlotte’s Web characters. One doesn’t belong. But which one? That depends on your argument.
Sets of Idioms
Why do we say ‘break a leg’? Five themed sets of idioms your students will actually remember.
Student Introductions With Depth and Frames
Want to introduce the tools of Depth and Complexity and learn more about your students and introduce the Frame graphic organizer? Have I got the activity for you!
Depth and Complexity: 🏛️ Big Idea
Let’s get students thinking big and focusing on more abstract ideas.
Analyze Character Change with Depth and Complexity
Your students will use Depth and Complexity to note how a character’s main trait changes across a story.
Twelfth Night Summary
An animated summary of Shakespeare’s utterly ridiculous “Twelfth Night.”
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Nothing could possibly go wrong with a love potion on the loose!
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!
Fancier Figurative Language: Start with a Cliche
We’ll start with the cliché “as cold as ice” and go somewhere much more interesting.