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Playlist: Bookmarks

Comparing Characters’ Bedrooms

What item’s in a character’s bedroom would reflect their deepest desires? And what if they toured a similar character’s room?

New Uses For A Cardboard Tube

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

What’s In My Brain: Crocodile vs Tree Frog

Is it a reptile or an amphibian?

Robot Writing: Volcano

Read three pieces of writing from three different robots about the same beautiful painting of a volcano. Who wrote it best?

Robot Writing: The Bridge

One painting of a bridge. Three robots. Who wrote it best?

What If… Long Life?

What would the consequences be if all people lived much, much longer?

What If… No Sleep?

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

New Uses For A Chair

So, what can a chair be used for other than, you know, sitting in?

New Uses For A Pencil

So, what can a pencil be used for other than writing and drawing?

New Uses For An Aluminum Can

So, what CAN a CAN be used for other than storing liquids?

Zig Zag Cipher (Codes Part 3)

Let’s try a cipher that doesn’t substitute new letters or shapes. We just mix things up.

Pig Pen Cipher (Codes Part 2)

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

Shift Cipher (Codes Part 1)

Let’s encode and decode secret messages like Julius Caesar!

Notice, Wonder: Silver Torch

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

What’s In My Brain!? Walnut vs Clouds

Let’s look at living vs non-living things.

Introducing Universal Theme of Power

So what could you do with a Universal Theme of Power? Well, here’s an introduction that will get your students’ brains sweating.

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!

New Uses for a Paperclip

So what are some new ways to use a paperclip?

Think Like A Historian

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

Anti-Checkers

Sure, anyone can win at checkers… but can you lose!?

Analyze Characters Using Philosophy

What is the Brick Pig’s philosophy? How would he apply it to the characters in Harry Potter?

Ultimate (or Inception) Tic Tac Toe

What if each square on a Tic-Tac-Toe board had another Tic-Tac-Toe board inside of it?

Writing About Art: The Scream

Your students will turn the iconic painting The Scream into a vivid, sensory poem.

What’s In My Brain: Owl vs Eagle

Some of these animals are nocturnal and some are diurnal.

Self Portraits Part One: Line Drawings

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

Addition: 3 Digits Plus 2 Digits (Multiple Solutions)

Typical practice problems don’t move students up Bloom’s Taxonomy. With this framework, you’ll see kids stop and really think about how to approach multi-digit addition.

Game: Snakes

In this grid-based strategy game, who will be the last to add to the snake?

Think Like A Philosopher

What would Socrates have thought if he watched Frozen?

Writing A Thanksgiving Letter

What if an inanimate object could express thanks for a special person in your life? What would it write?

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.

Game: Order and Chaos

Imagine Tic-Tac-Toe if both players could play as both Xs and Os!

Ghost

Ghost is a word-building game for two players. The first person to create an actual word loses.

Upgrade Research Questions With Depth and Complexity

Ever ask students to create research questions? Were their ideas a bit… blah? My own students had a very hard time writing questions they didn’t already know the answer to! This video is how I solved that problem: upgrade research questions with depth and complexity.

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!

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.)

Building Creative Analogies

We’ll take two seemingly unrelated pieces of content (say volcanoes and the human body) and then build analogies to connect the two ideas. In the end, students can create a skit, comic, or story relating the two concepts.

The Thinking Hats

So… do your students moan when forced to work in a group? Part of the problem is that lack the structure to work well with peers. Edward de Bono’s Thinking Hats are a perfect tool to help with this problem.

Universal Themes

For Teachers

Universal Themes are an easy way to connect lessons, units, and content areas, even going across grade levels, and into students’ personal interests.

Persuasion and Packaging: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

How does a drink’s packaging affect us emotionally and logically?

Depth and Complexity: 📈 Trends

Has something been changing recently? What might be causing that? What are the effects?

Educational Valentines

Let’s make valentines with an educational twist!

Introduce Symbolism with Pixel Art

Create a pixelated icon that represents the essence of a character!

Characters’ Talents and Multiple Intelligences

How do characters from novels line up with Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences?

Math Curiosity: Palindromic Number Conjecture

Using this one weird trick, it seems that you can turn any number into a palindrome!

Students and Personality Types

For Teachers

How can our students be so different? And how can we help them to understand themselves and each other better.

Multipotentiality: Excellent at Many Things

For Teachers

Why being good at many things can be a bit of a burden.

Asynchrony: Developing At Different Rates (For Students)

For students! In some areas, a student may be shockingly advanced, while in others… surprisingly average. This is asynchrony in action.

Motivation and Moral Development

Can someone do the right thing, but for the wrong reason?

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!

Teaching Empathy With Faberge Eggs

The story of the Fabergé Eggs is heartbreaking. It’s also the perfect way to build empathy in your classroom.

Intellectual Intensity

Do you know someone who becomes a bit overexcited by ideas?