Playlist: Bookmarks
Words Within Words: CORNMAZE
How many words can you find within CORNMAZE?
Natural Disasters Tournament
Earthquake vs. hurricane. Tsunami vs. wildfire. Students set the criteria, argue their case, and crown a champion. Warning: it gets heated.
Bobbing for Apples
What is bobbing for apples like… for an apple?
The Heaviest Pumpkin
How heavy is the world’s heaviest pumpkin when measured in Mr. Byrds?
Super Specific Similes: Quick Baby
Let’s make this simile about a quick baby even more specific.
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?
Shift Cipher (Codes Part 1)
Let’s encode and decode secret messages like Julius Caesar!
Word Pyramids
Start with a one letter word, add another letter, then add another. How tall can you make the pyramid?
Notice, Wonder: Rosetta
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
Notice, Wonder: Critter
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
The 8th Wonder of the World Tournament
Which of these eight wonders deserves to become the Eighth Wonder of the World!?
Writing Differentiated Lesson Objectives
For TeachersMy early lessons didn’t even have objectives, let alone good objectives! Here’s how to build four-part, differentiated lesson objectives.
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?
Game: Wild Tic Tac Toe
Imagine Tic-Tac-Toe, but both players can both play as both X and O throughout the whole game!
Game: Number Scrabble
What if we played Tic-Tac-Toe with numbers and instead of three-in-a-row, we add up to 15? Well… then we’d have Number Scrabble!
Disneyland Parking Structure Math Project
Your students will use estimation strategies to figure out how many parking spots are there in the parking structure at Disneyland? And you bet I reveal the real answer!
Paragraphs: Systems of Sentences
Blow up a paragraph into individual sentences. Now reassemble it. The clues hiding in each sentence will surprise you.
Notice, Wonder: Akron
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: 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!
Game: Order and Chaos
Imagine Tic-Tac-Toe if both players could play as both Xs and Os!
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!
Math Curiosity: The Coloring Problem
No video gets me more email from students! How few colors can you use to color in any map so that no two, neighboring regions are the same color?
Place Value (Beyond Base 10)
Place value is something we cover in elementary school. It seems simple, but I’d wager that very few adults really understand the topic. I sure didn’t until I worked with non-base-10 number systems in college. Your students can get a taste of this mind-boggling experience by imagining what it would be like if we didn’t have the number 9. What would each digit represent then?
Doubling Dollars
Say you have a dollar. Say you can double that dollar each day: $1, $2, $4, and so on. How long will it take to reach… one million dollars? Not as long as you might think!
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.
Multiple Meaning Matcher – Introduction
Your students will try to match up definitions that belong to the same homophone in this brain-boggling vocab puzzle.
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.
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!
Greek and Latin Dinosaur Names
Let’s create a new dinosaur using Greek and Latin stems!