Language Arts

Think Like A Psychologist

Looking to help your students go deeper into any content area? One technique is to teach them to "Think Like A Disciplinarian." This idea, part of the Depth and Complexity Framework, teaches students to analyze ideas from the point of view of a specific profession or discipline.

Picture Books and Stories for Introducing Depth and Complexity

Three picture books that I've used (or would use) to introduce Depth and Complexity to students of any age.

Matilda – Book Study Ideas

Roald Dahl's Matilda, a childhood favorite of mine, opens up some fantastic discussions about adults, being brave, and how power can be used and abused.

A Holiday-Themed Shakespearean Sonnet

Now we're going to create our own holiday-themed Shakespearean Sonnet. To add complexity (and help our students get started!), we'll write from the point of view of a specific holiday decoration, tradition, or character.

Think Like A Philosopher

Up near the top of Bloom’s taxonomy is “evaluating.” A great use of this level of thinking is to evaluate a character’s ethical choice. But we can go deeper! Let’s ask students to evaluate characters’ actions based on another character’s point of view. To add another layer, we’ll teach kids about philosophers and use their points of view as well.

Over-Scaffolding Writing

Here's what happens when we make a scaffold the final product.

How To Run A Novel Study

When you read a book with students, avoid getting bogged down with the nitty-gritty. Just pick one big idea and have fun reading! No quizzes, no memorizing, no essays. Just develop your students' love of reading.

How I’d Change this Question from my Textbook

Here are a dozen ways to transform a not-so-critical-thinking question from one of my district's textbooks.

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