Three picture books that I’ve used (or would use) to introduce Depth and Complexity to students of any age.
Content Area: Language Arts
A Playlist That Shows A Character’s Change
Here’s how I’d take one task from my choice board and focus on making it great!
Free Verse from A Particular Point of View
My go-to writing task is a free verse poem written from a particular perspective. I learned this idea from my boss, Sandi, who learned it from Joan Franklin Smutny (I think!). You can use ANYTHING as your prompt. A piece of art works well to introduce the idea, but you can move to writing once […]
I Compared Characters, Yet Stayed At “Remember”
I set up an Analyze question, but never actually asked it! All of these questions are at the “remember” level.
How Do We Make On-Level Writers Into Advanced Writers?
I knew how to help my below-level writers become on-level. But how the heck do you make the next step?
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.
Writing in Pi-lish
Here’s the perfect constraint for March! Writing with the digits of Pi.
Analyzing Prefixes and Suffixes
Instead of just memorizing what a bunch of morphemes mean, we’re looking broadly, exploring patterns, finding unexpected similarities and weird differences.
From “Summarize” to “Synthesize”
Even what seems like a low-level “summarize” task can become beautifully high-level when we climb Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Rewrite It, But Don’t Use “E”
Here’s an interesting way to move students past mundane patterns in their writing. Ask for a rewrite, but without a letter (or two).