The Game of 100 is a simple game requiring no supplies, yet it opens up a rich world of exploring strategy and a little mental math.
Differentiation TechniqueThink Big! But Also Small.
Read The OverviewMoving Between the Specific and Abstract
When differentiating, it's helpful to note where on the "spectrum of abstraction" your content lies. Then, see what happens when you move that content to be more abstract or more specific. It often unlocks lots of new opportunities for thinking.
Specific Examples of “Think Big! But Also Small.”
Differentiate Math with Inductive Learning
With inductive learning, we still define terms, explain rules, and practice, but the order is different. We’re harnessing gifted students’ natural abilities to enhance our lessons.
Climbing Bloom’s Taxonomy In Science
Science should be more than memorizing facts. Let’s spice it up and push our students from the doldrums of remembering to the soaring heights of evaluation. While it’s true that this will take longer than just following a textbook, we’re not just teaching facts, we’re equipping students with the ability to make well-informed judgements.
Coats of Arms, Seals, and Other Heraldry
Symbolic seals, crests, and coats of arms are a common concept across cultures. From the simplicity of Japanese mon to the regality of English coats of arms all the way to America’s Great Seal, humans around the world create graphical representations of themselves.
Multiple Perspectives: Right And Wrong At The Same Time?
It’s essential to teach our students to think flexibly and consider multiple points of view. Flexible thinking leads to product innovation, diplomacy between nations, and advances in science. School, however, often encourages students to settle into a “one right answer” mindset.
Inductively Evaluate Website Reliability
Last time, we discussed a few ways to help students search Google. Google helps us find related websites, however its ranking system does not necessarily return the most reliable pages. The final step requires our human mind to make difficult decisions that computers can only approximate. Simply choosing the top result is not enough. We must teach our students to evaluate websites.
Analyzing Suffixes Inductively
The year opens with a vocabulary skill analyzing “Suffixes: -ful, -less, -ly.” I adjusted this lesson to examine how these suffixes change the part of speech of words, rather than the meaning.
An Inductive Exploration of Linear Graphs
Let’s play with linear graphing! First, don’t set this up as a direct instruction lesson. That wouldn’t be playing. Instead, capitalize on your students’ ability to think inductively and recognize patterns. Set up a situation where they can construct their own meaning.
Exploring Circumference With Famous Circles
Remembering the formulae for area and circumference of a circle is often a challenge for students due to their surface similarities as well as the additional confusion of radius and diameter. I like to tackle them one at a time and give students a chance to explore the origin of each formula. Let’s look at circumference today by utilizing some famous circles from around the world… and beyond!
All About Character Archetypes
Another example of “structure that increases creativity” is character archetypes. An archetype, according to Wikipedia, is “an original model of a person, ideal example, or a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or emulated.” Let’s use an inductive lesson to teach our students about these literary tools.