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The Content Imperatives: Going further with Depth and Complexity

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The Content Imperatives: Going further with Depth and Complexity

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The content imperatives are thinking tools designed to push students deeper into any content.

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So, you've met the eleven dimensions of depth and complexity. Now let's check out another set of thinking tools known as the content imperatives, also developed back in the day by Kaplan and Gould.
For the deepest of dives into the Content Imperative, check out the Depth and Complexity book I co-authored.
The Basics

Much like the depth and complexity prompts, the content imperatives are thinking tools designed to push students deeper into any content. Each content imperative has a corresponding icon, just like depth and complexity. And, just like depth and complexity, I recommend using emoji for the icons. They're convenient, free, and accessible from any device in any app.

Here are the five Content Imperatives (we'll dig deeper into each one a bit further down):

⏺️ Origin - Focus on the beginning of an idea.

⏬ Contribution - How does a factor affect an idea?

🔄 Convergence - How do several factors come together and interact while affecting an idea?

⏸️ Parallel - What is a similar idea from a different context?

↔️ Paradox - Look for dilemmas or impossibilities within a topic.

Two Big Mistakes

Easily the most common mistake I've seen (and made!) is to simply use these five tools as if they were just five more depth and complexity prompts. Instead, content imperatives are meant to be used in combination with depth and complexity.

Not just: "What is the ⏺️ origin of Batman?"

But: "What ⚖️ problems led to the ⏺️ creation of Batman?"

See how origin can combine with ethics to create a more focused question?

But here's big mistake number two: just asking kids to identify, identify, identify. Even with my upgraded question, it still just asks for a list of problems. We want kids to think not just stop at a list. So make sure you also prompt higher order thinking.

Contrast the ⚖️ problems that led to Batman's ⏺️ beginnings with those that led to Superman's ⏺️ beginnings.

Way better, right! But I wouldn't want to stop there either. After my students contrast the problems, we can do more thinking:

How did those ⚖️ problems ⏬ lead to such different 👓 personalities?

See, we always want to be writing sequences of questions, not just one-offs. And we want to make sure those questions prompt higher-order thinking, not just a list.

So the two big content imperatives mistakes:

1. Don't use content imperatives in isolation. Combine them with depth and complexity.

2. Don't just ask "identify" questions which can be fully answered with a mere list.

Now, let's go deeper into each content imperatives.

⏺️ Origin

Origin is all about the beginning of a topic. The icon ⏺️ is like a sun rising or a starting point.

With origin and depth and complexity, we can ask students to think about the ⏺️ beginning of a 🚦 rule, ⚖️ problem, 👓 point of view, and so on.

But we can also consider the 🚦 rules, ⚖️ problems, or 👓 points of view that led to a ⏺️ beginning.

⏬ Contribution

When we use ⏬ contribution, we're asking students to consider how a factor affects a topic. The icon shows arrows moving towards an idea.

When we combine ⏬ contribution and depth and complexity, students will think about how a 🚦 rule, ⚖️ problem, 👓 point of view, etc, ⏬ contributes to an idea.

And, while "contribution" sounds positive, contributions can certainly be negative or ambiguous.

Decide which ⚖️ problem most ⏬ contributed to the Great Depression.

🔄 Convergence

Convergence is all about multiple factors coming together and interacting with the topic. 🔄 Convergence is definitely messier than ⏬ contribution, which focuses on one isolated factor.

Students might be thinking about how multiple ⚖️ problems 🔄 converged to lead to a solution. They might consider how multiple 👓 perspectives 🔄 came together to create a new idea.

How does an author 🔄 bring together characters, setting, and actions to establish a 🏠 theme?

⏸️ Parallel

With ⏸️ parallel, we're asking students to look for interesting, unexpected similarities.

The key here is to push those parallels beyond the obvious.

Ask students to look for similarities across content areas, units, and grade levels.

I love this Byrdseed.TV lesson which asks kids to find the ⏸️ parallels between the human body and volcanoes.

↔️ Paradox

With this prompt, we're getting kids to think about impossibilities and dilemmas within a topic. Things that pull in two opposite directions (hence the icon!). I love ↔️ paradox.

The key here is to avoid jut asking kids to find paradoxes, but instead give them the paradox, and ask them to analyze/explain/evaluate.

In the United States, it's possible for a person to get fewer votes yet become the president. Explain the 👓 perspectives that led to this ↔️ paradox. Is it possible to change the 🚦 rules behind the paradox?

See how this get kids interacting with the paradox, rather than just identifying it?

I also have a bunch of fun paradox videos at Byrdseed.TV.

Some Final Examples

Here are a few more examples of questions that build on content imperatives, depth and complexity, and higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy.

Rather than just asking about "origins" in general, ask about "the ⏺️ origins of the 🚦 rules" or "the ⏺️ origins of the ⚖️ ethical problems" in the topic you're studying.

Don't just ask about "parallels," ask about "⏸️ parallel ⚖️ ethical issues" or "⏸️ parallel 🌀 patterns."

Ask how "👓 multiple perspectives 🔄 converge" or how "🌻 details 🔄 converge to form 🌀 patterns."

Compare and contrast the ⏺️ origins of the 🚦rules in the USA and England.

Analyze the ⏸️ parallels of two characters' 👓 perspectives.

Judge which 🌻 details ⏬ contributed most to the success of an experiment.

And, for more information on the Content Imperatives, check out the book I co-authored or watch the videos for each one at Byrdseed.TV.

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The Content Imperatives: Going further with Depth and Complexity

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So, you've met the eleven dimensions of depth and complexity. Now let's check out another set of thinking tools known as the content imperatives, also developed back in the day by Kaplan and Gould. For the deepest of dives into the Content Imperative, check out the Depth and Complexity book I co-authored.

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Enrichment activities for students K-8

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I want to make navigation easy, so you can use the to explore the site! Some great places to start are the , where I map out a drop down menus or the search function at the top right of the webpage ready-to-use resources. comprehensive curriculum for grades 1-8.

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3 tips for Supporting Gifted Learners while Distance Learning

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3 tips for Supporting Gifted Learners while Distance Learning

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3 Tips for Supporting Gifted Learners while Distance Learning

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Activities for K-12 using eggs.

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Eggs in the Classroom - American Egg Board

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Lesson plans and activities for kindergarten through high school educators

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Activities for grades 3-6

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Sign up and get five curiosity-provoking links every Friday for free.

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Get five free links to fascinating Puzzlements every Friday.

Send me the links!

If you aren't getting the emails, here's my best advice.

Creating A Culture of Curiosity

Many students don't feel comfortable being curious at school. They've learned that asking a question might make them look foolish, slow down the class, or even upset the teacher.

So if you want curious students, you have to retrain them to be curious again. You have to spend some time creating a culture of curiosity. This mailing list will give you the resources.

Each week, you'll get a list of five free links to fascinating images and intriguing videos to share with your class. Want to see some samples?

What Do I Do With This?

Take a few minutes on Friday, show your favorite puzzlement or two, and simply let your students be curious. Use these two prompts:

What do you notice?

Psst. Most people rush (or skip) this step. Give kids lots of time to notice things. It's the pre-req to our next step...

What do you wonder?

No pressure. No expectations. This is a chance for you to establish:

1. Routine: students come to expect a time to be curious.

2. Safety: they know they can ask a question without being hushed or sidelined.

3. Novelty: the puzzlements are fresh, interesting, and unexpected.

4. A chance for you to praise and (most importantly) model curiosity -- you should be wondering along with the class.

DO NOT: assign homework or create classwork out of these questions or you'll quench the fire.

Now it's time to sign up!

Puzzlements are brought to you by Byrdseed.TV.

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Get five free links to fascinating Puzzlements every Friday. Send me the links! If you aren't getting the emails, here's my best advice. Many students don't feel comfortable being curious at school. They've learned that asking a question might make them look foolish, slow down the class, or even upset the teacher.

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Lots of great information and ideas.

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Hello! I'm Ian Byrd. I've been writing about education since 2009. I grew up as a gifted student, taught gifted students, spoke at dozens of conferences, and led professional development around the US. Now, I take work off of teachers' plates by developing video lessons that they can just use. Check it out at Byrdseed.TV.

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Differentiated lessons from Ian Byrd that'll get your students' brains sweating.

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Virtual Tours of Museums Around the World

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Virtual Tours of Museums Around the World

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Explore all Collections on Google Arts & Culture.

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5 Over-Excitability Superpowers | NuMinds Knowledge Drop (ep12)

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Post Overview- support differentiation with technology

Differentiation in the Classroom vs. Differentiation with Technology

Differentiation is most simply meeting students were they are. In the classroom, differentiation often comes naturally for teachers.

For example, Ms. Smith looks up and see Tommy struggling with a lengthy assignment. Ms. Smith folds the paper in half and Tommy starts working on a limited amount of problems.

Or, Ms. Smith gives students a read and respond task. She notices one of her gifted learners, Sarah, has finished the assignment in 10 minutes. After checking her work, Ms. Smith provides a more in depth task to help Sarah use reading skills on a more advanced level.

Differentiation in the classroom is often a natural reaction to support our students. Online differentiation can be the same!

Each of these examples show natural differentiation. Ms. Smith saw a student struggling and responded with a tailored approach to support that student. But, in the time of digital learning at home, how do we continue to meet our students where they are? We embrace differentiation with technology.

Digital Differentiation in 3 Ways

1- Online Choice Boards

I think choice boards are my personal favorite way to differentiate in the classroom and with technology. They is flexible, student-lead and easy. With the sudden shift to online learning, teachers need easy and effective strategies to keep students on track.

Online, or digital, choice boards are perfect because the choice board format is familiar to a lot of students. They are a resource many teachers use in a traditional classroom. By providing students with a familiar method, they are better able to adapt to their changing education.

How To Create Digital Choice Boards

Easily create digital choice boards using Google Sheets! It makes differentiation with technology quick and easy.

Looking for math differentiation with technology? Utilize these 3 easy to create Google resources in your classroom.

2- Recorded Video Lessons

This was a method I only started experimenting with because of a need. Pre-COVID, I only recorded myself for continuing education classes and only one or two people watched the video.

During this crisis, as I was continuing to work through my master's in education classes, I was required to complete observations and provide video evidence of small group reading. To support my students without overwhelming them, I started posting pre-recorded lessons. With each recording, I included the lesson's agenda and any supplementary documents.

I enjoyed recording small group lessons using Loom. My group was only a handful of students, but this will be something I utilize in class next year!

I have to say, creating and recording the reading lessons was fun! I named the lessons Guided Reading Remix and the kids seemed to be excited and engaged, too.

Best of all, the lessons were at their pace and on their time. No nervously waiting for people to join a Zoom meeting or struggling through lagging or lack-of internet. Plus, the students could rewatch as they worked and didn't have to wait for me to send them a recording later. Differentiation with technology can be fun for students and teachers!

3- Self-paced Study

If you're teaching gifted learners, this is the ultimate differentiation with technology strategy! Often, gifted students need to dive deeper into concepts. They also require structure to support depth of learning. This means it is not enough to say "read and create" or "research a topic" and then leave students to work alone.

In order to guide students to reach depth of knowledge, we must be clear and specific in our approach. For example, you can provide a Google Slides document to students with everything they need. The slides could include a list of topics, kid-appropriate research sites, graphic organizers, and options for showing what they know.

This is a self-paced social studies lesson where students chose a historical figure, researched their contributions to society, and then created a museum exhibit to highlight their life.

Creating a self-paced study lesson doesn't need to take hours and hours. Here is my 5 step formula for quickly creating a simple lesson for my gifted students:

1. Pin-point the learning standard and skill/concept you want students to master.

2. Provide students with a choice of specific topic (ex- people, terms) to cover or the product (ex- presentation, poster) they could create.

3. Provide students anchor charts or notes to support their understanding. If research is needed, provide students with links to appropriate sites (ex- BrainPop, Ducksters, KidSearch)

4. Include a short rubric of expectations. I like a meet or does not meet rubric that uses wording from the learning standard.

5. Showcase exemplars from other students, if available.

If each of the steps in the formula is on one Google Slide, this process will take about 30-45 minutes to compile (depending on your proficiency with Google Drive). Keep in mind this is a very simple presentation. Feel free to spice it up with your own design, colors and photos!

Teachers Pay Teachers Products
Click to purchase on TeachersPayTeachers

Vocabulary Digital Choice Board provides 4 word study tasks plus a space to add 2 of your own tasks. This product downloads to your Google Drive for FREE.

Digital differentiation for enrichment with the May Calendar Choice Board- Digital Edition!

This bundle includes monthly choice board calendars for June, July and August. A great resource to turn the Summer Slide in the Summer Climb!

Choose a photo below to pin on Pinterest.

Share what you love!

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How to Support Differentiation with Technology in 3 Ways - Inspire Teach Grow

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Differentiation is most simply meeting students were they are. In the classroom, differentiation often comes naturally for teachers. For example, Ms. Smith looks up and see Tommy struggling with a lengthy assignment. Ms. Smith folds the paper in half and Tommy starts working on a limited amount of problems. Or, Ms. Smith gives students a read and respond task.

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Lindsey Nelson @ The Engineering Classroom

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Engineering Activities For Kids slideshow style

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The Frayer Model was developed by Dorothy Frayer, Wayne Fredrick, and Herbert Klausmeier back in 1969. I believe I first heard of this model through my pal David Chung. Here's how The Frayer Model works.

Concepts

First, the Frayer Model is for teaching a concept. A theme I've noticed in the work of education researchers in the 1960s was moving students toward thinking about concepts, not just facts. I find it amazing that, in the 21st century, we're still struggling to move away from isolated facts and towards bigger, abstract thinking - despite all of the work done 50-60+ years ago. I think, as a rookie teacher, I would have struggled to even explain the difference between a "concept" and a "fact."

Facts are isolated details. They're easy to test on a multiple-choice exam!

Earth is the 3rd planet from the sun.

A triangle has three sides.

Noble Gasses have a full outer shell of valence electrons.

Concepts are more abstract. They will contain facts and examples. Because they're abstract, they're difficult to define. You can't directly draw a concept, but you could create a symbol.

(Update: Ok, I've had emails. Yes, you can draw a specific planet, but then you're not drawing the concept of "planet." You're drawing the concrete idea of Jupiter. You can draw Asia, but you can't draw "continent.")

Here's how The Frayer Model helps to fully explain a concept to students - and helps me, as the teacher, better understand a concept!

Four Pieces

There are four pieces to the Frayer Model. When we introduce a concept to students, we will include:

Definition - This is (hopefully) self-explanatory, but it's worth noting that a mere definition is just the starting point. On its own, a definition is insufficient. That's why we have three more pieces. If you use Depth and Complexity, this might be the concept's 🏠 Big Idea.

Essential Characteristics - What are some specific 🌻 Details that will refine the possibly vague definition?

Examples. Give a few specific examples of this concept. I've seen folks use the ⏸️ Parallels content imperative as a symbol here.

Non-Examples are things that this term or concept do not apply to. I love non-examples and they're such an underutilized way to clear up a definition! You could use the ↔️ Paradox content imperative for this section.

It works for any concept, no matter the sophistication or content area. Here are three samples: "hero," "lake," and "prime number." But you could use the Frayer Model to deeply understand concepts as wide-ranging as "quadratic equation" and "Shakespearean sonnet."

Example for "Hero"

Definition: the chief character in a story who typically possesses courage and other noble qualities, and with whom the reader is expected to sympathize.

Essential Characteristics

Begins the story in a humble state

Often encounters a problem too big for them

Learns and grows during the journey to solve the problem

Meets a mentor along their journey

Finds friends to support them

Successfully solves the problem

Returns home as a new person

Examples

Dorothy Gale (Wizard of Oz)

Harry Potter (um, Harry Potter)

Frodo Baggins (Lord of the Rings)

Rey (Star Wars)

Marlin (Finding Nemo)

Non-Examples

The Tin Man (Wizard of Oz)

Dobby the House Elf (Harry Potter)

Gandalf (Lord of the Rings)

BB-8 (Star Wars)

Crush the Turtle (Finding Nemo)

Example for "Lake"

Definition: a large body of water surrounded by land

Example for "Prime Number"

Definition: a natural number greater than 1 that cannot be formed by multiplying two smaller natural numbers

Non-Examples

Other Uses

Now, the examples above were all typical school subjects, but you could use the Frayer Model to explain meta-topics. Create a Frayer Model for each of the prompts of Depth and Complexity.
Depth and Complexity tool of 🚦 Rules

Definition: the laws, expectations, or hierarchies in a topic that need to be obeyed.

Characteristics: if broken, there will be consequences; not always written down; can be changed; often created by people in charge;

Examples: "No running on the blacktop," "triangles must have three sides," "(unwritten) no climbing Mr. Byrd's bookshelf and jumping onto his desk"

Non-Examples: "Bring in a tissue box if you have extras," "some rectangles have congruent sides and some don't," "I weigh 155lbs"

Are you using a Universal Theme? The Frayer Model would be great for introducing Power, for example:
Universal Theme of 🏠 Power

Definition: the capacity to influence other people or things (this is so tricky to create!)

Characteristics: may be physical, emotional, or intellectual; can be natural or learned;

Examples: tsunami, money, a queen, language, electricity, etc.

Non-Examples: a speck of dust, a baby, a broken windmill (yes, you could argue against all of these! 😆)

When I first learned of the Frayer Model, I saw David Chung use it to define disciplines in the "Think Like A..." framework. You can see his work here under the Historian, Linguist, etc. links. Summarizing one of his examples:
Think Like a 👓 Linguist

Definition: Linguists study sounds, words, and phrases as well as the history and culture of languages.

Characteristics: Consider the cause and effect of history, culture, and etymology on a language.

Example Task: Consider the way modern languages change and are influenced by cultural trends (David lists more example tasks).

Non-Example Statements: (David doesn't have this category, so I made this up) "Old words are not worth using"; "Big words are too hard"; "I'm more of a math person";

You could create a Frayer Model to explain class expectations ("courtesy," "service," or "conscientiousness" might be great concepts to define) or to define what, exactly, a "teacher" is - and what's a "student"?

Wrap Up

Compare a complete Frayer Model to a mere definition and I'm sure you'll see how powerful it is to offer essential characteristics, examples, and non-examples. Sometimes it even pushes me as the teacher to clarify what the concept really means!

Oh, and here's a commonly used graphic organizer to represent the Frayer Model (PDF).

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Fully Explain Concepts with The Frayer Model

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The Frayer Model was developed by Dorothy Frayer, Wayne Fredrick, and Herbert Klausmeier back in 1969. I believe I first heard of this model through my pal David Chung. Here's how The Frayer Model works. First, the Frayer Model is for teaching a concept.

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How to Develop Culturally Responsive Teaching for Distance Learning

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How to Develop Culturally Responsive Teaching for Distance Learning

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Hammond distinguishes the differences between culturally responsive education, multicultural education and social justice education. Each is important, but without a focus on building students' brain power, they will experience learning loss.

When it comes to distance learning, applying culturally responsive teaching requires "remixing" education by borrowing from the best practices in how kids learn (Montessori, project-based learning, etc.) in a way that repositions the student as the leader of his own learning. By giving students more agency, the idea is to disrupt old routines around teaching and learning that make the student dependent on the teacher for receiving knowledge.

"It's going to stretch us a little out of our own comfort zones, but it's worth it in the long run if we can get students to continue to do that thinking," said Hammond.

She advises three strategies to help students gain that independence:

1. Deepen background knowledge

Many educators are understandably wondering whether they should teach new content or review familiar material. Hammond encourages educators to do the latter because cognitively dependent learners often have gaps in their background knowledge . "A lot of our students are compliant learners," she said. "They're having a hard time shifting right now [because] they're used to the worksheet, but that doesn't mean they're always processing information."

She advises teachers to help students connect new things they're learning to their brain's existing schema - also known as background knowledge - that comes from home, their community, their interests. Teachers can then give them authentic tasks that help them make meaning and connections. This helps turn new inert information into usable knowledge. "You cannot give another person background knowledge," she explained. "They have to acquire it, but as teachers we can help guide the process." This can be done by building upon student interest.

"Survey your students if you don't know what they like," said Hammond. Ask them what books they enjoy reading or what topics get them super excited. She said It doesn't matter if their interests are broad or narrow; it's important to learn what interests them so that you can use that information to:

Assign non-fiction books that build on student interests.

Create a "Netflix" playlist of documentaries, nature shows, historical events, etc.

Encourage kids and parents to do a walk-about, if that's possible in their community, following social distancing guidelines. Encourage parents and students to seek out community curiosities (landmarks or interesting sights) relevant to students' interest.

With each of these activities, it's important to give the students direction so they know what to look out for. "You have to tell the brain what to pay attention to," Hammond explains. She suggested questions like, "What was your biggest surprise from this book/show?" or thinking routine sentences like "I Used to Think ___. But, now I think ____."

She said to always make sure that students do something with the knowledge as well. She suggested having them share interesting facts they learned either during video conferences or via an audio/video clip. For those students with limited internet access, encourage them to share what they learned with their parents.

2. Cultivate cognitive routines

Growing students' brain power during distance learning starts with building cognitive routines. These routines are essential to processing and hardwiring information in the brain.

"Be the personal trainer of their cognitive development," Hammond said. To do this, she suggested having a routine set of prompts in each packet that become a regular part of the way students think. That way, students begin to think that way even when you're not in the classroom to reinforce that way of thinking.

One example is to ask students to connect the "unknown to the known" or across concepts by asking questions like, " What's the relationship or connection between these things?" or "How does this part fit into the whole? What are the parts of this whole?" These may seem simple, but these questions are critical when it comes to processing information so that students internalize these prompts until they become almost instinctual.

She said students should also be encouraged to sketchnote or doodle to actively process what they're learning as an alternative to note-taking. Sketchnoting can encourage people to make deeper connections to what they're hearing.

3. Build word wealth

Building a student's vocabulary is a key tool in equity strategies for schools. "Kids have different interests in words so find out where their energy is. You can have a differentiated assignment around word collecting, but the idea is to get them actively involved in word consciousness," said Hammond. She said there are many small but high-leverage ways to do this, such as introducing robust word study. A teacher can help students engage in wordplay, word consciousness and word knowledge. This should not happen through a worksheet assignment, but rather begin with building word consciousness of words in their community, home and home language.

Word games like Scrabble, Heads Up, Taboo or even word searches are small familiar but high-leverage activities because they're fun but also require a high cognitive load. You can create your own versions of these games and have students do this in any language. Students can also do word collecting activities like scavenger hunts, or make poetry using magnetic poetry. Students can also do a contrastive analysis, by comparing words they might find in Urban Dictionary to those they might find in a standard dictionary.

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How to Develop Culturally Responsive Teaching for Distance Learning | KQED

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Culturally responsive teaching is a powerful way to help students become independent learners, and it can be especially valuable during distance learning.

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Ideas for creating authentic connections, meaningful relationships and classroom camaraderie through the screen.

When schools transitioned to remote learning in the spring, teachers worked quickly to adapt lesson plans and curriculums for virtual classes, while also trying to maintain community and connection. This fall, not only will many educators continue that same work, but they will have the added challenge of building community with students they've never met.

To support educators who are trying to do this, we've compiled a list of strategies that can foster meaningful relationships and authentic connection in the virtual classroom. They come from the community building exercises we used during our three-day virtual New York Times Teaching Project summer institute. After several participants told us they planned to start the school year with some of these activities, we thought we should share them with all of our readers.

How are you planning to get to know your students while teaching remotely this school year? Let us know in the comments.
Please note: The activities we describe below were all conducted via , but many other video conferencing platforms have similar capabilities.

We started off our first professional development session with a series of discussion questions to get to know one another. Before the session, we selected a handful of questions from our daily student writing prompts that we thought would give participants an opportunity to learn something new about one another, while remaining low-stakes - no one had to share anything too personal.

Here's how it worked: We shared a question on the screen, then sent participants into breakout rooms with one other person to discuss. After four minutes, we brought them back to the main Zoom room. We shared the next question on our screen, then sent them back into a breakout room, this time with a different partner. We repeated the process a total of three times.

This quick game allowed for short but meaningful conversations and, at the end, participants had gotten to know three new people.

If you want to try this with students:

The teacher will need the ability to create breakout rooms and assign students to them on their digital learning platform.

We put participants in groups of two, but if you're starting the school year with this activity, consider that students might feel most comfortable talking in a group of three or four.

We gave participants four minutes to chat. Your students might need more or less time.

If we were doing this with students, we might give the class two minutes to write down some ideas in their notebooks before pairing them up to discuss.

"I have two cats." "I love eating Oreos dipped in peanut butter." "I speak two languages at home." These are the kinds of personal statements participants shared during our game of That's Me.

To set up the activity, everyone started with their cameras and microphones turned off. Then, one person came on camera and shared a statement about themselves like, "I have a sister." Anyone else who had a sister turned on his or her camera and said, "That's me!" Then, everyone turned their cameras and microphones back off and the next person made a statement.
If you want to try this with students:

Teachers need to have a remote learning classroom space that allows individual students to control their cameras and microphones.

If you're concerned that students might have trouble coming up with statements about themselves, you can provide the class with a list of possibilities from which to choose: "I like mint chocolate chip ice cream." "I have never tried surfing." "Math is my favorite subject. ..."

Instead of having students jump on the mic whenever they have a statement, you might have them use the "raise hand" icon or group chat to volunteer. Then you call on them one at a time.

This activity works best using the "gallery view" or something similar so you can see all participants.

A screenshot of some of the introductory videos Teaching Project participants made using FlipGrid.

Flipgrid is a video discussion tool that allows you to have face-to-face conversations without being in the same place at the same time. It's easy: You create a discussion topic. Share it with your class. Then, learners record and share short videos to respond.

Before our summer institute began, we asked our Teaching Project participants to create short Flipgrid videos introducing themselves, including their name, pronouns, subject area, location and the answer to a fun question of their choice:

What's your favorite show to binge-watch?

If you had to eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?

What's one thing that people don't know about you by looking at you?

After they posted their own videos, we asked them to reply to at least one other person's introduction. It was a way for participants to get to know one another and make connections before the sessions even started.
If you want to try this with students:

Teachers will need to create a class Flipgrid account. It's free.

The default video length is 90 seconds, but you can adjust it to anywhere between 15 seconds and 5 minutes.

Start by posting your own video answering the questions you ask students and reply to them as they post their own.

You might be familiar with the game Human Bingo: students walk around the room and mingle until they find someone that matches the facts listed on a bingo-style sheet. The student writes down the person's name, and the first student to get five in a row - or fill out the whole board - wins.

Well, we adapted this for the virtual classroom: We used the Flipgrid introduction videos to populate a Bingo board, with each space including a statement about one of the participants. Then, we displayed the board on a shared screen and invited participants to write, using Zoom's annotation tools, the correct names in each square. Participants discussed the answers in the chat and on the mic. The only rule was that you couldn't write your own name.

This can be a great follow-up to the Flipgrid introductions to see how many students watched their classmates' videos and remembered what they shared.
If you want to try this with students:

Zoom, and Google Jamboard all offer built-in annotation tools that students can use. We had participants practice by writing their names first so we could make sure everyone knew how to access the tools.

If you don't have access to a meeting annotation tool, then students can share answers in the chat or on the mic while the teacher writes them on the board.

If you have a large class, you can split students up into small groups in breakout rooms. Make it a competition: Whichever team completes the card first wins!

A screenshot from our one-word reflection activity at the end of the first day of our 2020 Teaching Project summer institute.

As a daily closing activity, we invited participants to sum up their reactions to the session on a written sign, then hold it up for everyone to see. The first day we asked them to describe how they were feeling in one word. Another day, we asked them to find a New York Times headline that reflected their moods. On the last day, we asked them to craft their own headlines, ones that captured how they felt and what they had learned after the three-day session.
If you want to try this with students:

For this activity, everyone will need to be able to see everyone else's screen. It works best in "gallery mode" or something similar.

Students will need a piece of paper and a marker so their text is easy to read on the screen.

You can use this activity to get a sense of students' emotional well-being at the end of each class or as an exit ticket to gauge their understanding of academic content.

What's going on in this picture? Look closely at the image above or view it in a larger size, then tell us what you see by posting a comment. On Thursday afternoon, we will reveal more about the image and its origins at the bottom of this post.

After participants had gotten a chance to get to know one another via the community-building activities, we introduced them to " What's Going On in This Picture? " one of our most popular Learning Network features. It encourages communication and collaboration - and teachers tell us it's fun for students too.

We sent participants into breakout rooms to look closely at the Times photograph above and discuss the three questions we ask every week as part of this activity:

Participants chimed in on the microphone and in the group chat to share their observations, offer their interpretations and build on one another's answers, while a facilitator summarized their responses and kept the conversation moving. This exercise isn't about getting the right answer; it's about examining an image, looking for details, practicing inference skills and then, based on the clues, drawing a conclusion.

If you like What's Going On in This Picture? then you should also consider trying What's Going On in This Graph? - its sister feature that we run with the American Statistical Association.

If you want to try this with students:

You can also put students into small groups in breakout rooms to discuss while viewing the image on The Times's website. Have them come back to the main room to share their conclusions with the rest of the class.

Participants from the Teaching Project they plan to use this activity in their classes to create a predictable weekly structure and as a warm-up activity to get students thinking and engaged before diving into academic content.

Sitting at a screen all day can be tiring and physically uncomfortable - even if the lessons or conversations are engaging. Throughout our Teaching Project, we tried to hold space for this reality by sharing a mindful moment together once a day.

One way we did this was by practicing different breathing techniques and mindfulness meditation. We practiced box breathing (exhale for four counts, hold for four counts, inhale for four counts, hold for four counts, repeat) and a five-minute body scan, like the one below.

Body Scan Meditation

A 12-minute practice involving the whole body, led by Tara Brach.

If you want to try this with students:

"How to Meditate," an article from the section, offers a step-by-step guide with various techniques, as well as audio guided meditations. You can start with a one-minute meditation and work your way up to 15 minutes.

You can play one of the guided meditations by sharing your audio on Zoom or lead your own.

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7 Activities to Build Community and Positive Classroom Culture During Online Learning (Published 2020)

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Ideas for creating authentic connections, meaningful relationships and classroom camaraderie through the screen. When schools transitioned to remote learning in the spring, teachers worked quickly to adapt lesson plans and curriculums for virtual classes, while also trying to maintain community and connection.

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I love a graphic organizer for differentiating reading and supporting all my students as they process information. However, I sometimes fall into a rut of using the same organizers for the same ideas over and over again. I'm looking at you Venn diagram.

What if we rethink the organizer's purpose and put a creative spin on how we use it? Oh, the possibilities!

Photo by Kaboompics .com from Pexels
Rethink the way you use graphic organizers in class

3 Ways to Rethink Differentiation
with Graphic Organizers

1- Repurposing: How can you use a popular organizer in a new way or in a different content area?

Try a Venn diagram for number families or a timeline for understanding story development. You might try a story map to help students understand connections in history by focusing on historical transitions as "plot." With a popular organizer, you can easily differentiate learning for all students.

Example: Story Map for Social Studies Concepts- Students in my 5th grade social studies class use a modified story map to "map out" World War II from start to finish. First, we broke the standard into the European Front and Japanese Front. Then, they filled in the when, where, who, why and how.

Student work sample: creating a "story" of World War II with a story map organizer usually reserved for reading assignments. This differentiation strategy supported all my students!

2- Creative Thinking: allow students to create an organizer from their own imagination to support their understanding.

When going the creativity route, insure students follow guide lines when creating their organizer. For example, a main idea organizer needs one main area and three- four supporting parts. Providing students with a checklist or student work sample can offer differentiation and scaffolding for struggling readers.

Example: Main Idea Organizers- Students spent several days reading an informational pieces call "Gulf Spill Superheroes". When they were ready to organize the main idea and supporting details, I allowed them to choose how they wanted to show their thinking.

One of my gifted students created a main idea graphic organizer in the shape of a jellyfish because the passage he was using was about saving sea life from oil spills. Differentiation for gifted learners can be a simple as allowing them to think outside the box.

3- Discussion- a place for students to process their ideas and feelings before small group or whole group conversations.

Practicing note taking while independently reading can support student comprehension. Similarly, using an organizer during shared reading can support engagement and offer differentiation for all students. Plus, you are differentiating the process by providing more than one way for students to express what they know.

Example: Novel Study Using TQE (thoughts, questions, epiphanies). What is the TQE method? It's a framework for guided discussion about novels, starting with small group and moving to whole group. For a full run down, check out this post from Cult of Pedagogy.

Guided questions I use to support students using the TQE method in novel study. Differentiation through questions and discussion is another great way to support all students in reading.

How do you organize information?
Let me know in the comments below.

Graphic organizers are not just for in-class assignments! You can use graphic organizers at home, too, with budgeting, cooking, cleaning, or scheduling. Personally, I have an organizer on my office wall that shows all the resources I want to create and who they will fit best- parents or teachers?

How are you use graphic organizers at home? I use one to map out all my product ideas for teachers & parents.

Differentiation for all students is as simple as using a graphic organizer.

Share what you love!

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How To Rethink Differentiation with Graphic Organizers - Inspired to Enrich

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I love a graphic organizer for differentiating reading and supporting all my students as they process information. However, I sometimes fall into a rut of using the same organizers for the same ideas over and over again. I'm looking at you Venn diagram.

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Promoting Rigor through Higher Level Questioning

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Promoting Rigor through Higher Level Questioning

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Presenter: Todd Stanley, Author and Gifted Services Coordinator
This webinar was recorded on May 19, 2020.

Promoting Rigor Through Higher Level Questioning: Practical Strategies for Developing Students' Critical Thinking from Prufrock Press on Vimeo.

Challenge students to think critically, as well as explore their curiosity and imagination. This free webinar explores the power of questioning to transform the classroom.

About the Book: Promoting Rigor Through Higher Level Questioning

Promoting Rigor Through Higher Level Questioning equips teachers with effective questioning strategies and includes questioning strategies for students' assignments, assessments, day-to-day activities, and classroom discussions.

About the Presenter

Todd Stanley is the author of more than 12 teacher education books, including Project-Based Learning for Gifted Students: A Handbook for the 21st-Century Classroom and Performance-Based Assessment for 21st-Century Skills. He was a classroom teacher for 18 years, teaching students as young as second graders and as old as high school seniors, and was a National Board Certified teacher. Learn more here.
Back to Webinar Archive

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Presenter: Todd Stanley, Author and Gifted Services Coordinator This webinar was recorded on May 19, 2020. Promoting Rigor Through Higher Level Questioning: Practical Strategies for Developing Students' Critical Thinking from Prufrock Press on Vimeo. Challenge students to think critically, as well as explore their curiosity and imagination.

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Project Based Learning for Gifted Students

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Project Based Learning for Gifted Students

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Project-Based Learning for Gifted Students
Presenter: Todd Stanley, Author and Gifted Services Coordinator

How do you get started with project-based learning with gifted students? This webinar with Todd Stanley will equip you with the skills to implement project-based learning, or PBL, in your classroom and to challenge and empower your students to build their skills through choice-based, authentic learning experiences.
This webinar was recorded on February 18, 2020.

Project-Based Learning for Gifted Students from Prufrock Press on Vimeo.

About Project-Based Learning for Gifted Students

Project-Based Learning for Gifted Students: A Handbook for the 21st-Century Classroom makes the case that project-based learning is ideal for the gifted classroom, focusing on student choice, teacher responsibility, and opportunities for differentiation.

About the Presenter

Todd Stanley is the author of more than 12 teacher education books, including Project-Based Learning for Gifted Students: A Handbook for the 21st-Century Classroom and Performance-Based Assessment for 21st-Century Skills. He was a classroom teacher for 18 years, teaching students as young as second graders and as old as high school seniors, and was a National Board Certified teacher. Learn more here.
Back to Webinar Archive

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Presenter: Todd Stanley, Author and Gifted Services Coordinator How do you get started with project-based learning with gifted students? This webinar with Todd Stanley will equip you with the skills to implement project-based learning, or PBL, in your classroom and to challenge and empower your students to build their skills through choice-based, authentic learning experiences.

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Thinking Like a Lawyer: A Framework for Teaching Critical Thinking to all Students

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Thinking Like a Lawyer: A Framework for Teaching Critical Thinking to all Students

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Thinking Like a Lawyer: A Framework for Teaching Critical Thinking to All Students
Presenter: Colin Seale, Founder of thinkLaw
Critical thinking is the essential tool for ensuring that students fulfill their promise. In this webinar, Colin Seale introduces and discusses his powerful but practical framework to close the critical thinking gap. Viewers will learn how to help students adopt the skills, habits, and mindsets of lawyers.
This webinar was recorded on April 1, 2020.

Thinking Like a Lawyer: A Framework for Teaching Critical Thinking to All Students from Prufrock Press on Vimeo.

About Thinking Like a Lawyer

Thinking Like a Lawyer introduces a powerful but practical framework to give teachers the tools and knowledge to teach critical thinking to all students. Using this framework, teachers will help students adopt the skills, habits, and mindsets of lawyers as they tackle 21st-century problems.

About the Presenter

Colin Seale is an educator, attorney, and critical thinking expert. He was also that kid who talked too much, "laughed too hard," and was an all-around smart aleck who eventually suffered from #idontcaresyndrome in his high school years. He founded thinkLaw, an award-winning organization, to help educators leverage inquiry-based instructional strategies that can close the critical thinking gap and ensure they teach and reach all students. Learn more here.
Back to Webinar Archive

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Presenter: Colin Seale, Founder of thinkLaw Critical thinking is the essential tool for ensuring that students fulfill their promise. In this webinar, Colin Seale introduces and discusses his powerful but practical framework to close the critical thinking gap. Viewers will learn how to help students adopt the skills, habits, and mindsets of lawyers.

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Differentiating Instruction With Menus
Presenter: Laurie E. Westphal, Ed.D., Author and Consultant

The best-selling Differentiating Instruction With Menus series by Laurie E. Westphal, Ed.D., helps teachers differentiate instruction with easy-to-use menus and exciting tools to challenge students. Learn how and why to use these choice-based resources in the classroom to engage students in meaningful learning experiences.

This webinar was recorded on October 2, 2019.
Differentiating Instruction With Menus from Prufrock Press on Vimeo.

About Differentiating Instruction With Menus

The Differentiating Instruction With Menus series offers teachers exciting tools to challenge and reach both gifted and advanced students in the classroom. Whether these students need enrichment, choice in independent practice, or even additional academic options resulting from curriculum compacting, these books provide teachers a complete ready-to-use resource.

About the Presenter

After teaching science for more than 15 years, both overseas and in the U.S., Laurie Westphal now works as an independent gifted education and science consultant nationwide. She enjoys developing and presenting staff development on low-stress differentiation strategies and using menus for various districts and conferences, working with teachers to assist them in planning and developing lessons to meet the needs of their advanced students. Learn more here.
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Presenter: Laurie E. Westphal, Ed.D., Author and Consultant The best-selling Differentiating Instruction With Menus series by Laurie E. Westphal, Ed.D., helps teachers differentiate instruction with easy-to-use menus and exciting tools to challenge students. Learn how and why to use these choice-based resources in the classroom to engage students in meaningful learning experiences.

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When Smart Kids Underachieve in School:  Practical Solutions for Teachers

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When Smart Kids Underachieve in School:  Practical Solutions for Teachers

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When Smart Kids Underachieve in School: Practical Solutions for Teachers
Presenter: Todd Stanley, Author and Gifted Services Coordinator

Why do some smart, advanced, and gifted students not reach their achievement potential? This webinar looks at reasons for underachievement and practical ways teachers can help.
This webinar was recorded on April 14, 2020.

When Smart Kids Underachieve in School: Practical Solutions for Teachers from Prufrock Press on Vimeo.

About the Book: When Smart Kids Underachieve in School

When Smart Kids Underachieve in School: Practical Solutions for Teachers takes a look at the 10 most common reasons why some smart, advanced, and gifted students do not reach their achievement potential. Each chapter discusses a different cause and three practical strategies that can be used to overcome it.

About the Presenter

Todd Stanley is the author of more than 12 teacher education books, including Project-Based Learning for Gifted Students: A Handbook for the 21st-Century Classroom and Performance-Based Assessment for 21st-Century Skills. He was a classroom teacher for 18 years, teaching students as young as second graders and as old as high school seniors, and was a National Board Certified teacher. Learn more here.
Back to Webinar Archive

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Presenter: Todd Stanley, Author and Gifted Services Coordinator Why do some smart, advanced, and gifted students not reach their achievement potential? This webinar looks at reasons for underachievement and practical ways teachers can help. This webinar was recorded on April 14, 2020. When Smart Kids Underachieve in School: Practical Solutions for Teachers from Prufrock Press on Vimeo.

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25 FREE Google Drawings graphic organizers

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25 FREE Google Drawings graphic organizers

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Templates allow you to manipulate organizers to your needs.

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Ed Tech

Sometimes, we just need some help organizing our thoughts - students AND educators.

Paper versions of graphic organizers can do a nice job of that. But by making them digital in Google Apps, they instantly become customizable. Multiple people can collaborate on them in real time. They can be shared with a link, embedded in a website or downloaded as an image file.

In short, digital graphic organizers are more versatile.

In Google Apps, there's a highly powerful yet highly overlooked app called Drawings. It gives users a blank canvas where they can add text, shapes, lines, etc. When done, they can save their work as image files or PDF files and can add those images to documents, slides and spreadsheets.
Drawings can be the virtual page where students can gather and process their ideas.

I used to shy away from doing a lot of graphic organizers because it's hard to design them in Google Docs; the moment I learned that you could change the page set-up to 8.5 x 11 inches, my world CHANGED. Now I rarely use Google Docs to make *anything*; I use Google Slides by default because I can add more graphics and have better control of the overall configuration. - Amy Nolan, high school English teacher, Commerce, Texas

Creating graphic organizer templates with Google Drawings

As Amy mentioned above, Google Slides can be used to create these as well as Google Drawings. The difference - Drawings focuses on one single page; Slides has multiple slides, which allows for multiple pages.

I've created 15 of them (see links below) that can be copied, saved, changed, tweaked or completely redone to fit your needs and your students' needs. We have added 10 more that were created by the Ditch That Textbook community and shared with us for this post.

It took me about 90 minutes to make 15 of them so that averages out to six minutes each. (Some were more time-consuming than others, and I got faster at making them as I progressed.)

Sharing your Google Drawings graphic organizers
Once you've created a graphic organizer (or have saved one of mine), there are a few easy ways to get them to your students:

If you use Google Classroom, create a new assignment and choose the option to deliver a copy of your graphic organizer to each student.

You can copy the URL (link) to the graphic organizer and deliver it to students via a class website, SeeSaw etc. You can also make a shorter, easier URL to type with URL shorteners like Bitly and TinyURL. (Check your Internet filter to make sure your shortened URLs come through. I've found that TinyURL works in most schools' filters.)

Using the blue "Share" button, click the "Get shareable link" button and set the document as "Anyone with the link" at the top and "Can view" at the bottom. That way, students won't be able to change your original copy and will have to make a copy of their own.

PRO TIP: When you copy a URL (link) to any G Suite file, it probably says "view" or "edit" at the end of it. If you change that word to "copy", it will force whoever opens that link to make a copy of the file instead of opening your file. That's another trick to keeping your original version from being altered. (If you assign it through Google Classroom, you won't need to do this.)

Here are 25 graphic organizer templates that can be used for many different subject areas and grade levels.

Feel free to make a copy of any of these google drawings templates and adapt them for your own use:

Question: What other graphic organizers would be useful to create in Google Drawings? Can you share a link to a graphic organizer you've created so others can use it, too? Leave a comment below!

Looking for even MORE G Suite resources?

Get our FREE ebook!
101 Ways to Ditch That Textbook with G Suite, tons of practical, creative ways to use Google tools in the classroom.

For notifications of new Ditch That Textbook content and helpful links: Interested in having Matt present at your event or school? Contact him by e-mail! Is Matt presenting near you soon? Check out his upcoming live events!

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©2023 Ditch That Textbook by Matt Miller.

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25 FREE Google Drawings graphic organizers - and how to make your own

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Using Google Drawings to create graphic organizers can help students gather their thoughts and customize to their needs. Here are 25 templates to get you started.

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3 Easy Icebreaker Games to Play on Video Conferences

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3 Easy Icebreaker Games to Play on Video Conferences

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3 Easy Icebreaker Games to Play on Video Conferences

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Bytes! S02E06 || 5 Ice-breaker Games To Play On Zoom

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Here's 33 National Park Tours You Can Take Virtually From The Comfort Of Your Home

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As we are all stuck at home, it's hard figuring out how we will keep the kids entertained. Well, say no more! I've gathered 33 National Park Tours you can virtually. Yes, that means you

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Q3 Question Cards with Content Imperative prompts

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Q3 Question Cards with Content Imperative prompts

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Sentence frames for implementing the content imperative icons.

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Create a new spreadsheet and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Sheets to edit Excel files. Free from Google.

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Copies of the imperative cards with detailed information on how to implement and differentiate instruction

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Great website with ideas and resources for differentiating instruction

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If you've been to this site before and are looking for something in particular that is no longer up, shoot me an email. I've been in the process of moving my site over to a new host. Thanks for being patient. Keep checking back, as there are new materials being put up regularly. Check out the Envision Gifted Pinterest Page

~Marcie

Ideas and resources for differentiating instruction for gifted and advanced learners.

Envision Gifted was designed with the hope to support teachers in meeting the unique learning needs of gifted and advanced students. There is a misconception that gifted students, " Will be fine. " regardless of the instruction they receive (or don't receive). This couldn't be further from the truth. Gifted students need and are entitled to differentiated instruction and learning opportunities. Despite this, much of the focus in education has been on how to differentiate to support struggling students.

It is my hope to share ideas on differentiating instruction for gifted and advanced learners and to contribute to the dialogue surrounding how to meet their unique needs. The ideas and lessons I share are not mine alone, but rather the result of building on the ideas of others who have been kind enough to share, collaborating with and receiving feedback from colleagues, and of course input from the ultimate critics: the students themselves.

Check out some of the new postings

Envision Gifted! Please share this site

Copyright © 2012 Marcie Griffith All rights reserved by author. Permission to copy or distribute is limited to single classroom use only unless permission is granted by the author. If you post or pin any of the ideas or content found here, please give credit and include a link back to this site so that others may benefit from the resources as well.

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Envision Gifted was designed with the hope to support teachers in meeting the unique learning needs of gifted and advanced students. There is a misconception that gifted students, " Will be fine. " regardless of the instruction they receive (or don't receive). This couldn't be further from the truth.

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Introduction to the Depth & Complexity Icons/Prompts 

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Introduction to the Depth & Complexity Icons/Prompts 

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The power point presentation includes snapshots of classroom examples.

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Depth and Complexity Icons: Everything You Need to Know!

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Depth and Complexity Icons: Everything You Need to Know!

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The Depth and Complexity icons are eleven tools that act as lenses, prompting students to look at a topic in a new way. They will help you to take your students deeper into grade-level material rather than moving them onto a new topic.

Sound too good to be true? Read on!

Get It All Via Email

Hey, if this long article is way too long you can take it in more leisurely through the Depth and Complexity Mailer. You'll get an email every week introducing a couple of the prompts. It's free!
Get Free Depth and Complexity Ideas
Onward!

Table of Contents

The Back Story

The overarching goal of Depth and Complexity is to move students towards expert knowledge of content. Bette Gould and Sandra Kaplan looked to understand how an expert understands their field differently from a layperson. Through interviews, they saw that these experts knew things like repeating patterns, required rules, ethical dilemmas, changes over time, and essential vocabulary within their field.

They identified eleven of these traits and assigned a name and a symbol to each. The idea is that students can move closer to an expert's level of understanding by thinking through these same lenses.

A Quick Example

The prompts of Depth and Complexity will sharpen your questions - and your students' answers.

See the sharpness in action:

"Compare and contrast Lincoln and Washington"

"Contrast the ⚖️ ethical dilemmas Lincoln and Washington faced."

"Compare the 🚦 rules Lincoln and Washington created as presidents."

See how broad and vague that first question is? It invites surface-level thinking. Using a prompt of Depth and Complexity raises expectations.

About Those Icons

Each tool is represented by an icon that gives students a visual shortcut to expert thinking. The tools' icons especially benefit younger students or those learning English. They unlock access to higher levels of thinking than those students' vocabulary would otherwise support. But their use should not be limited to just those students.

Even as a grownup, I use the icons when I take notes. If I spot an interesting dilemma, I'll sketch a little ethics icon to call it out. When I see a student draw an icon on their work, I know that they're calling out a certain way of thinking.

A final note about the graphical icons: beware relying on pretty clip art or professionally designed images. It sets the bar too high. Instead, draw the icons by hand as you teach. Encourage students to do the same. The Depth and Complexity prompts are ultimately students' tools, and students should feel empowered to use their tools whether they have access to specific clip art or not.
Sidenote: Read about why I use emoji for depth and complexity icons when using devices. They're free and easily accessible anywhere.
Depth and Complexity Basics

Here are the eleven prompts of Depth and Complexity along with a teeny explanation and a link to full articles.

❓
Unanswered Questions
Perhaps the most under-used of the prompts. It's so much more than "What questions do you have?" Instead, push students towards what we don't yet know about this topic. Or what can't we know? Consider questions that are truly unanswered to humankind.

📚
Across Disciplines
How does this topic represent an intersection of other fields? How do language arts and math appear within this topic?

📈

Trends

How a topic is currently changing and what forces are causing those changes? Trends is the prompt I'd most like to get rid of.

So that's the eleven prompts of Depth and Complexity. Yeah, there are a lot! But there's no need to use them all at first. Get comfy with, like, four. Plus, you'll be surprised how quickly you start to pick them up.

Want to get a series of emails explaining each Depth and Complexity prompt? Sign up for free here!

The Biggest Problem with Depth and Complexity

Without a doubt, the biggest problem people make with Depth and Complexity is: pairing an icon with a low level of Bloom's Taxonomy.

Look at these three tasks and think about what the level of thinking that each requires:

Identify the rules in this math problem.

List the important details about George Washington.

What are the patterns in the solar system?

Do you see it? ☝️ Every one of those questions requires merely a list as an answer. Even though I might be taking the content deeper, I'm still asking super low-level questions. I'm at the bottom of Bloom's - despite using depth and complexity.

And, now that I'm aware of it, I see it everywhere. Do a search for "depth and complexity worksheets" and spot all of the low-level questions out there. It's almost impossible to find any examples where the icons paired with high levels of Bloom's Taxonomy.

So please make sure to pair depth and complexity with high levels of thinking:

Compare/Contrast: How is Poe's 👄 language different from Lewis Carrol's?

Evaluate: Which author most effectively uses 👄 language to create their tone?

Synthesize: What would happen to the tone if we used some of Carrol's 👄language in The Raven.

See how we can go beyond "list the vocabulary words" and really get kids thinking?

Depth and Complexity Resources

Ok! Let's take a break here and I'll point you to a few Depth and Complexity resources that I've had a hand in creating:

If you'd like to continue on, I have an article about how to introduce depth and complexity to students.

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Depth and Complexity Icons: Everything You Need to Know!

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The dimensions of depth and complexity are a great first step towards a classroom differentiated for gifted learners. Learn the basics of these thinking tools and begin incorporating them into your lessons tomorrow!

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Introducing Depth & Complexity Icons/Prompts 

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Introducing Depth & Complexity Icons/Prompts 

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Mini lessons for each of the prompts to help introduce them to students.

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Templates for Depth and Complexity Icons/Prompts

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Templates for Depth and Complexity Icons/Prompts

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An amazing assortment of templates for implementing interactive activities into lessons.

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Racing Games

No preparation required, just have a sheet of vocabulary or review questions in your hand. Click a button on the screen and the car or horse moves one step closer to the finish line and victory. (Whole Class Participation Game)

Download Car Race (Beach Rally)
Download Horse Race

| Instructions | Office 2007 Instructions | Video Tutorial |

What is Louie Thinking (Pyramid Game Show)

Similar to Pyramid Game. In this game students will describe words or phrases that Louie is thinking about in an effort to get other students to say those words or phrases. But they have to be fast, Louie only gives them a short amount of time to read his mind! (Whole Class Participation Game)

Download Guess Louie

| Instructions | Office 2007 Instructions | Sample Game | Video Tutorial |

March Mayhem - Basketball

Great for the Basketball March Madness time of year. An engaging Basketball game for the whole class! Instructor asks a question, if a student or team gets the question correct, the teacher clicks a button that shoots the ball. Computer then assigns points to the shot. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins. No preparation required, just have a sheet of vocabulary or review questions in your hand and launch the game.
(Whole Class Participation Game)

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Big Board Facts (Jeopardy Game Show)

Similar to Jeopardy. Put your who, what, when, where questions onto the board and let students try to answer them for points. Also comes in a "with answers" version that allows the teacher to show the correct answer after the question. The "with Answers" version provides an Answer screen after the question. (Whole Class Participation Game)

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Download Big Board Facts with Answers Slide

| Instructions | Office 2007 Instructions | Sample Game | Video Tutorial |

Easter Bunny Road Race

No preparation required, just have a sheet of vocabulary or review questions in your hand. Click a button on the screen and the Easter Bunny of your choice moves one step closer to the finish line and victory. Five correct answers will get your Easter Bunny across the finish line where there is cheering and applause. Great for whole class vocabulary review or test review for any subject. (Whole Class Participation Game)

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The Big Wheel

No preparation required, just have a sheet of vocabulary or review questions in your hand. Simply click "Spin the Wheel" and total up the points in the columns on the right. The Big Wheel Elementary is the same except that it has smaller numbers on the wheel. (Whole Class Participation Game)

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Download The Big Wheel Elementary

| Instructions | Office 2007 Instructions | Video Tutorial |

Easter Themed Timer

This is a very simple Easter themed PowerPoint timer that you can use in your classroom or training. As a teacher or trainer there is no longer any need to wonder where the minute or second hand was when you told your students they had 5 minutes. You can use this timer immediately. This timer is a good basic clock that can countdown almost any time from one hour down. Simply open it, start the PowerPoint show and click on the time to start.

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Sunken Treasure

There is treasure buried behind one of the square grids overlaying this picture of islands. Can you find it? No preparation required, just have a sheet of vocabulary or review questions in your hand. (Whole Class Participation Game)

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Align the Stars

Plays similar to Connect Four board game. No preparation required, just have a sheet of vocabulary or review questions in your hand. When a team answers a question correctly they are allowed to pick a star on the board. First team to line up four stars in vertical, horizontal, or diagonal line wins. (Whole Class Participation Game)

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| Instructions | Office 2007 Instructions | Video Tutorial |

Easter Themed Big Wheel Game for Whole Class

No preparation required, just have a sheet of vocabulary or review questions in your hand. Simply click "Spin the Wheel" and total up the points in the columns on the right. This Easter themed game is great for all ages. (Whole Class Participation Game)

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What's Behind the Box?

Place a picture behind the boxes, then you remove one box at a time until the entire picture is uncovered. Allowing students opportunities to guess the picture all along the way. No preparation required, just have a sheet of vocabulary or review questions in your hand. The 8 block version is quicker since it only has 8 boxes to be removed. (Whole Class Participation Game)

Download What's Behind the Box 8
Download What's Behind the Box 16

| Instructions | Office 2007 Instructions | Video Tutorial |

Basketball Scoreboard Timer

Similar to the countdown clock, this timer simply counts down from a chosen set of minutes. Following the instructions, you can change the scoreboard to represent your school or team. You can place clip art and text on the timer to make it your own.

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Space Decoder

A simple space based drill and practice game. Put in your questions, then blast off. Contains five mini games that students progress through. Each game gets progressively harder as the student successfully completes each level. (Single Student Game)

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| Instructions | Office 2007 Instructions | Sample Game | Video Tutorial |

Simple Bowling

No preparation required, just have a sheet of vocabulary or review questions in your hand. If a student or team gets the question correct, the teacher clicks the bowling ball, and a random number of pins are knocked down. Scores for each toss are added until a winner is declared. (Whole Class Participation Game)

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Open the Door (Plays like Let's Make Deal TV Show)

Plays Similar to "Let's Make a Deal". If a team gets a question correct they can pick one of three doors. Two doors have nice prizes behind them, while one door has no prize. Scores are kept and the team with the most dollars at the end is the winner. No preparation required, just have a sheet of vocabulary or review questions in your hand and launch the game. (Whole Class Participation Game)

| View Video of Game | Purchase Game Now! |

Even More Games!

Want to learn more about using digital games like these to enhance teaching and learning? In the book, Everybody Wins: A teachers guide to customizing games for any curriculum , Dr. Jeff Ertzberger takes his knowledge of classrooms and games and shares his strategies for designing games that enhance any curriculum or topic. In addition to the book comes complementary access to Dr. Ertzbergers premium game template web site which contains even more great templates and games for classroom use. The book is available as a digital download, so you can get access to the book and extra templates immediately.

Click here to learn more about the book, and premium template web site. .

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Looking for a great teacher gift. Look no more. We have teamed up with TABoxes to provide our resources as part of a gift. Learn more at Teacher Gifts

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Game Templates and Utilities by Dr. Jeff Ertzberger at the Watson College of Education at UNC Wilmington

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No preparation required, just have a sheet of vocabulary or review questions in your hand. Click a button on the screen and the car or horse moves one step closer to the finish line and victory. (Whole Class Participation Game) Download Car Race (Beach Rally) Download Horse Race | Instructions | Office 2007 Instructions | Video Tutorial | Similar to Pyramid Game.

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California Association for the Gifted (CAG)

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California Association for the Gifted (CAG)

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Register today! What's Inside:
Join us February 21-23, 2020 in Palm Springs, California for the 58th Annual California Association for the Gifted Conference.

Join us February 23, 2020 in Palm Springs to learn more about the intellectual, social, and emotional needs of your gifted child. Sessions available in English and Spanish.

Message from the President

What does it mean to be Twice Exceptional (2E)?

CAG Conference Keynote Sessions

Why Should You Attend the 2019 Conference?

Saturday Social

#CAGcon Registration At-A-Glance

57th Annual CAG Conference Kickoff

For General Information or questions regarding the 58th Annual CAG Conference, including Registration and Vendor information, please contact Conference Chair Krista Landgraf and Krisa Muller: CAGConferenceContact@gmail.com

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2020 Conference At-A-Glance Join us February 21-23, 2020 in Palm Springs, California for the 58th Annual California Association for the Gifted Conference. Register today! #CAGcon 2020 Schedule At-A-Glance Join us February 21-23, 2020 for #CAGcon 2020. Register today! Parent Day Join us February 23, 2020 in Palm Springs to learn more about the intellectual, social,...

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Free download for frame activities.

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Free, editable frames for use with the Depth & Complexity icons are hard to find. This free, editable PowerPoint shares two free frames to use with the Depth & Complexity icons, as well as instructions and copy-and-pastable (is that a word???) icons.

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National Association for Gifted Children

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National Association for Gifted Children

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Resources for Parents

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National Association for Gifted Children 

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National Association for Gifted Children 

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Supporting the Needs of High-Potential Learners

Together staff and leaders support and develop policies and practices that encourage and respond to the diverse expressions of gifts and talents in children and youth from all cultures, racial and ethnic backgrounds, and socioeconomic groups. NAGC supports and engages in research and development, staff development, advocacy, communication, and collaboration with other organizations and agencies who strive to improve the quality of education for all students.
Find out who we are Review our goals & priorities Learn about NAGC awards and scholarships Discover the value of membership

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Supporting the Needs of High-Potential Learners Together staff and leaders support and develop policies and practices that encourage and respond to the diverse expressions of gifts and talents in children and youth from all cultures, racial and ethnic backgrounds, and socioeconomic groups.

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48 Essential Links for the Parents of Gifted Children 

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48 Essential Links for the Parents of Gifted Children 

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Every parent hopes for their child to be smart and to excel in school, but sometimes parents just don't know what to do with a child who is especially exceptional. Keeping him or her challenged, interested, and engaged can be tough, as can dealing with an educational system that doesn't always focus on helping out bright students. Parents of gifted children should know that they're not alone and that there are hundreds of resources on the Web that can help every step of the way. Here are some we think stand out from the crowd, offering advice, information, support, and educational resources to help you support and encourage your child's special abilities.

Organizations

These organizations help gifted students and their parents get the education, emotional support, and guidance they need to grow up happy and well-adjusted.

1. National Association for Gifted Children: The National Association for Gifted Children is one of the best places for parents of gifted children to find resources, reading, help, and advice on raising an exceptional child.

2. IAGC: The Illinois Association for Gifted Children is just one of many state-centered organizations for gifted kids. Parents can join, find other families, and even attend special events.

3. Gifted Child Society: The Gifted Child Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to furthering the cause of gifted children. Through their website, parents can find helpful information and learn about seminars and workshops they can attend.

4. GPGC: The Governor's Program for Gifted Children is a seven-week residential summer enrichment program for gifted students. Parents can learn more about the program, held at McNeese State University, from their website.

5. SENG: SENG is short for Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted and is an organization that wants to help ensure that gifted children are understood, accepted, nurtured, and supported by their families, schools, and workplaces.

6. Mensa for Kids: Mensa embraces younger members through this fun website, offering up monthly themes to get kids reading and learning at an advanced level.

7. Institute for Research and Policy on Acceleration: Find out more about the latest research being done into academic acceleration through this organization's site.

8. Center for Talented Youth: Located at Johns Hopkins, this organization engages gifted kids and their families through programs, summer classes, and even a bi-monthly magazine.

Twitter

Find quick 140-character-or-less quips and updates about working with, parenting, and helping gifted children from these excellent Twitter feeds.

1. @DeepWatersCoach: Lisa Lauffer works with the group Gifted Grownups & Parents of Gifted Children, offering support through her Twitter feed and beyond.

2. @gifted_guru: Head to this feed to hear from Lisa Van Gemert, a gifted youth specialist for Mensa.

3. @JeffcoGifted: This nonprofit group of parents, teachers, and community leaders tweets about advocacy and resources for gifted kids.

4. @HoagiesGifted: Head to this feed to get resources and articles aplenty about gifted education and parenting.

5. @laughingatchaos: Jen is a mom raising gifted kids. She shares her experiences, both the good and the bad, here and on her blog.

Blogs

These blogs offer excellent advice and resources to parents, teachers, or anyone working with gifted children.

1. About.com Gifted Children: Carol Bainbridge, an expert on gifted children, maintains this blog, which is chock full of learning ideas, information, and more.

2. Parenting Gifted Kids: Head to this blog, written by gifted educator Sarah Robbins, to learn more about how to challenge and help your gifted child.

3. Gifted Exchange: This blog focuses on gifted kids, touching on issues of schooling, parenting, education, and more, all written by the staff at the Davidson Institute for Talent Development.

4. The Prufrock Blog: Prufrock is one of the leading publishers of materials for gifted, advanced, and special needs students. On this blog, you'll find updates on their latest releases.

5. Unwrapping the Gifted: Head to this Education Week blog to hear from Tamara Fisher, a K-12 gifted education specialist. She gives great insights into gifted and talented education.

6. Parents of Gifted Children Resource Group: Here, parents can find resources and make connections with other parents of gifted children.

7. Gifted Parenting Support: This blog is an excellent place to read more about how to parent and educate children who are gifted and talented.

8. Gifted Guru: This blogger offers up resources, books, commentary, and more on the subject of gifted education.

9. Gifted Education Perspectives: Follow this blog to learn more about all things gifted, from what defines it to how to best educate bright students.

10. Creating Curriculum for Gifted Children: This blog approaches gifted kids from an educator's perspective, but parents can also learn new ways to challenge and interest their children.

11. Gifted Education Consultant: Sonia White, author and gifted education specialist, shares her passion for helping gifted children through this blog.

12. Gifted Phoenix: On this blog, parents can find some insights into giftedness issues, education, and parenting, from a New Zealand perspective.

13. Byrdseed: Focusing on creativity, accelerated learning, literature, and more, this blog offers resources and inspiration to gifted educators and parents of gifted kids.

Resources

If you're looking for resources to help you parent, choose a school, or just support your child, these sites are great places to start.

1. Hoagies' Gifted Education Page: On this site, you'll find a bit of everything, from conference listings to tips on understanding your gifted child, making it an excellent resource for any parent.

2. Gifted Development Center: Looking for information about giftedness and how to raise a gifted child? Dr. Linda Silverman provides both on this helpful site.

3. Gifted Child Today: This open-access journal is a great read for parents who want to learn more about how to cater to the needs of their gifted child.

4. Gifted Child Quarterly: Another open-access journal, this journal is a bit more scholarly, publishing research done on giftedness and talent development.

5. Summer Camps for Gifted Children: Looking for a great way to keep your child busy and learning over the summer? These summer camps could be a great choice.

6. Exquisite Minds: Parents and teachers who work with gifted children can find resources, online games, tips, tools, and more on this social site.

7. Royal Fireworks Press: Head to this publisher's website to find great reads for both you and your gifted child, especially if you're homeschooling.

8. BrightKids: BrightKids is a discussion group for parents of gifted children and is maintained through MENSA. You can join here and get tips and advice from other parents of bright kids.

9. Schools for the Gifted Child: Wondering where to send your gifted child? This site lists schools in six countries.

10. Educational Resources for Parents and Teachers of Gifted Youth: Mensa is a great place to look for help with a gifted child. Here, they offer up a collection of resources for parents and teachers that ranges from lesson places to fun activities.

11. Gifted Homeschoolers Forum: Even if you're not homeschooling your child, this site offers a chance to get resources and talk to parents who are also working to raise gifted children.

12. Genius Denied: This is the website for the book Genius Denied, an expose of the ways in which the American education system often ignores its brightest students.

13. Gifted Children's Bill of Rights: This resource will help you learn how to stand up for your kids and make sure that his or her rights are being respected.

14. Gifted Journey: This site is a great resource for learning about giftedness, touching on everything from bullying to IQ tests.

15. teachfine on gifted and ed tech: This site collects resources that combine gifted education and technology, creating a great list of articles and sites that parents and kids can use to learn.

Articles

These articles will help you stay informed and educated about issues relevant to your gifted child.

1. Gifted Students Go Dumb to Fit In: Is your child lowering his or her potential in order to fit in with peers? This article explores the stigma of being smart.

2. Gifted Children Need Help, Too: Many teachers and parents believe that smart kids don't need help; they'll do well on their own. This just isn't the case, as you'll learn here.

3. The Drama of the Gifted Child: Being a gifted child isn't easy, as you'll learn from this Psychology Today article.

4. Hey, Teacher, Get Help Somewhere Else: Make sure your child isn't working as a teacher's aide in his or her classroom, a common occurrence as this article explains.

5. Top 10 Myths in Gifted Education: Learn some of the biggest myths about teaching gifted kids from this great YouTube video.

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48 Essential Links for the Parents of Gifted Children | OEDB.org

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Every parent hopes for their child to be smart and to excel in school, but sometimes parents just don't know what to do with a child who is especially

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Resources for Parents of Gifted Children

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By Carolyn Kottmeyer. (Editor's Note: This piece by SENG Director Carolyn K. is part of the 2012 National Parenting Gifted Week Blog Tour.) Whether you're brand new to giftedness, or you've been around the block for a few years or a few decades, there are many great resources to help with whatever you're facing.

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Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG)

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Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG)

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SENG is a nonprofit organization that empowers families and communities to guide gifted and talented individuals to reach their goals:

intellectually, physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually.

Following the suicide of a gifted student in Michigan, the late Dr. James T. Webb founded SENG in 1981 to offer the gifted community support and guidance through education, research, and connection. With the right intellectual and emotional support, gifted, talented, and twice-exceptional people can accept themselves and fulfill the potential of their incredible capabilities. Perhaps more importantly, they can learn to work with their high sensitivities to feel balanced, happy and at peace.​

SENG provides support through a variety of programs, all aimed to be inclusive and accessible. We offer online support groups for gifted, talented and twice-exceptional individuals and their parents/guardians, online with leading experts, in-person regional SENGinars mini-conferences and an annual conference , SENG Model Parent Groups (SMPG) and Facilitator Training , SENG Library , SENGVine e-newsletter, Continuing Education courses for professionals, workshops, and more! SENG is a national organization with occasional events and programs in Canada, plus an affiliate organization in Europe.

Learn more about SENG and its programs in the recorded video of our January 8, 2019 Open House!

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Learn more about SENG's history, founder, programs, people, and more.

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Resources for Parents of Gifted Children 

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Resources for Parents of Gifted Children 

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Resources for Parents of Gifted Children

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By Carolyn Kottmeyer. (Editor's Note: This piece by SENG Director Carolyn K. is part of the 2012 National Parenting Gifted Week Blog Tour.) Whether you're brand new to giftedness, or you've been around the block for a few years or a few decades, there are many great resources to help with whatever you're facing.

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Helping Gifted Students Cope with Perfectionism 

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Helping Gifted Students Cope with Perfectionism 

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If you answered YES to any of these questions, your child may be at risk for becoming an unhealthy perfectionist. There is a fine line between striving to reach high standards of excellence and feeling self-defeated through the inability to reach unrealistic expectations of perfection. When that line is crossed, the perfectionistic tendencies become disabling. Others use perfectionism only when referring to the negative aspects of the syndrome. In schools, perfectionism can lead to underachievement. Outside of school, serious health problems are associated with perfectionism including abdominal pain, alcoholism, anorexia, bulimia, chronic depression, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders. The problem of perfectionism is so prevalent among university students that many university counseling centers offer workshops in "Overcoming Perfectionism."

Perfectionism can also be thought of as a way of thinking. One aspect of perfectionistic thinking is dichotomous (all-or-none) thinking, in which a child believes that a project is either perfect or it is worthless. Sally, a ten year old, creates a science fair report that is among the best in her class. She comes home crying and tears the report up because the teacher found one typo in a six page report. Another component of perfectionistic thinking is transforming desires (Wants) into demands (Musts). Joe, an 11th grader wants to do well on mathematics portion of the SAT. This desire gets changed into believing that he must make an 800 (a perfect score) or he will feel like a failure. A third element of perfectionistic thinking is focusing on unmet goals and challenges rather than savoring successes. Ann, a sixth grader has read 9 of 10 short stories for her language arts project. Ann is likely to complete the project before anyone else in the class and two weeks before the project is due. Rather than feeling good about her excellent progress, Ann remains highly anxious because she still has one short story to read.

Perfectionists tend to come in many packages. Some perfectionists are intense and demanding from birth. They are never satisfied with their accomplishments and feel inadequate because there is room for improvement. For others, perfectionism is a learned behavior influenced by critical parents or teachers who verbalize when a child makes a 90%, "That's nice, what happened on the other 10%?" Some children expect everything they do to be perfect and everyone around them to treat them perfectly. These children want to have perfect breakfasts, perfect interactions on the playground, perfect feedback from teachers, and perfect performance on assignments and tests. Unless everything is perfect, they are disappointed. Others may only demand perfection when it comes to school work. Generally, the first signs of perfectionism will be evident in how children respond to competition ("I must be the best!") and how they respond to compliments ("It's nice of you to say that but I should have done much better."). For those who struggle with perfectionism, it is a life-long challenge. I believe that people can learn to cope effectively with perfectionistic tendencies, however.

As children struggle with perfectionism, parents may wonder, "Should I get professional help from a counselor or psychologist?" It really depends on the degree of perfectionism and the extent to which perfectionist tendencies are leading to other problems: obsessive-compulsive, panic attacks, eating disorders, or depression. Parents might want to begin by discussing their observations about their child's perfectionist tendencies with the child's teacher. They might say, "Paul seems to be having a hard time doing your science fair project because it's not going to be perfect. Is there a way that we can work together to support him and help him move forward?"

Perfectionism and Giftedness

Among educators of the gifted, the link between giftedness and perfectionism is clearly established. The tendency toward perfectionism commonly appears as an item on rating scales and checklists used by parents and teachers to nominate potentially gifted students. Articles on counseling needs of the gifted routinely mention perfectionism as a risk for gifted students. There are two major concerns about perfectionism for gifted students: underachievement and emotional turmoil. Perfectionistic tendencies make some gifted students vulnerable for underachievement because they do not submit work unless it is perfect. As a result, they may receive poor or failing marks. In terms of emotional stress, perfectionism is seen to cause feelings of worthlessness and depression when gifted individuals fail to live up to unrealistic expectations.

Recent research suggests that the relationship between perfectionism and giftedness may not be as strong as the gifted education community believes. Few differences were found between academic talent search participants and average-ability comparison groups. Talent search participants tended to exhibit healthy perfectionism marked by high personal standards and organization. There is enough evidence from case study research, however, to suggest that some gifted students may be prone to perfectionism.

Coping with Perfectionism

Coping with perfectionism involves changing your thinking from "It's never going to be good enough so why bother" to 'Tm happy that I took the opportunity to challenge myself and learn new things. My next project will be even better." The following sections highlight some key concepts that perfectionistic students need to internalize. Suggestions for helping parents instill these ideas in gifted students follow.

1. Don't Take it Personally
From Kindergarten upward, children tend to equate the evaluations they receive on their assignments as indications of their self-worth. The grade of A may become a stamp of approval for the student. A poor grade represents a disconfirmation of a child's brightness. (For a perfectionist, a grade of A- might be perceived as a poor grade). Each test, assignment, project becomes another situation that puts the self-concept at risk. Some children avoid this threat to their self-worth by procrastinating. The work that is eventually submitted only reflects a small commitment of their time. The evaluation of their work, even if negative, has little impact on their feelings of self-worth since the children can rationalize the poor evaluation with lack of effort. Parents may reinforce this equating of self-worth with achievement by spending time criticizing children for their mistakes rather than acknowledging their successes ("I see that you made a 95 on the spelling quiz. What happened on the other 5 words?")

Students need to learn to separate their self-worth from their products. They need to learn that the evaluation simply reflects the extent to which their work matches the criteria used for grading. If students are frustrated when they don't receive the highest marks on a project, parents should allow their children to express these feelings. After a "cooling period" a parent might begin a discussion by asking to see the "rubric" or evaluation criteria used. (Students should be able to produce the rubric since it is now common practice to for teachers to provide the rubric as part of the assignment). With the rubric in hand, parents can discuss with their children how the content of their project matched the evaluation criteria. Parents can support their children by focusing first on the content that meets the criteria. Children might identify one thing to improve upon when a new project is assigned.

2. Know When to Quit
I just did an Internet search using the term perfectionism and the Google™ search engine. There were 98,700 links to the term. If I explored the information in each link for only 1 0 minutes per link before attempting to write this paper, I might be ready to begin in seven years. I need to be selective in my choice of sources. Gifted students need to know that whatever topic they pick for a project, they will find more possible references available than they can possibly manage to acquire and read in the time allotted. Parents can help gifted students develop skills in determining which available resources will be the most useful and accessible for them.

This simple example highlights only one of the steps in completing a project. Perfectionistic students may need assistance getting closure at each step of the project. Parents can help children become more effective in making progress towards program completion by routinely having discussions on the expectations for the project; Parents can assist their children by asking questions about the parameters of the project (minimum and maximum length, number of references, expected financial costs). Parents can also help children develop monitoring skills to check that their projects fall within the expected parameters.

3. Match the Time Commitment to the Value of Assignments
Perfectionistic students need to learn that if they want to earn the highest grades they should put the most effort into the assignments or components that count the most. In my courses, I might give five 5-page essay assignments worth 10% each and one 25-page research paper worth 50% of the term grade. I hope that my students are spending five times the amount of their course effort on their research paper than on anyone of the essay assignments. Perfectionistic students have a hard time grasping this concept and often spend inordinate amounts of time on simple projects by greatly extending the scope of the project. Within any given project, the various components often have unequal weightings. Parents can help children express their understanding of the weightings of the different parts of the assignment and how they have addressed each part.

4. Set Goals and Focus on Improvement
The attainment of excellence typically occurs as a result of small incremental improvements over time rather than quantum leaps. It's helpful to set goals and work towards their achievement. An excellent example of the successful use of goal setting is the story of John Naber. In 1972, Naber watched Mark Spitz triumph at the Munich Olympics winning seven gold medals, one of which was in the 100-meter backstroke, Naber's specialty. Naber envisioned himself winning gold at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. Naber believed that he would have to improve his time by four seconds to achieve this feat. Given the brevity of the 100-meter race, a four second improvement would be a remarkable accomplishment. Through goal setting, Naber realized that he had four years to achieve his goal, so only needed to improve one second per year. Since Naber swam every day, he only needed to improve 1/365 of a second per day. Since Naber swam twice a day, he only needed to improve 1/730 of a second per workout. Naber dedicated himself to such incremental improvements in performance each day and stood on the podium as the gold medalist in the 100-meter backstroke in the 1976 Olympics.

Parents can help students generate goals, determine the steps needed to accomplish the goals, develop an action plan for achieving their goals, and monitoring attainment toward the goal. The acronym SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timeframe-provided) can be used to facilitate the goal-setting process.

5. Study the Lives of Eminent People
A 12-year-old perfectionistic student might win a state science fair and still be disappointed that the project is not the theory of relativity. The 12-year-old student needs to know that Einstein didn't produce the theory of relativity at twelve, either. In fact at twelve, Einstein's potential greatness was masked by poor school performance. It took Einstein twenty theories to properly formulate the equations for the theory of relativity.

Gifted students can learn many lessons from studying the lives of eminent people by reading biographies and autobiographies, or simply watching television shows such as Biography. One basic lesson to learn is that the path to success is not a simple linear, one. Barriers such as rejection, illness, economic misfortunes, and relationship issues can make it difficult for an individual to achieve success and maintain it. One of the key factors is being able to persevere in the face of obstacles. Another lesson is that great effort is required. Edison observed that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. The image of Michelangelo, lying on his back for several years painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, is a testament to his commitment. A third lesson is that revision/refinement is part of the process. Books that can be found in bookstores and libraries have undergone revisions and re-writing before publication. It's unrealistic to think that the first draft will be perfect or publishable. Parents can encourage students to share their first draft with peers, siblings, and themselves so that the students can get feedback for potential revisions. A fourth lesson to be learned is that failure can be constructive. Jonathan Salk's polio vaccine was not perfect in its first distillation. Medicines undergo a rigorous process of experimentation and refinement before they are put on the market. Rather than viewing the poor performance of a potential drug in a clinical trial as a cause for despair, the successful scientist will try another compound in hopes of success. Parents might help students organize their biographical investigations by examining the barriers (physical, economic, cultural, psychological, and sociological) that eminent people faced and the strategies and qualities they used to overcome the barriers.

6. Enjoy the Journey
Some perfectionistic students are going to expect everything in their life to be perfect every day. This is a very unrealistic expectation that will inevitably lead to frustration when it is not met. Daily frustration can lead to depression, which in turn may lead to counseling and perhaps treatment with drugs. An alternative is to take a different perspective. If your child is constantly frustrated by the way the world is compared to the ideal of how it ought to be, celebrate the fact that your child has high ideals. Your child will experience life as an existential struggle to reconcile this discrepancy. Try to help your child move forward each day to reduce the discrepancy. A first step is to help your child find an activity that will help the child feel as if he or she is making a difference in the world (for example volunteering with a United Way agency, running and collecting pledges for a charitable cause, or writing persuasive editorials about injustices in the community).

Perfectionists may also decrease their enjoyment in life by focusing on unmet goals, things that still need to be accomplished, rather than savoring accomplishments. An Olympic swimmer should be satisfied winning the gold medal and not be crushed if the time didn't merit a world record. Another swimmer who achieves a personal best should enjoy the accomplishment even if he or she does not win a medal.

Since the perfectionist's life can be very stressful, perfectionistic individuals need to find hobbies and pursuits that can bring joy. Whether it's jogging or Tai Chi, playing bridge or solitaire, or listening to symphonies or rock bands, active engagement in a vocational interests can be psychologically and physically rewarding. Parents can help students identify and nurture their extra-curricular interests that can serve as positive forces in their lifelong journeys.
Recommended Readings

Parker, W D. (2000). Healthy Perfectionism In The Gifted. Journal for Secondary Gifted Education, 34, 173-182.

Parker, W D., & Mills, C. (1996). The Incidence Of Perfectionism In Gifted Students. Gifted Child Quarterly, 40, 194-199.

Schuler, P. A., Ferbenzer, 1., O'Leary, N., Popova, L., Delou, C. M. c., & Limont. W (2003). Perfectionism: International Case Studies. Gifted and Talented International, 18, 67-75.

Troxclair, D. (1999, December). Recognizing Perfectionism In Gifted Children. Parenting for High Potential, pp. 18-21.

Walker, S. Y. (2002). The Survival Guide For Parents Of Gifted Kids: How to Understand, Live With, And Stick Up For Your Gifted Child. Minneapolis: Free Spirit.

Author Note. Dr. Michael Pyryt is a professor at the Centre for Gifted Education at The University of Calgary in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

The appearance of any information in the Davidson Institute's Database does not imply an endorsement by, or any affiliation with, the Davidson Institute. All information presented is for informational purposes only and is solely the opinion of and the responsibility of the author. Although reasonable effort is made to present accurate information, the Davidson Institute makes no guarantees of any kind, including as to accuracy or completeness. Use of such information is at the sole risk of the reader.

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Helping Gifted Students Cope with Perfectionism

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If you answered YES to any of these questions, your child may be at risk for becoming an unhealthy perfectionist. There is a fine line between striving to reach high standards of excellence and feeling self-defeated through the inability to reach unrealistic expectations of perfection. When that line is crossed, the perfectionistic tendencies become disabling.

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Helpful Tips for Parents of Perfectionist Gifted Learners 

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Helpful Tips for Parents of Perfectionist Gifted Learners 

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For parents of gifted/high ability children, one of the most challenging characteristics is the tendency toward perfectionism. Their children's high standards for performance may catapult them to achievements that far surpass those of their same-age peers. At the same time, however, the striving for perfection may also lead high intensity gifted children and adolescents to the inevitable experience of their own human frailty, and, subsequently, to the depths of despair, the heights of frustration and rage, and the refusal to try again.

Parents frequently ask: Is perfectionism a good thing, or a bad thing?
As we shall see, the dichotomy presented in this question itself, hints at one of the strategies to guide our perfectionistic high ability learners.

If you're the parent of a gifted young person with these tendencies, you've probably seen your young child smash a Lego project suddenly to the floor because he couldn't get it to look exactly the way he wanted. You may have heard your daughter say she wants to quit gymnastics because there's no use in continuing since she's not going to make it to the Olympics. Perhaps your child is not even doing well in his school performance because he backs away from assignments he believes he will not be able to complete perfectly.

Unfortunately, when parents of gifted learners have sought the help of some psychologists who have little knowledge of giftedness and its characteristics, they have sometimes been led to believe that perfectionism is a negative characteristic, perhaps something to be "gotten over." Worse yet, some mental health professionals and school personnel will tend to presume the reason for the child's perfectionistic tendency is too much parental pressure.

However, in 1971, psychologist Abraham Maslow had a different perspective. He proposed that perfectionism is, in reality, a healthy part of self-actualization. In his book, The Farther Reaches of Human Nature, Maslow stated, "Self-actualization means experiencing fully, vividly, selflessly, with full concentration and total absorption."

Similarly, psychologist Ellen Winner, in her book, Gifted Children (1996), noted that since high standards ultimately lead to high achievements, perfectionism is a positive feature.

Then, in 1999, psychologist Pat Schuler confirmed, in a study that focused on gifted middle school students, that perfectionism exists on a continuum, from healthy to dysfunctional behaviors. Schuler found that "healthy perfectionists" demonstrated:

 An intense need for order and organization
 Self-acceptance of mistakes
 High parental expectation
 Positive ways of coping with their perfectionistic tendencies
 Role models who emphasize doing one's best
 A view that personal effort is an important part of their perfectionism.

On the other hand, Schuler discovered that, "dysfunctional perfectionists" displayed:

 A state of anxiety about making errors
 Extremely high standards
 Perceived excessive expectations and negative criticisms from others
 Questioning of their own judgments
 Lack of effective coping strategies
 A constant need for approval

A similar pattern has been confirmed in more recent research, though not research that included perfectionism in the gifted population per se. A study by Stairs, et al (2011) found that there is no single perfectionism personality trait. In fact, their research led them to identify nine personality traits that contribute to perfectionism:

* Pursuit of Order
* Satisfaction
* Details and Checking
* Perfectionism Toward Others
* High Standards
* Black and White Thinking about Tasks and Activities
* Perceived Pressure from Others
* Dissatisfaction
* Reactivity to Mistakes

These authors concluded, however, that the first five of these traits did not correlate with scales that measured components of Neuroticism, or, dysfunction, but did correlate with features of Conscientiousness. Similarly, the last four of these traits were correlated with Neuroticism, associated with the experience of distress, and were related to extreme, maladaptive levels of conscientiousness.

What practical knowledge can we gain from the combined efforts of these studies, as they pertain to gifted learners? First, perfectionism is a complex characteristic - perhaps a "concept," in fact, that cannot really be identified by its name alone, and, consequently, cannot be declared simply a "good" or "bad" quality.

Second, based on the results of these studies, we can suggest that the following traits contribute to the "concept" of "healthy" perfectionism:

* Need for order and organization
* Acceptance of one's own humanness and errors
* Parental support and role models for high standards
* Attention to details
* The awareness that personal effort and high standards are an important part of one's perfectionism

In addition, the following traits might contribute to the "concept" of "unhealthy" or "dysfunctional" perfectionism:

* Anxiety about making mistakes
* Perceived pressure from others
* "Black and white," or forced choice thinking in many situations, such as "good or bad," "right or wrong," or "perfect or failing."
* Self-doubt
* Lack of effective coping strategies
* A constant need for approval, and a belief that much of one's success or failure will be determined by outside sources, not personal effort.

Third, as we have learned by living and working with gifted individuals, it is often not a particular trait, or characteristic, that is problematic, but, rather, the intensity of the emotion and the behavior related to it that can lead to self-criticism and family upsets. Teaching gifted learners how to manage their emotions and the behaviors related to them, i.e., effective coping strategies, is an essential life lesson that, sometimes, can be helped along by a psychologist who understands the nature of giftedness, and the importance of the intensity and the passion in the gifted child's life.

Going back to Abraham Maslow, he seemed to be alluding to the "gifted passions," when he said, "Self-actualization means experiencing fully, vividly, selflessly, with full concentration and total absorption." Anyone who knows and loves a gifted child can fully appreciate Maslow's comment!

Consider the following suggestions to help your gifted perfectionist:

1. Try to make sure "parent perfectionists" are modeling "healthy" perfectionism, i.e., high standards for achievement, but acceptance of one's mistakes and willingness to learn and try again.

2. Teach your child the difference between excellence and perfection. Excellence can be achieved, but perfection cannot. Teach this concept first in a logical way that provides some distance from your child's own struggles, so that he or she can consider the example without feeling threatened.

For example, parents might talk about foods the family enjoys. Pizza might be "excellent," because of its taste and the possibilities of many different toppings, but it's not a "perfect" food because it can be messy to eat and sometimes the crust is too thick or too thin, etc. Despite these "imperfections," we still eat it because its taste is "excellent."

In another example that is related to schoolwork, "excellence" is about good study or organizational habits, handing in assignments on time, and awareness that, during "group" tasks, the project is not entirely under one's control. "Perfectionism" would instead drive a gifted student to despair over a final grade of 96, instead of 100, regardless of the high quality of the work and preparation he or she achieved.

Try to come up with other examples that can logically distinguish "excellence" from "perfection," and invite your gifted child to come up with some as well.

3. Teach your child how to "evaluate" his or her perfectionism. Does he think it is healthy? If he could change his perfectionism, what would he change? Most perfectionistic children and adolescents express that meltdowns and tantrums over perceived failures bring discomfort and embarrassment to them later. A professional with experience with gifted children can help them to use these feelings as a lever to change the associated behavior.

Discussions regarding a child's evaluation of his perfectionism can help to teach about the concept of balance in life. Is a high level of achievement always the necessary outcome? Under which circumstances would your child allow herself to accept a "less than perfect" outcome? This could be an interesting exercise in having your child realize she is quite accepting of imperfection in many more areas of her life than she may realize.

4. If your child displays a perceived sense of pressure from others, try to find out about the source of that perceived pressure. Have him provide concrete examples of the pressure, and be ready to help him assess whether his perceived pressure is a real one. Sometimes, a professional is helpful here, since very often the real source of the pressure is the child himself. A trained psychologist can help with the "projection."

5. When a problem is presented to gifted learners, often these children will immediately begin anticipating the "perfect" outcome or solution. Help your child to view a task, project, or assignment as a series of steps rather than a "perfect ending." Keeping the focus on each step, and how to achieve just that one alone, will allay anxiety about ultimate failure and prevent procrastination.

Remember that some gifted children are underachievers because of their less than healthy perfectionism. They avoid tasks and assignments for fear they will fail and not live up to the "perceived" high standards of others. Encourage your child when she tries something new or is open to a new approach to a problem or "step" along the way.

A word of caution, however, that we should distinguish between children with perfectionistic leanings who need to learn how to cope with their less than perfect outcomes, and those children who truly intuitively know the correct answer or solution to a problem immediately, but are made to go through a multitude of repetitions or "steps" to a problem just for the sake of uniformity of teaching method. The latter situation requires a serious examination of school environment.

6. As difficult as it may be, allow your high ability child to experience his mistakes and failures. Be there to support him when they occur, help him evaluate them, and encourage him to use his newfound knowledge to try again. Even when you don't fully understand the intensity of your child's feelings, a simple, "I know this is really hard for you," will at least convey to your child that you are on his side, understanding his difficulty.

7. Model for your child that many activities in life can simply be enjoyed without the need for high level of achievement. Let your child know that you enjoyed playing tennis with her because you liked being with her, not because of how she performed during the game. This discussion may lead to another about how friends also just like to be together, even if the activity involved is not everyone's favorite. The "excellence" in this case is well-spent time with friends, rather than the "perfection" of doing one's favorite activity.

8. Teach your child the difference between having high standards for himself, and unrealistically expecting the same high standards in others. An essential lesson in the life of a gifted individual is learning that not only do many others not have his same high level of ability, but also that many do not have the same high standards. Discuss with your child what this means to him, and how it affects his evaluations of his relationships with others.

9. Finally, try to avoid "black and white" descriptors, such as "good" and "bad" when speaking with your child about his work, project, performance, etc. Remember that perfectionism that is closer to the "unhealthy" end of the continuum is marked by this kind of dichotomous thinking.

Parents in work environments in which they receive performance evaluations may be able to relate to what it would be like if your boss simply told you your performance during the past year was "good" or "bad." It's likely you'd want to know more of the details, and any quality evaluation would provide those. Gifted children are their own "bosses," often evaluating themselves with a "good" or "bad" rating.

So, model greater detail. Many gifted children are very logical, and logical, practical discussions about improvements, some of which they should come up with themselves, can help bring down the emotional intensity of the self-criticism and fear of failure.

Perfectionism may be challenging and frustrating, but it is not simply "good" or "bad." Rather, it's a concept with many traits contributing to it. Some traits are healthier than others, and catapult gifted learners to achieve great things. Capitalize on the healthier traits, and use those strengths to minimize those that lead to greater amounts of stress.

References:
Maslow, A. H. (1971). The Farther Reaches of Human Nature. New York: Viking Press. Schuler, P. A. (1999). Voices of perfectionism: Perfectionistic gifted adolescents in a rural middle school. (Research Monograph 99140). Storrs, CT: University of Connecticut, The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented. Stairs, Agnes M., et al. Clarifying the Construct of Perfectionism. Assessment, XX(X) 1-21, June, 2011. Winner. E. (1996). Gifted Children. New York: Basic Books
Dr. Berry is a practicing clinical psychologist in Glastonbury, CT who provides consultative, counseling, and assessment services to gifted children, their parents, and gifted adults.
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The Connecticut Association for the Gifted is dedicated to providing an organization for Educators, Psychologists, Parents, Policy Makers, and others to learn about the unique educational and affective needs of gifted and talented children and how to meet these needs effectively in our schools, families, and communities.

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This unit focuses on the social and emotional characteristics of gifted students and strategies supporting these unique qualities

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Digital DIY files for students from the Gluck program at UCR.

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STEAM DIY

Steam is the integrations of ARTS into STEM: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, ARTS, and MATHEMATICS

Gluck Fellows create these DIGITAL DIY files for students and arts integration into classroom curriculum. The files on this page have the extra element of STEAM integration.

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STEAM DIY Steam is the integrations of ARTS into STEM: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, ARTS, and MATHEMATICS Gluck Fellows create these DIGITAL DIY files for students and arts integration into classroom curriculum. The files on this page have the extra element of STEAM integration.

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Free DIY activities from the Gluck program at UCR.

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Teachers - are you looking for some art integration around geography or history? Gluck Fellows prepare resources to accompany their fellowship program for educators to use to extend learning, or introduce new topics - see the LeaderLedLessons

Learners - are you looking for something to do, or researching for a paper? There are games and challenges in a variety of subjects for learners of all ages - Check out the DIY Activities and Read-All-About-It sections

Gluck Creative Classroom files are Public Domain and free for you to download and use for educational purposes. They are organized by the Gluck Program, and include a variety of games, activities, and lesson plans. Click on a department/subject area below to see resources created by Fellows in that area.

You can also browse the entire archive of files by downloading the Master List below. The list is sorted by department, and there are keyword suggestions on each page to help you search.

Sortable List of available Gluck Creative Classroom resources - updated regularly

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Teachers - are you looking for some art integration around geography or history? Gluck Fellows prepare resources to accompany their fellowship program for educators to use to extend learning, or introduce new topics - see the LeaderLedLessons Learners - are you looking for something to do, or researching for a paper?

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A video for students.

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You Get to Have Your Own Genius Hour (A Video for Students)

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Creative writing prompt

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Design a City in the Sky  (Creative Writing Prompt)

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What is Genius Hour? - Introduction to Genius Hour in the Classroom

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A choice board for March activities

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Activities that accompany Ada's Violin

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Create a new spreadsheet and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Sheets to edit Excel files. Free from Google.

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Passion Projects were a staple in my gifted enrichment classroom in the 1970s. Back in those days, we called them Type III enrichment activities (Renzulli Enrichment Model) or Independent Studies. But thankfully, things changed as general education has embraced the concepts of thinking skills, creative production, and talent development. Today we see these activities implemented in all types of classrooms through Genius Hour, Passion Projects, and Maker Spaces. Whatever title you choose to give them, Passion Projects promote student-centered investigations. They are examples of personalized learning and differentiation at its finest.

Want a FREE distance learning lesson from my Discover Your Passion Project Unit? Click here

Why Use Passion Projects?

These projects are one of the best ways to keep students engaged and excited about learning. A bonus is that they address many of your students' social-emotional needs. Passion Projects have an immediate buy-in from the students because they are centered on a topic each student is very interested in. They complement the core curriculum because they integrate reading comprehension skills, note-taking skills, and writing skills. More than just learning research skills, Passion Projects promote creativity and innovative thinking. Students develop self-awareness, self-management, and responsible decision making. They are learning essential life skills such as planning, decision making, persistence through overcoming obstacles, problem-solving, time management, and personal reflection.

In this blog post, I am going to give you all the steps I use when leading my students through the Passion Project process for the very first time. You will be able to shorten the steps for later projects. Be forewarned! This blog post is long, but if you read it in its entirety, you will know everything you need to know to successfully implement Passion Projects in your classroom.

If you want to learn about using Passion Projects through Distance Learning, you can check out that blog post here.

Precisely What Are Passion Projects?

A Passion Project is an investigative activity. Rather than being a teacher-centered curriculum, it is a student-centered curriculum. Students identify an area of interest. Next, they develop a burning question related to that topic. The burning question is a question they want to find the answer to, but it is a little more complicated. It is what we like to call a non-Google-able question. You can't find the answer through a simple Internet search.

Students use a variety of sources to research their burning question. Next, they create a product to present to an audience of their choice. The final, often overlooked stage of the process is reflection. During reflection, students think about what went well, what they would change, and what they learned.

My favorite thing about Passion Projects is that throughout the entire process, students are in charge of their learning. They get to experience the joy of discovery and learning new things. The role of the teacher changes as they become coaches, facilitators, procurers of resources, editors, and cheerleaders. Teachers coach and encourage students when they get stuck or experience failure, which some inevitably will.

How Can I Fit Passion Projects Into My Schedule?

I usually set aside one hour per week for students to work on their Passion Projects. We call this time Genius Hour because it is modeled after the 20% Time model used by many corporations.

Setting the Stage for Passion Projects

Before I even begin to introduce Passion Projects to my students, I like to share some picture books about real people who have followed their passions to achieve incredible things. There are tons of picture books out there you can use, but these are just three I have used. My favorite is The Junkyard Wonders by Patricia Polacco.

This picture book is the true story of Patricia and some of her classmates in a class for special needs students. Others have dubbed the class The Junkyard Wonders. With the help of a forward-thinking teacher, these students take a classmate's passion for rockets and space, and together they design, build, and launch a rocket.

At the end of the book, Patricia writes an afternote and lets you know all the characters are real people. She tells how the members of the group, whom everyone considered "junk," followed their passion and went on to do incredible things. One becomes an aeronautical engineer for NASA, another the artistic director for a ballet company, a third went on to become a textile designer. Patricia herself became a best-selling children's book author.

Next, we talk about the difference between a passion and a hobby. Passions are things that are all-consuming while hobbies are things you tend to do for fun. Finally, I share examples of everyday kids who used their passion to achieve great things and make a difference.

Identifying Areas of Interest or Passion

In this stage, students examine their interests and categorize them. Next, they narrow their list down to three interest areas. I do this because so many of my students think they are interested in and curious about everything!

I use the website Wonderopolis® with students who have difficulty identifying areas of interest.

The Wonderopolis® site has tons of wonders from kids just like them that they can explore. I especially like that they have the wonders divided by categories so that the kids can search for wonders in their areas of interest. There is also a search bar if they want a more specific topic.

Creating Burning Questions For Your Passion Project

I think creating burning or non-Google-able questions may be one of the most challenging stages of the Passion Project process. So many of the kids want to develop a question that could quickly be answered by a Google™ search and then just begin their project. To help students create their burning questions, you need to give some examples. Some questions I have had students create are:

How can people earn a living by playing video games?

How have computers changed our lives?

How do you become a professional football player?

How can you build a robot?

How can you make sweet desserts that aren't fattening?

If you notice, most of the questions begin with the word "how." Questions that begin with "what" need to say things like What are some ways... What are some things we can do to... etc. Notice there is no one right answer. It's fun to have a " Wonder Wall " as a bulletin board so you can display each student's burning question.

Selecting Resources to Research For Your Passion Project

In this stage, during Genius Hour, students think of all the different sources they can use for information to help them answer their burning question. Of course, there are the usual resources such as books, magazines, newspaper articles, the Internet, etc. But I like for them to consider a variety of sources. Here's a list of some great ones I have found.

Selecting the Product to Create

One of the most critical steps in the Passion Project process is selecting a product. The students will need to consider their burning question, their intended audience, time, and the materials they will need to create a product.

For example, if a student's burning question is, How did dinosaurs become extinct? , a brochure or a skit might not be the best product to allow him to present his research. It might be better if he made a PowerPoint presentation, a project board, or a magazine article. Students must also think about their audience when selecting a product to create. If they wish to write a magazine article about the extinction of dinosaurs, what grades would find it interesting? Would that be an appropriate product for kindergarten or first grade?

Another factor when selecting your product is time and materials. A video will take a lot of time, and you might not have the equipment you need readily available, but you might have the resources to create a picture book.

With so many factors to consider, students should think carefully about the product they wish to produce. I have had many occasions when students were overly ambitious in their choice of a product. Consequently, they became very frustrated and overwhelmed during the product creation stage.

Submitting the Project Proposal

I like to have my students complete a Passion Project proposal form. In their proposal, I ask for the following five things:

Name of the project

The burning question you want to answer

Resources you will use to answer your question

Your audience

Your product

During Genius Hour, I meet with students individually to discuss their proposals. I sometimes offer suggestions, and we might modify the proposal. We both sign off on the proposal, and the real work begins. It may sound like I spend a lot of time upfront before the students start their research. However, my experience has been that unless you spend time planning and organizing BEFORE you get to the researching and creating stage, you are likely to encounter many problems later. For example, kids might discover their question is so obscure they can't find information. Or, they might decide their plans were a little too ambitious, and they need to scale back a little.

Researching and Creating The Product

Sometimes when students have a big task such as a question to research, a product to create and a presentation, it seems overwhelming. If they only focus on the whole picture, they can become discouraged, put it off, and not even know where to begin. It is easier for them to focus on a small task rather than thinking of the entire process. I have found that the easiest way to overcome this is to have them break the process down into small steps they will complete each week during Genius Hour.

I tell them it's like putting together a jigsaw puzzle - they focus on one piece at a time. It helps to have each create a checklist of all the small steps they need to make from researching to presenting. That way, when they complete each step, they can check it off. It gives them a sense of accomplishment. I also have students reflect at the end of each session and make a plan for what they want to accomplish during their next Genius Hour period.

Practice, Practice, Practice, PRESENT!

Your students have finished their research; their products are complete. Now it's time to prepare to present! The key is PRACTICE . I encourage my students to rehearse their presentations in front of a mirror, friends, and family. The more they practice, the more comfortable and confident they will be during their presentations. Rehearsing is one part of the process I have them work on at home rather than limiting it to our Genius Hour time.

Reflecting, the Often Forgotten Step

Throughout the process, I have students reflect on what they are doing. Reflection gets them "thinking about their thinking." At the end of the Passion Project process, students complete a rubric for both their presentation and their work during the Passion Project process. I also have students complete a form about the entire process where they reflect on what went well, what they learned, and what they would do differently. I don't assign grades for Passion Projects. Throughout the process, I am giving feedback and also complete the same rubrics the students do. During Genius Hour, I hold a post-project conference with each student. The student shares his rubric and reflection with me and I share my copy of the rubric.

Final Thoughts

If you haven't tried Passion Projects in your classroom, I encourage you to give it a try. I often had students tell me it was their favorite activity in school.

Want a FREE distance learning lesson from my Discover Your Passion Project Unit? Click here

I have a product in my TpT store called Discover Your Passion which includes PowerPoint Presentations, handouts, graphic organizers, lessons for each stage of the process, and rubrics. The product contains a version for traditional classroom instruction and Distance Learning. You can purchase it by clicking on the picture below.

PIN FOR LATER

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PASSION PROJECTS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL - Keep 'Em Thinking

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Passion Projects were a staple in my gifted enrichment classroom in the 1970s. Back in those days, we called them Type III enrichment activities (Renzulli Enrichment Model) or Independent Studies. But thankfully, things changed as general education has embraced the concepts of thinking skills, creative production, and talent development.

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If you're a teacher, you've almost certainly heard someone say, "I want to challenge my students."

I know I used to say it all the time.

But then one of my sixth graders said to me, "Mr. Byrd, I don't really want to be 'challenged.'"

This has stuck with me for years. It has kept me awake in bed. Sometimes I hear those words echoing through the house at night.

"Challenging" Is The Wrong Goal

I totally get what this student meant. When faced with yet-another-worksheet, students don't long for something "more challenging." When they're bored at school, they don't hope for a "challenge" to come along.

"Challenging" is the wrong goal.

Consider this: you can create a "challenging" task that is also boring and uninspiring and kills kids' interest in the topic. You can assign a "challenging" fill-in-the-blanks worksheet, a "challenging" true/false question, or a "challenging" timed math test.

If you asked me to alphabetize the US state capitals in under 90 seconds, I'd certainly be "challenged," but would also feel stressed out and frustrated.

Something can be "challenging" and also be at the very bottom of Bloom's Taxonomy. Something can be "challenging" and also impede learning.

Wait, What Does "Challenge" Even Mean?

Let's look up "challenge" in a thesaurus:

(n) problem, difficult task, test, trial

(v) disagree with, dispute, take issue with, protest against, call into question, object to

(v) test, tax, strain, make demands on; stretch, stimulate, inspire, excite

"Challenge" has some seriously negative connotations. Yet... those last three words (stimulate, inspire, excite) start to get at my true goal. I definitely want "inspired" students, but I don't want them to be "strained." I want an "excited" class, but I don't want learning to be a "trial." I hope kids are "stimulated" by my lesson, not "taxed."

So what is a better word for something that "stimulates, inspires, and excites"?

Instead, "Interesting"

So here's the word I use now when I'm planning lessons for Byrdseed.TV: interesting.

I want to "interest" students. A student who is interested will work over the weekend simply because they want to know more. An interested student will stay in from recess by choice to keep at it. An interested student is intrinsically motivated.

I think this is a new motto of mine: great teachers make lessons interesting - not merely challenging. Their students are surprised when the bell rings because they were so darn interested! They stay after school to do a bit more. They come back on Monday having kept at it all weekend... by choice.

When faced with boring schoolwork, students long for something interesting.

Challenging Comes Along For Free

And here's the big bonus: if it's interesting, you get challenging for free! I'll happily sit through an hour-long lecture that I find interesting. I'll get through that challenging book if (and only if) it's interesting! I'm motivated to get out of bed in the morning when there's an interesting problem waiting for me to work on. But, I'd hit snooze if my day is filled with just "challenges."

So let's make "interesting" our first goal. And then, once kids are motivated and excited to learn, they'll take on the challenges.

So What Is "Interesting" Like?

First of all, you don't get to say, "but my content isn't interesting." That's a copout. EVERYTHING is interesting - you just haven't found the right angle yet.

And, I'll give you a shortcut, starting your lesson by saying "today we're going to learn about X" is not interesting! You need to set up the drama, conflict, and ambiguity first. Read this series about curiosity to find better ways to start lessons..

Here are a few examples of (in my opinion) interesting tasks I've been working on at Byrdseed.TV:

My favorite example of all time: finding something actually interesting about dividends and divisors!

PS: Well... now I realize that Dan Meyer posted his own take on challenging/interesting nine years before me. Oh well! 😭

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If you're a teacher, you've almost certainly heard someone say, "I want to challenge my students." I know I used to say it all the time. But then one of my sixth graders said to me, "Mr. Byrd, I don't really want to be 'challenged.'" This has stuck with me for years.

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5 Activities to Encourage Creative Thinking

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5 Activities to Encourage Creative Thinking

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Creativity is one of those enigmas that can't really be "taught." However, there are ways we can encourage creative thinking in the classroom and challenge students to "stretch" their minds beyond traditional thinking. In today's challenging work climate, it is imperative that students be able to "think outside the box" and be innovative in order to separate themselves from the masses. Creativity is, after all, what leads to innovation in our world.

Here are five ways to encourage creative thinking in secondary ELA while also targeting essential reading and writing skills. Some of these activities are collaborative while others are for independent work. All of these activities can be integrated into the curriculum for any literary unit of study.

1. The "What if?" Game

The "What if?" Game is a game that students play in groups in order to generate unique story ideas for creative writing. There are several ways to play this game, but here's a basic setup:

Students get into groups of 4-5 peers.

Each group receives three cups and strips of paper. They will be generating ideas and writing them onto the strips of paper, folding them up, and placing them into the appropriate cups. The three cups are labeled "Characters," "Settings," and "Actions."

Students take turns first generating various characters. Each of these slips should begin with "A ________" ( i.e. "A waiter," "A barber," "A spy," etc.). They can get as specific and descriptive as they'd like. Once they have brainstormed at least ten characters, they can move onto actions.

Next, students generate various settings for the characters. Each of these slips should begin with "In ________" or "From ________" ( i.e. "In Medieval Europe, "From the local movie theater," "In a small town in Texas," etc.).

Students then generate various actions for the characters. Each of these slips should begin with a present tense verb ( i.e. "Runs out of the grocery store," "Robs a bank," "Turns down a dark street," etc.). Students should aim to be as creative as possible with these actions.

After students have generated their ideas and placed them into the appropriate cups, they then begin drawing ideas at random to generate new story premises. When they come across an idea they like, they can write it down and use it to inspire a new piece of writing.

Students should draw a character first, then select a setting, followed by an action. Selecting items in this order should create a complete statement. The whole statement should begin with "What if?" such as: "What if a baker from Medieval Europe robs a bank?"

After students have generated some ideas from their own cups, have them switch cups with other groups to really mix up the ideas. They can then share as a whole class and have fun creating new, unique ideas for stories!

2. The "Definition" Game

The "Definition" Game encourages vocabulary growth and creativity. For this game, students get into groups and make up definitions for words they do not know. It's a fun way to learn new vocabulary terms in an interactive format. Here's how to play:

Students get into groups of 5-6 peers. Each student should tear up a piece of paper into slips. They will be writing their "definitions" onto these slips of paper. Each group should also have either a dictionary or access to dictionary.com.

Moving in a clockwise direction, each student takes a turn with the dictionary. They are to select a word from the dictionary that they think NO ONE KNOWS. So, this word should be challenging and new. The student with the dictionary writes the word and definition down on their own slip of paper. Then, this student tells the word to the group- but only the word and NOT the definition. The definition must be kept secret and will be revealed at the end of the round.

Students then make up their own definitions for the word and write their definitions down onto their own slips of paper. They should aim to make their definitions sound as realistic and as accurate as possible! They will want other group members to vote for their made-up definitions because this is how they will earn points in the game. Once they've finished with their definitions, they pass them to the student who has the dictionary. This student mixes them up into a pile and begins to read each definition out loud to the group.

As the person with the dictionary reads each definition out loud, students vote on which definition they think is the real definition of the word. Remember that the real definition is mixed up into the group's made-up definitions. Points are earned when a student votes for "your" definition. This means that if someone votes for my fake definition, I get a point because I tricked them. If a person votes for the actual definition of the word, that person receives TWO points (double) because they were able to decipher which definition was the real one! Once the round is over, the real definition of the word is revealed, and students can write down any new words from the game to integrate into writing or other vocabulary activities. I usually have my students make a list in their writer's notebooks to come back to when completing vocabulary pages or when looking for higher-level vocabulary for writing.

Play then rotates clockwise to the next player in the group. This person receives the dictionary and selects a new word. The person with the most points at the end of the game, WINS! Students really have fun playing this game, and I've even played it with my family on holiday breaks! Give it a try!

3. 101 Uses for a Dried-up Pen

This game isn't strictly an activity for secondary ELA, but it encourages students to rethink the uses of a common object: a pen! For this game, students get into groups and take out a pen. Their task is to brainstorm as many uses for a dried-up pen as they possibly can. Someone in the group needs to record their answers because the group with the longest list wins the game! Some usages for the pen can range from hair rollers to drink stirrers. Students need to think "outside the box" to win this game. It's important to then apply the concepts of this game to writing and challenge students to "see" a work of literature in a different light, to brainstorm various lenses or angles through which to analyze something. It's a great analogy for encouraging analysis in a creative and collaborative way!

After completing this activity, have students transfer the concept to a piece of literature by having them brainstorm "101 Ways to See ________" (they should fill in the blank with a work of literature, character, theme, element, i.e. "101 Ways to See Macbeth," etc.). They can then use this list to inspire a new thesis for analytical writing.

4. First Line of the Book

This activity can either be completed in groups or individually. The purpose of this activity is to target the hooks at the beginning of a piece of writing and to consciously practice strategies for pulling the reader into a piece of writing.

For this activity, students are to brainstorm captivating first lines of a book. There are different ways they can do this. I typically have students brainstorm a character, setting, and thematic idea first and then draft first sentences using those concepts. I also like to challenge students to use subtext to imply a situation rather than state it out right. The power of what is suggested is oftentimes more intriguing to us because it creates mystery and tension that we want to see resolved as readers. Students can brainstorm more than one first line and then share them with small groups or with the entire class. I like to have students share in small groups and then select the best first line. Then, each group shares the one line, and the class votes on the first line that they find most intriguing.

We then dissect what makes this line so intriguing. Student responses vary depending upon the first line but might include that the line is startling, mysterious, or contains vivid details. Students can use this activity to revise the first line of another piece of writing with the goal of hooking the reader at the beginning. It also makes for an interesting segue into studying the opening line of a piece of literature that the whole class will be reading.

For example, the first line of Homer's Odyssey reads:
"Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns driven time and again off course, once he had plundered the hallowed heights of Troy."
This first line pulls the reader in by beginning in medias res and by also using alliteration with "twists and turns" and "hallowed heights." It also introduces an intriguing setting by alluding to Troy and creates mystery with hinting at the conflict of the main character who has somehow been "driven time and again off course." Focusing on first lines can teach students how to captivate a reader and makes for an interesting literary analysis angle.

5. Tomorrow's Headline

For this creative writing activity, students are to generate outrageous headlines for tomorrow's news stories. This is another activity that can be used along with the first line of the book activity to focus on how writer's grab attention- except this time looking more at the non-fiction element of headlines in news stories.

I like to begin this activity by showing students outrageous headlines from current tabloids to give them the idea of how the activity works. They can then get into groups or work individually to create a list of their own outrageous headlines for tomorrow's news. It is important to have students analyze how their headlines capture attention by purposefully employing tactics such as literary techniques, vivid vocabulary, and a sensationalizing tone.

Similar to the first line of the book activity, students can share their headlines in groups and then with the entire class who can then discuss what makes each headline captivating.

How do you encourage creative thinking in your classes? What specific activities do you use? Leave us a comment below! We'd love to hear from you!

Meredith is the founder and creator of TeachWriting.org and Bespoke ELA. She has taught high school English for 10+ years in Dallas, Chicago, and New York City and holds a M.A. in Literature from Northwestern University. She has always had a connection to the written word-- through songwriting, screenplay writing, and essay writing-- and she enjoys the process of teaching students how to express their ideas. An avid tea drinker and anglophile, Meredith enjoys life with her husband, daughter, and sweet pups.

Tagged: creativity, creative writing

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5 Activities to Encourage Creative Thinking in Secondary ELA - Bespoke ELA: Essay Writing Tips + Lesson Plans

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Creative lesson plans are important in secondary ELA because they challenge students to go beyond the obvious and think outside the box. Creative lessons plans are also highly engaging for struggling and gifted students. This list of activities encourages creative thinking and growth mindset all

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My young niece picked up an amazing coloring book, titled . This book is filled with creative, divergent, and open-ended thinking tasks. It is honestly a coloring book for all ages.

Here are some examples:

Draw a crocodile balancing on this pole:

This penguin is very cold. Can you warm him up?

Oh no! It's a wolf! Make sure he doesn't eat the pigs!

Each task asks kids to create and think outside the box. Everyone in my family, from age 4 - 60, wanted to participate. The best part is, Scribbles is nearly 400 pages long! That's a lot of creative tasks.

Scribbles is just one in a series of creative doodling books from Taro Gomi.
Heads up: From reading the Amazon reviews, earlier printings had a controversial page with a person in a coffin. This is no longer in the newer editions. If you pick up a copy, you might want to flip through and check for this page.

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A few years ago, my young niece picked up interesting coloring book while we vacationed in Mammoth Lakes, CA. This is no "stay within the lines" book, however. Titled Scribbles, this book is filled with nearly 400 creative, divergent, and open-ended thinking tasks.

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reading