Using the depth and complexity icons is an easy way to differentiate instruction.

Using depth and complexity icons fosters interactive, student-led discussions.

It is important to consider the "thinking skills" we are asking of our students while using the depth and complexity icons. Depth and Complexity gives content-based prompts that push thinking about a topic, while Bloom’s Taxonomy guides the cognitive demand placed on students.

The difference between "Rules" and "Patterns" is that when rules break, there's a problem but when patterns break, it's interesting.

It's okay to use some elements more than others or some rarely at all.

It is best to draw the symbols by hand to encourage students to do the same.

Each icon is a shortcut to expert thinking

The importance of pairing Depth and Complexity Icons with High-Level Thinking Skills/Questions

Differentiation made easy. Differentiation = Thinking Skill + Content + Resources + Product. You can adjust any of those four pieces to meet students' needs, interests, abilities.

Introducing them well is important and will directly impact the success of students' use of the tools.

Introduce new elements with content that is already familiar to them.

When students see these symbols, it should lead them to think about how they're supposed to be thinking.

The icons are symbols that are helpful, but our focus needs to always be on raising the thinking level to develop differentiation within our curriculum. We shouldn't lose sight of the purpose behind depth and complexity.

It aligns with any standard system across all grade levels.

Scope and sequence should be organic without a right or wrong way to introduce them to the students.

The significant difference between the depth icons and the complexity icons were the following....

DEPTH ICONS examine topics:

Details, Big Idea, Ethics, Patterns, Rules, Trends, Unanswered Questions, Language of the Discipline

COMPLEXITY ICONS connect concepts:

Change over time, Multiple Perspectives, Across Disciplines

Depth and complexity icons can definitely help with differentiated instruction.

The icons can be paired well with helping students develop/grow higher-order thinking skills.

I know this might sound odd, but it gives me hope that we, as a team, can implement these into everything we do, not just in academics.

We don't want to introduce the icons only to use them with low level thinking skills.

Depth involves investigating a topic more thoroughly to reveal hidden details and knowledge, while complexity means recognizing and forming connections between multiple ideas.

On page 14, the authors recommend not putting up posters of the icons until they are individually introduced. (Should I take my whiteboard magnets down?)

Depth and complexity icons can serve as a common “thinking language” across grade levels and subjects, which helps build consistency and continuity in how students approach learning.

Clearly defining how the depth icons are used (examine) vs. the complexity icons (connect).

When students see the icons modeled in real conversations and writing, they start to apply them more naturally in their own work.

🌼Should call them "thinking tools", "prompts", or "elements" instead of "icons" pg. 15

🚦🌀"Differentiation = thinking skill + content + resources + product" pg. 2. I'd like to keep this in mind when I create lessons/activities for kids. Is this a rule or a pattern?

🏛️Page 20 "These symbols are elements of thinking and will...create expectation, convey information, give us a common vocabulary, tell us what to do and not to do, and they may adjust meaning from one thing we study to another."