I just asked, “Do You Notice Any Patterns?”

Want to use Depth and Complexity really well? I’ll email you a three-part series.

Here’s another question from a worksheet I used to use:

Do you notice any 🌀 patterns in this book?

And then the next question moved on to another topic.

1. Do you notice any 🌀 patterns in this book?
2. Were there any ⚖️ ethical issues?
3. What was the 🏛️ big idea?

I was leaving so much on the table by asking just a bunch of unrelated, low-level question.

What Would The Answer Even Be?

First, I didn’t test the soup. That is, I served this question without even trying it out. If I had tried answering my own question, I’d have noticed the fatal flaw. I can write “Nope” and be done.

And, sure, I might write “Yes” and list three patterns. But the bottom line is that this question, despite having a prompt of Depth and Complexity in it, is quite shallow and quite simple!

One-Offs Are Weird

Imagine this conversation with an adult at a book club:

Me: So did you notice any patterns in this book?
Her: Yes! It was filled with interesting patterns!
Me: Were there any ethical issues in the book?
Her: Uh… what?
Me: What was the book’s big idea?
Her: 😱

If I ask one question about patterns, I should probably ask three or four questions about patterns. It’s natural to build on a topic, not leap randomly from topic to topic.

Build A Sequence

Maybe we’re reading several stories about courage. I could compare characters across stories, looking for patterns.

1. Note at least five points in the story where Brian shows courage or a lack of courage.
2. For each moment, give him a courage rating: 1 to 5.
3. Make a line graph showing Brian’s courage level throughout Hatchet.
4. Make a similar line graph for Mr. Sugihara and Charolette Doyle’s courage levels in their stories?
5. How are these graphs similar? What key differences pop out? (this is where we’re looking for 🌀 Patterns!)
6. Could you think of a character who has a very different graph?

Notice how this sequence builds around the idea of a pattern, but I never ask students to just “list patterns.”

Back to the full Depth and Complexity guide.