This framework for differentiation will give your students practical ways to think more deeply about a topic.
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!
While the official depth and complexity icons look great, they lead to all kinds of problems in the digital world and also take ownership away from students. Emoji are an elegant solution to both problems.
You can use the prompts of depth and complexity yet still ask very shallow questions. Here's how to avoid this common pitfall…
Three picture books that I’ve used (or would use) to introduce Depth and Complexity to students of any age.
A go-to activity to introduce the prompts of depth and complexity to students while they also introduce themselves to their new classmates.
What if we used a universal theme to guide our study of fractions? These very big ideas get students thinking about fractions in a new way.
Let’s start with a puzzlement, ask kids to generate an abstract statement, and then find evidence that their statement works across several different areas.
Here are a few ways that you can introduce the prompts of Depth and Complexity to a range of students (yes, even kindergartners!).
Why I let students make their own depth and complexity posters rather than buying and displaying professional printable posters.
How one might revamp a “Wax Museum” project into something that focuses more on thinking than product.
Go across disciplines by asking students to write a story about fraction equivalence.
Frames, a graphic organizer often used with the Depth and Complexity framework, have one big trap that I fell into for years.
The Across Disciplines prompt asks students to think about how this topic intersects with other fields as well as with other topics within the same field.