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Boy did I make a lot of obvious mistakes when implementing Depth and Complexity. In this series, I'm breaking down worksheets I used and re-writing them to improve my use of Depth and Complexity.

Featured Articles

When Too Much “Depth” Leads To Simplicity

Here's the most common mistake I've seen in implementing Depth and Complexity. And I made it too!

The Problem with Depth and Complexity Handouts

These common Depth and Complexity handouts are packed with questions that don't even make sense!

Other Depth and Complexity Renovations Articles

Don’t just list examples of writing techniques. Let’s improve Shakespeare!

I stopped and started with “What đź‘„ special writing techniques does the author use? List examples.”

Taking A Zoologist Across Disciplines

All I did was ask students to list and explain three “disciplines.” Let’s take it a bit further!

My class listed two Unanswered Questions. Now what?

It seems obvious, but if someone tells me what they’re wondering about, I shouldn’t move on to another topic!

Going Beyond “Define These Terms In Your Own Words”

“Define these terms in your own words” may contain depth and complexity… but it’s neither deep nor complex!

Multiple Perspectives Gone Mad!!

Yes, I actually gave my students this question: “How could two experts’ đź‘“ perspectives regarding information from this reading selection differ from one another?” yikes.

Beyond “Describe How This Changed Over Time”

I want to go beyond just listing how a character changed. Let’s get students thinking about that change!

Don’t Just List ⚖️ Ethical Issues

Here’s an example of a question I asked my students: ⚖️ What moral or ethical issues are raised in this book? What controversies exist? Now, the first problem is that this question is way too wordy. I often gave my class rough drafts of questions. Nowadays, I want to make sure to proofread, revise, and […]

Improving “What’s The Chapter’s 🏛️ Big Idea?”

Here’s a Depth and Complexity question I found on an old worksheet: What title would you give this chapter? Explain why your title fits the chapter’s 🏛️ Big Idea. Sure, I’m using Depth and Complexity. But how am I asking students to think? Bloom’s Taxonomy is much more important than Depth and Complexity. (And it’s not […]

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

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. Do you notice any 🌀 patterns in this book? Were there any ⚖️ ethical issues? What was the 🏛️ big idea? I was leaving so much […]

Fixing my “Think Like A Statistician” Frame

I used a Depth and Complexity Frame like this with my math students. Let’s look at how we could improve this. Some problems: It asks four unrelated questions. I want to build a sequence of questions that climbs Bloom’s Taxonomy. Most of the questions are naturally answered with “yes” or “no” or a list. Questions […]

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