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Concentric Circles – Getting Students to Think Bigger (and Smaller!)

Concentric Circles is a differentiation technique which moves students up and down the ladder of abstraction, applying a single idea in multiple contexts.

Example:

concentric circles differentiation technique

In this example, my students are applying the big idea “🏛️ Problems lead to new rules. Those rules lead to new problems.” (yes, it’s a favorite of mine) to three contexts of increasing “size”: home, school, and our city.

You could add to or change those around, of course. The key is how students are thinking! They’re seeing how one idea can apply similarly or differently across various contexts.

This is an example of “The Spectrum Of Abstraction”

Too many lessons stay at one level of abstraction. Instead, move from specific examples to a big broad idea. Or go in the other direction. The key is to move!

See other examples of “The Spectrum Of Abstraction” ❯❯




📂 Also filed under Differentiating.

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