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My Big Mistake with Frames and Depth and Complexity

Frames are a pretty simple graphic organizer that, when combined with Depth and Complexity, can open up some new ways of looking at content.

A Frame

A Frame is very much like a picture frame. In the middle (where a photo would go) is your content. And then, in each of the four sides, you place a question about the content.

The goal is to give your students four different prompts that emphasize different aspects of your content. If you’re working with Depth and Complexity, it’s quite common to use these four sections to highlight four different Depth and Complexity prompts.

But here’s what I did wrong.

I Just Plopped In Four Icons

Often, my four sections just included a different prompt of Depth and Complexity in each one. I did this all the time and now realize what a terrible practice it is.

Which do you think will generate a more thoughtful response:

  1. đź‘„
  2. Which word do you think is more essential to the US Constitution: đź‘„ justice or đź‘„ liberty?

It seems ridiculous when you think about it, right? But do a search for “depth and complexity frames” and you’ll see what a common practice this is.

If I want students to think, I have to prompt them with (you know) a complete sentence.

Finally! A chance to use that Drake meme.

Since someone will probably want those questions, here they are in plain text (and don’t the emoji icons make it easy to work with Depth and Complexity!?):

  • Which word do you think is more essential to the US Constitution: đź‘„ justice or đź‘„ liberty?
  • Summarize the 🏠 biggest difference between the Constitution and the Articles of Confederation.
  • What would be the most surprising ⏳ change in the Constitution from đź‘“ Jefferson’s perspective?
  • What would be the most surprising ⏳ change in the Constitution from đź‘“ Hamilton’s perspective?

So, yes, Frames are a great tool to look at content in several different ways, but always come back to that core question: is this making students think or just remember? An icon by itself leads to remembering, but a well-crafted question will slow students down and get them to think.

And, if you subscribe to Byrdseed.TV, here’s a lesson for introducing students using Frames and Depth and Complexity that will push your students to think more deeply about themselves.

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