At Byrdseed.TV: What do a hornet, snail, and octopus have in common?
Byrdseed Logo
Byrdseed.TV Example Lessons Depth & Complexity
❮ Back to: All Differentiation Techniques

Differentiation TechniqueFind The Controversy

Read The Overview: Find The Controversy in Any Topic

By leveraging a point of contention, we can get students interested in just about any topic. Yes, even boring old spelling has controversy we can exploit!

Specific Examples of “Find The Controversy”

What could we do with this Wax Museum event?

What could we do with this Wax Museum event?

How one might revamp a "Wax Museum" project into something that focuses more on thinking than product.
The Surprises Within a Triangle’s Angles

The Surprises Within a Triangle’s Angles

Discovering what is interesting and unexpected about a triangle's angles. What twists have I unintentionally spoiled for my students over the years?
Two Questions I Won’t Ask About A Famous Quote

Two Questions I Won’t Ask About A Famous Quote

Let's do more than ask, "What did this person mean?"
Encourage Curiosity With Calculators

Encourage Curiosity With Calculators

It's easy to fall in love with chasing the newest technology to use in the classroom. But sometimes, the perfect tool is a plain old calculator. We'll be using this tool to develop curiosity about math.
Help my students remember these confusing terms!

Help my students remember these confusing terms!

If you want students to memorize, you can't aim for memorize. You have to aim higher – and then memorization comes along for free.
Universal Themes and… Punctuation!?

Universal Themes and… Punctuation!?

Here's how can we move a punctuation lesson beyond mere memorization and towards actually interesting thinking.
Paradox: Ship of Theseus

Paradox: Ship of Theseus

Here's a fun thought experiment your students are sure to get a kick out of: when something is slowly replaced over time, is it still the same thing in the end?
Make A *Better* Calendar!

Make A *Better* Calendar!

The calendar is a source of fantastic factoring problems with many social studies add-ons. Why 12 months? Why 30 (or 31 or 28) days? Why are weeks 7 days long? Why don't they fit into the months (or the year!)? Why did we do this to ourselves!?
Which is longer: a Ray or a Line?

Which is longer: a Ray or a Line?

Let's move beyond memorizing definitions and get kids grappling with the fascinating concept of infinity!
How *Not* To Ask Questions About A Novel

How *Not* To Ask Questions About A Novel

These "discussion questions" highlight so many of the problems we've been looking at.
Next Page »

Want to share something?
Everything written on Byrdseed.com is licensed as CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted. What does that mean?

Privacy Policy • Disclosure

Copyright © 2009 - 2026 Byrdseed, LLC