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Differentiation TechniqueGet Ridiculous

Read The Overview: Get Ridiculous!

One technique for finding complexity in a topic is to look for the edge cases, the outliers, the really big or small versions.

Specific Examples of “Get Ridiculous”

Making Awful Graphs

Making Awful Graphs

Sometimes we can learn a lot by doing something the wrong way. Here are six ways your students can purposefully design awful, misleading graphs.

Going Beyond “Challenge Words” In Spelling

Going Beyond “Challenge Words” In Spelling

Many students blow past grade-level spelling and vocabulary at a young age. Unfortunately, a common technique to "challenge" them is to find harder and more obscure words for their spelling list. Instead, let's take advantage of the built-in complexity of common words with multiple-meanings.

Math Project: Disneyland Parking Structure

Math Project: Disneyland Parking Structure

Let's develop a math project to challenge students who have demonstrated a mastery of multiplication and are ready to explore its applications. We'll count the parking spaces in the Disneyland parking structure!

Thinking Like Producers About Consumers

Thinking Like Producers About Consumers

Here's how I'd use ethics and multiple perspectives to get students thinking about producers, consumers, and decomposers in new and interesting ways.

A Millionaire By Doubling Pennies

How long will it take to get a million dollars if you start with a penny and double it?

Think Like A Philosopher

Up near the top of Bloom’s taxonomy is “evaluating.” A great use of this level of thinking is to evaluate a character’s ethical choice. But we can go deeper! Let’s ask students to evaluate characters’ actions based on another character’s point of view. To add another layer, we’ll teach kids about philosophers and use their points of view as well.

Exploring Palindromes in ELA and Math

Palindromes are one of those fun ideas that some gifted kids just latch onto. We'll check out palindromic words, phrases, and even numbers in this article.

Thinking From Anything’s Perspective

How a small change, with very little effort on the teacher's part, leads to a delightfully complex task that can will get students thinking.

Get Students Out Of Creative Ruts

Sometimes students need a little structure to force them into a more creative state of mind. Here are a few ideas for interesting writing prompts

Garden Path Sentences

Garden Path Sentences seem to begin one way, but quickly fall apart, forcing the reader to start over and interpret words in a new way. A simple example is: "The old man the boat."

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