Many teachers who work with gifted students incorporate Socratic Dialogue, Socratic Seminar, Shared Inquiry, Philosophical Chairs, or other methods of facilitating scholarly discourse and discussion. The methods and goals vary depending on the objectives. Some begin with reading a specific text or quote (see Philosophy for Kids), and some lean more towards debate, but all … Read more
If you’re looking for ways to incorporate advanced vocabulary while having fun with words, here are a few activities to add to those presented in previous posts (see Pun and Games… and Kid-Created Word Puzzles). INFLATIONARY LANGUAGE Many of you reading this are too young to remember the Danish musician, conductor, and comedian Victor Borge. … Read more
If I had to name the ONE book that has most influenced my teaching practices in guiding students through challenging texts, it would have to be Deeper Reading by Kelly Gallagher. A high school English teacher, presenter, instructional coach, and author of a number of books, Kelly Gallagher is well known for his educational leadership … Read more
In a previous post, I shared instructions, tutorials, and links for introducing two types of Japanese number logic puzzles to your students: Kakuro and Futoshiki. Here are two additional types that are also less well known, along with tutorials and free resources you can use in your classroom. Hashiwokakero or Hashi o kakero means “building … Read more
Scavenger hunts have come a long way since the days of hiding items and clues around the school! Today’s virtual challenges can really shake up a class routine and get students moving, thinking, and creating! Here are some ready-made resources created specifically for homebound scholars, as well as instructions for creating your own in a … Read more
Many teachers are creating CHOICE BOARDS and MENUS for their students during this time of school closures. If you’ve never created one, there are several different ways you can do it, depending on how you’d like to share it with your students. For example, this video shows how to create one in Google Docs to … Read more
