I had no idea it was a thing. In researching the topic of creative constraint, I was led to this Wikipedia article, and proceeded down a rabbit hole! Writing “with limitations” is ubiquitous. Six-word memoirs, seven-word summaries, haiku poetry, and 280-character tweets are all examples of constrained writing. I became interested in exploring more about … Read more
In a previous post, I shared a fun way to introduce and explain the origin of the phrase “thinking outside the box.” I wonder if “thinking inside the box” could describe some of the brain-training exercises that promote thinking through the application of rules and constraints. A constraint is a limitation or restriction. Most of … Read more
If your students have not yet tried Kyudoku, it’s a logic puzzle that reinforces strategies similar to those used in solving Sudoku but introduces new constraints and an entirely different goal. You can share the tutorial below with your students, and the Kyudoku puzzles can be found on Brainzilla. See also LOGIC EQUATIONS, BEYOND SUDOKU … Read more
x——————————-x In the U.S., most students have a holiday break at the end of December and return to school sometime in early January. With the long month of January ahead, many teachers and students struggle to chase away those January blues! The past few years have been unprecedented in their challenges for students and teachers, … Read more
Time and date patterns have gained in popularity in recent years and seem to pop up in my social media feeds almost every month. Every year, for example, on February 22nd at 10:22 p.m.(and 22 seconds), the date and time can be written as 2-22 22:22:22. And in the year 2022, the pattern increased by … Read more
Here’s an event you’ll want to share with your students before the holiday break! On December 21st, Jupiter and Saturn will appear as a double planet! Their orbits will bring them closer together than they’ve been in centuries. This phenomenon is called a conjunction, and when it involves the two largest planets in our solar … Read more
If you’re a fan of special “academic” days of celebration such as Pi Day, Powers of Ten Day, and Fibonacci Day, celebrated on November 23rd, then we have something in common! What student isn’t interested in anything that involves “celebration?” It can be a good thing to set aside whatever studies are happening at the … Read more
One of my favorite puzzles at Brainzilla is called LOGIC EQUATIONS. This type of puzzle combines algebraic equations with a logic grid, so it’s a fantastic complement to Hands-On Equations™! If you’re short on time, here’s a quick tutorial! In just over two minutes your students can learn how to solve these. You can find … Read more
Few language exercises provide as much bang for the buck as analogy challenges do! Students learn to think critically and logically as they evaluate word meanings, connotations, characteristics, parts of speech, and many other possible relationships connecting words and ideas. With more advanced analogies, students engage in verbal reasoning that requires an extensive vocabulary and … Read more
Students appreciate it when we set them up for success. No presenter- at any age- wants to see an audience looking bored or disinterested. Modeling and teaching students HOW to present to audiences in engaging ways should be a big part of what we do as teachers. One way to engage an audience is to … Read more
