Patterns

***The Elements of Depth & Complexity are, to put it simply, a framing tool for creating critical writing prompts. Each Element is paired with an Icon. Drawing and/or memorizing the Icon is secondary to the actual USE of the Element to create better questions. When students learn what each Element means, they can start creating prompts for themselves, saving the teacher a lot of time.

This Element engages students in putting the pieces together to form a conclusion, make a prediction, or discover a system. Questions about repetition, next steps, pattern disruption, algorithms and procedures, flow-charts, data collection, etc. are closely tied to this Element.

Prompts may include:

  • Picture timelines of major events in and around the story or topic
  • Imagining what happened before the story began, or what will happen after the story concludes
  • Using details from a unit to determine the “big picture” direction the content is going
  • Making a prediction based on key details to write or illustrate an ending or solution
  • Creatively breaking a pattern to expose a surprise and the reasoning behind it
  • Explaining how new factors could have changed a pattern
  • Comparing or contrasting a story or topic with similar stories or topics, exposing constants.

Social Studies

  1. Make a prediction on the outcome of this conflict based on the interaction between these two groups (of people, religions, societies, countries, etc.).
  2. Reflect on all of the mistakes made by _____________ (historical figure/group). Think of a present-day situation where the same mistakes are being made. How can the people involved reach a better outcome?
  3. Use your knowledge of climate and geography to describe the setting of this story in your own words.
  4. Knowing what you do about goods and services offered in the region, what would you expect to see on ___________ (character’s) grocery list?
  5. Use ideas from a news article to write a current event word problem that follows the patterns you found this topic.
  6. How does the story show the progression of acceptance of women and minorities in the field of math and science?

English

  1. Which patterns do you see in _______ that remind you of patterns in _______ (a previous topic/story)?
  2. Break the pattern in your reading by rewriting the end so that it has a surprise twist.
  3. Use Newsela to find a current event that follows the same patterns as your story.
  4. How does the story show the progression of acceptance of women and minorities in the field of math and science?
  5. If the last two pieces of text that you read merged into one story, how would the story elements interact?
  6. Which patterns do you see in _______ that remind you of patterns in _______ (a previous topic/story)?
  7. Break the pattern in your reading by rewriting the end so that it has a surprise twist.
  8. How are patterns of prejudice or discrimination apparent in this reading?
  9. Use ideas from a news article to write a current event word problem that follows the patterns you found this topic.
  10. Think about what we are learning now and what we plan to learn before the next test. Have you already mastered this topic? What could you do to prove your mastery so that you aren’t repeating something you’ve already learned? Get approval from the teacher and for your proposal and do it.

Math

  1. Create and illustrate a poster that explains the step-by-step process you learned in class. Include a story problem at the bottom of the poster to give learners an example.
  2. Locate three mathematical words in the lesson. Write a short comic strip that helps explain the words.
  3. Does this pattern work in every situation? Why or why not?
  4. Write a story problem that must be solved using the pattern you learned in this lesson.
  5. How does the story show the progression of acceptance of women and minorities in the field of math and science?
  6. What are the moral or ethical considerations when someone depends on a calculator for specific concepts in this topic? How has our dependency changed over time? Use research on calculator use to defend your ideas.
  7. Use ideas from a news article to write a current event word problem that follows the patterns you found this topic.
  8. Think about what we are learning now and what we plan to learn before the next test. Have you already mastered this topic? What could you do to prove your mastery so that you aren’t repeating something you’ve already learned? Get approval from the teacher and for your proposal and do it.
  9. Write a story problem like the ones we do in class, but start with the answer and work your way back. Let’s say the answer is… -5. If that doesn’t make sense with this topic, you may start with a different answer in mind.
  10. On a poster, create a flowchart that a student can use to ALWAYS get the correct answer for a question in this topic. The flowchart must work for every possible situation that you can imagine.
  11. Explain why problems like those in this topic are easy/difficult to solve in your mind. What would you need to know in order to make the opposite true (i.e. if these problems are difficult to solve in your mind, what would make them easy and vice versa)?

Science

  1. Make three different observations at different times about__________________. Use your observations to form a hypothesis.
  2. Sketch a picture of the moon every day for a week. Make a prediction about what the moon will look like on the next day, based on your observations.
  3. Research human influence on nature, including - building new homes, conservation, and pollution. Use evidence from your research to predict how the world will look in 10 years.
  4. Observe charts from NASA regarding climate change. What conclusions can you draw from this data? What do you predict will happen over the next decade if this trend continues?
  5. How does the story show the progression of acceptance of women and minorities in the field of math and science?