Depth and Complexity Critical Thinking Task Cards for Literature
5.0 (1,439 reviews)Add depth and complexity to your instruction with these Critical Thinking Task Cards for Literature! These tasks cards allow students to deeply analyze any fiction reading material through 11 topics of critical thinking: Big Ideas, Rules, Trends, Patterns, Language of the Discipline, Ethics,…
- Grade
- Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6, Grade 7, Grade 8
- Pages
- 25
- Answer key
- N/A
- Teaching duration
- Yearlong Resource
- Digital download
Description
Add depth and complexity to your instruction with these Critical Thinking Task Cards for Literature! These tasks cards allow students to deeply analyze any fiction reading material through 11 topics of critical thinking: Big Ideas, Rules, Trends, Patterns, Language of the Discipline, Ethics, Relationships Over Time, Details, Unanswered Questions, Across Disciplines, and Multiple Perspectives. You will appreciate the versatility of these task cards; they can be used with almost any text (novels, picture books, anthology stories, etc.). This resource is applicable to many grade levels (4-10+) and can be easily adapted for the learners you work with.
$AVE: Get this and several other resources in my Critical Thinking MEGA BUNDLE!!!
Included in this resource:
•Eight color task cards for each of the eleven topics of critical thinking (88 unique task cards total)
•Eight black-and-white task cards for each of eleven topics of critical thinking (88 unique task cards total)
•A graphic organizer for students to record their responses
•A student recording sheet, where students can track which cards they have already completed
•Tips and suggestions on how to use these task cards in your class.
Two versions–with and without icons–are now included!!
➡FREE Depth and Complexity Posters
★CLICK HERE for the task cards BUNDLE. This contains all 3 sets: Literature, History, and Science★
★CLICK HERE for Critical Thinking Literature Circles★
★CLICK HERE for Teaching Critical Thinking Using Fairytales★
★CLICK HERE for Thinking Mats for All Subjects★
This resource was created based on the Depth and Complexity framework, which was developed by Dr. Sandra Kaplan under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Research and Improvement: 1996
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Please read: This is a nonrefundable digital download. Please read the description carefully and examine the preview file before purchasing.
© Copyright 2018 M. Tallman. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to copy pages specifically designed for student or teacher use by the original purchaser or licensee. This is intended to be used by one teacher unless additional licenses have been purchased. The reproduction of any other part of this product is strictly prohibited. Copying any part of this product and placing it on the Internet in any form (even a personal/classroom website) is strictly forbidden. Doing so makes it possible for an Internet search to make the document available on the Internet, free of charge, and is a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
Reviews
Showing 11–15 of 374 reviews
Not appropriate for beginning of the year
This is very hard for me to implement until almost the third quarter. Week one has decimals, and my fourth graders don't learn about decimals until the third quarter. It also jumps into division and bigger multiplication early. I wish it had a few weeks of third-grade review.
Affixes Resource Pack
This was not exactly what I was looking for for a supplemental resource for my 5th grade class.
Not a "spiral" review
I wanted to like this so much because it was exactly what I wanted. But, Week 1 already starts talking about coordinate grids and volume, standards that aren't covered until later on in the school year. I wish it was organized by the order the standards are taught throughout the school year instead of introducing end-of-year concepts in the first few weeks.
Great Activities, but Limited Direct Instruction
This resource is advertised as a week-long unit, but in practice it functions more like one day of direct instruction followed by several activity days. There is only one PowerPoint for teaching, with the remaining materials focused on practice.
I expected a more balanced structure with instruction and assessment spread across multiple days. For example, I was able to use the PowerPoint and the second day’s worksheet within a single class period, and the “scoot” activity worked well for a separate day. However, I’m unsure how I’ll incorporate the remaining sketch notes, which might have been more effective if directly integrated into the initial instruction.
One major area for improvement is alignment between instruction and assessment. The assessments and task cards include concepts like “to be” verbs and auxiliary verbs, but these are not introduced or modeled in the PowerPoint. This created confusion for my students and could easily be developed into an additional day of instruction.
Overall, the materials are well-designed and engaging, but the unit would benefit from more comprehensive instruction and clearer alignment between teaching and assessment.
This starts off Running
I thought the assessments would get progressively harder but I do not feel I could start these assessments with my students week 1. I may be able to start them mid year
Questions & Answers (17)
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I accidently purchased the depth and complexity literature instead of social studies. But now I cannot find that one. Can you help me?
Not to worry. Please contact TpT so they can troubleshoot this with you directly. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Contact
Do you have any posters in this style to go with the icons?
Hi Laura! You can download free posters here: https://teacherthrive.com/free-depth-and-complexity-icon-posters/
Hello,
Do you have a google version of this so that I could make edits?
Thanks for reaching out! No, I do not have an editable or digital version of this.
Do you have these for non fiction texts?
Hi Jordan! We have them for social studies and science here:
https://teacherthrive.com/product/depth-and-complexity-task-cards-for-history-social-studies/
https://teacherthrive.com/product/depth-and-complexity-task-cards-for-science/
Do you have any plans to update the product to fit the new depth and complexity icons? For consistency with students?
Thanks for reaching out! We do not use them because they are copyrighted content, and we chose to create ones that we felt were a better representation of the 11 elements.
Hi i am trying to purchase this via the app but cannot find any purchase button. Is this only available via website?
I don’t believe you can purchase from the app.
Hi, I purchased this a while ago. We have since moved to Chrome Books. Is there any way you could send me the Graphic Organizer that the students fill in digitally (individually) so I can put it on Google Classroom?
Thank you, I appreciate it!
Hello! The only version of the graphic organizer I have is a pdf version. Will that work? If so please email me at info@teacherthrive.com
Hello, I own and love your products. As a newer teacher, I struggle with asking the right questions to go along with certain standards. Is there a way to know which standards the questions fall under? I would want to know for the history task cards as well.
Hi Rebecca. Thanks for reaching out. Unfortunately, I do not have have a standards correlation chart for these.
The preview does not download properly. Screen keeps on flashing of and on
That’s strange. Please contact TpT if this problem continues. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Contact
I teach 12th grade english. Do you think these cards will provide an appropriate amount of rigor for my students?
Hi Kymberly! They should be appropriate since you’ll be using them with grade-appropriate text. Download the preview to see a few sample questions.




