Depth and Complexity Critical Thinking Mats {For all subjects!}
5.0 (394 reviews)These “Thinking Mats” present open-ended and engaging opportunities related to 11 “Thinking Tools” ( Big Ideas, Rules, Trends, Patterns, Language of the Discipline, Ethics, Relationships Over Time, Details, Unanswered Questions, Across Disciplines, and Multiple Perspectives) of critical thinking.…
- Grade
- Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6, Grade 7, Grade 8
- Pages
- 21
- Answer key
- N/A
- Teaching duration
- Yearlong Resource
- Digital download
Description
These “Thinking Mats” present open-ended and engaging opportunities related to 11 “Thinking Tools” ( Big Ideas, Rules, Trends, Patterns, Language of the Discipline, Ethics, Relationships Over Time, Details, Unanswered Questions, Across Disciplines, and Multiple Perspectives) of critical thinking. They can be utilized with practically any subject and/or topic in a variety of learning settings (small group, pairs, whole group, independent, etc.). There are 11 double-sided “Thinking Mats”; one for each of the “Thinking Tools”.
Front side of card: students will use “post-its” to make connections to a particular topic and the icon of the card.
Backside of card: provides a reference for the particular icon and examples of how it applies to language arts, science, social studies, and math.
Included in this resource:
•11 color “Thinking Mats”, one for each of the eleven “Thinking Tools”.
•11 black-and-white “Thinking Mats”, one for each of the eleven “Thinking Tools”.
•11 back-side references, one for each “Thinking Tool” (these should be copied on the reverse side of the corresponding “Thinking Mat”)
•Tips and suggestions on how to use these “Thinking Mats” in your class.
Two versions–with and without icons–are now included!!
Instructional Applications:
1. Whole Group Lessons
3. Partner Work
4. Jigsaws
5. Expert Groups
6. Independent Work
➡FREE Depth and Complexity Posters
$AVE: Get this and several other resources in my Critical Thinking MEGA BUNDLE!!!
★CLICK HERE for Critical Thinking Task Cards for Literature, History, and Science★
★CLICK HERE for Teaching Critical Thinking Using Fairytales★
★CLICK HERE for Critical Thinking Literature Circles★
This resource was created based on the Depth and Complexity framework, which was created 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 1–5 of 27 reviews
Error! I can't open this document anymore.
I purchased this vocabulary last year, and now I am unable to open it. It says that it has special permissions. Please fix it.
I loved having this for STAAR review. They were able to it by themselves
My daughter did not enjoy this at all. We normally always start out in the morning with some worksheets. In this case there were many things that were thrown at her that had little to no explanation and some were completely new to her. I ended up deleting the file since we never use it now. I really thought this would be a good course for us.
<p>Hello, Abigail. Did you see the detailed teaching notes and grammar student handbook included in the resource? Hopefully those tools help explain the concepts.</p>
My students liked this resource as a reinforcement of skills.
I was excited about this resource. But NOTHING about it has been easy. I don't believe the positive reviews, unless they are not using them daily, or they did not mind adjusting the settings on 144 forms because the settings are ridiculous.
1) "We don't use any student identifiers..." That is the DUMBEST thing I have heard of. Did I miss something and teachers have stopped asking their students to write their names on their papers because we don't need to identify whose work is whose anymore?? As of now, when 20 kids finish a form, you have NO idea who's response is whose. No joke. What the actual heck? So plan on opening 144 forms and setting EVERY ONE to collect email addresses (or whatever you prefer, but that's the easiest for my students).
2) To create the forms, you have to click on an individual link, click make a copy, and then you have the word "copy of" in front of every form. There are lots of better ways the seller could have gone about this with a little research.
3) When I make a form, I try to get the total to be out of 100 points, so that every score is consistent and means something to my students (<70, needs to ask for help from me, 100=all correct, etc.). Every purchased form I've bought has been out of 100 points. These forms are all out of different numbers-8, 16, 22, etc. There is no consistency throughout the week, no way for students to compare scores, and their scores don't means ANYTHING to them or me if I don't have a calculator handy. Just DO BETTER.
4) The other settings are GARBAGE too. Students cannot see the questions that they missed. What kind of teacher doesn't want students to see what they got wrong? I normally DON'T want my students to see correct answers, because I want them to be able to go back and try to find their errors and correct them themselves, BUT on a DAILY SPIRAL, when time is short and they may/may not have been introduced to the topic, I find that student learn a LOT form seeing the correct answer. This setting was also unchecked.
5) There is no logical order to the review questions. There are not models to help compare fractions mid year, just 2 fractions and students are asked to compare. Maybe some schools in Texas teach things in different orders, but we don't teach fractions that early, but they sure as heck could be reviewing place value or multi-step addition/subtraction problems.
If I were selling a product and knew there were 144 individual forms, I would have done the work myself, and given options: This link will give you forms with these settings; This link= these settings...etc. To say that teachers can "easily" change the settings is ridiculous. It is TEDIOUS, easy to miss an important setting like collect EMAILS, and THAT'S WHY I PAID YOU. I should have realized there were teachers out there that don't think about the "little things" and read the fine print or comments before buying.
I WOULD NOT BUY AGAIN for the hassle of making these work.
Questions & Answers (7)
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Could these be used for a book club if I don't want to do traditional lit circle format with roles?
Hello, Melissa!
Absolutely! It is a bit more open-ended, so if you have students who need more explicit guidance, it might not be the best fit. However, your students might really respond well to the less structured format.
How am I able to print these? I have downloaded and ran through every option of making sure my computer and printer are synced and working, no luck.
Some PDFs with a lot of graphics may look fine on your screen, but may not print out correctly.
Open the PDF file with Adobe Acrobat Reader
Click “Print”
Click on “Advanced”
Check the “Print as Image” box
Print the document
If you are still having issues, please contact TpT so they can troubleshoot this with you directly. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Contact
Hi,
I have a mixed group of 6th to 8th grades. I am asking because I see that the range is from 4th to 10th which is very wide. How do I adjust it to a certain age group?
Thanks.
Eran
You’ll be able to differentiate by using different leveled texts with the materials.
Are these available as Google Docs or Slides?
No they are not.
Hey, just wanted to let you know that the Rules back sheet (p 36) is out of order. I figured that out /after/ I printed 4 sets of these mats! The Rules page comes last in the front section, so it should be moved to page 39 in order to print back-to-back correctly.
Ugh!! So sorry!!!! Will fix today.
Hi I have purchased the resources below but I can't seem to printout the D&C thinking mats and the D&C bookmarks for some reason. I can printout the other two. Please help me - they are such wonderful and useful resources.
Thanks
Natasha Pritchard
-Depth and Complexity Thinking Mats
-Depth and Complexity Bookmarks
-Literature Circle
-Strategy Cards that work
That is so strange. Are you able to open them and view them on your computer okay? What is happening when you try to print them? Do you have the latest version of Adobe? Double check by clicking here: http://www.adobe.com/products/reader.html
Also what type of computer do you have? If you
have a Mac and are using preview, that might be the problem. You'll want to make sure to open in Adobe.
Have your tried printing from another computer and/or printer?
I'm sorry you're having difficulties. We'll get it figured out!
Do you have a blog? I'd love to see these in action in a classroom. They look incredible - and I want to be sure I have a good understanding of them. :)
Thank you for your interest. At this time, I do not have a blog. It's just not something I have the time to manage right now. There are some really great resources online regarding Depth and Complexity. I LOVE byrdseed.com! It's a great site with a lot of information for differentiation. Once you become familiar with the various attributes of each icon, using them in your class becomes pretty natural. This item does include a couple of examples as well as ways to apply the Thinking Mats in your class room.




