Depth and Complexity

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Depth and Complexity

• Modifications to the Core Curriculum for Gifted
  Scholars

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• Examples are from the Language Arts curriculum
  but could be selected from any area.
• Some of the depth and complexity shown is beyond
  the reading levels of Seventh-Graders, but are
  provided here for the use of parents.

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Depth

• Going deeper into the discipline.
• There are at least 8 layers of depth.
• Go as deep as you can.
• Challenge your students to go deeper.

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Depth
Language of the Discipline Details Patterns Trends
Unanswered Questions Rules of the
Discipline Ethics The Big Idea
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On the Page
All students should learn these levels.
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Language of the Discipline

• Grammar terms
• Noun, verb, adverb
• Simple, compound
• Literary terms
• Prose fiction, nonfiction prose, poetry, drama
• Metaphor, metonymy, hyperbole
• General vocabulary

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Details and Facts

• Observation topics, stylistic devices,
  compositions, plots, character
• What does it say?
• What happens?
• What does it mean?
• Note specifics, ambiguity,
  relationships, gaps

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Between the Lines
Some students should learn at these levels. As
many as possible. As deep as possible.
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Patterns

• The Ability to generalize
• Genres
• Similarities and differences
• Archetypes
• Themes and topics
• What does the author say in other works?

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Trends

• External forces which
  shape understanding of
  the subject matter
• Context
• Eras, -isms, movements
• The Harlem Renaissance
• Why did the author want to say that?
• Note patterns of ambiguity, gaps, relationships

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Unanswered Questions

• What the disciplinarians dont know
• Who wrote Shakespeare?
• Where did the genius come from to write
  Shakespeare, anyway?
• What makes a work or writer great?
• What does a certain passage or word in context
  mean?

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Rules of the Discipline

• The way things happen
• Spelling and grammar
• Conventions of writing biography, letters,
  poetry, documentation, etc.
• What makes language obscene or objectionable?
• Plagiarism and
  intellectual honesty

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Ethics

• Dilemmas, conflicts,
  ambiguities
• Plagiarism and intellectual honesty
• The place or value of multiculturalism,
  diversity, dead white men
• Should literature be uplifting?
• Should literature reflect ones cultural context?

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Ethics

• What language is appropriate in a given
  circumstance?
• What literature is appropriate for a given
  classroom?
• Political correctness

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The Big Idea

• Generalizations, principles, theories
• Archetypes a hero is someone who stands for a
  righteous cause, even against enormous odds.
• Examples
• Change is inevitable.
• The search for identity
• Finding ones voice
• Justice and injustice

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Complexity

• See the discipline in a broader context.
• How wide is your vision?
• Can you see in all directions?
• Challenge your students to breadth.

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_at_Kathy Alvis PattersonClassen School of Advanced
Studies
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 2007 (Based on OAGCT
Spring Conference, 2000)
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Over Time

• How ideas and individuals are seen differently in
  different eras
• Copernicus
• Galileo
• Shakespeare
• Don Quixote
• Thomas Jefferson
• Cholesterol
• Bacon

past
future
present
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Points of View andPerspective

• Personal interpretations
• Narrative device
• Examples
• Worker vs. employer
• Man vs. woman
• Facts vs. opinions

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Interdisciplinary Aspects

• How other disciplines
  use English
• Primary and secondary
  sources in literature
• Primary and secondary sources in other
  disciplines
• AP Tests in various disciplines

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In other sources
Studies should be as broad as possible..
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Depth and Complexity also apply in other
disciplines

• Math
• Science
• Foreign Language
• English

• Fine Arts
• Career Studies
• Social Studies
• Military Science
• Athletics

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Teach Your Students These Skills

• Creativity, thinking skills, problem solving
• How to prove with evidence
• How to distinguish fact from opinion

Cluster the skills you teach around concepts of
depth and complexity. Example When teaching any
revolution, use , ,
, and .
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Dont limit yourselves to what your teachers
knowSurpass them.
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Intellectual Pathway

• For each student, create an individual
  Intellectual Pathway to a product.
• E.g., Unanswered Questions lead to Details lead
  to Patterns lead to Perspectives Over Time.
• Student A
• Student B
• Student C

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Use Depth and Complexity concepts to elaborate
any topic or unit.

• Give of .
• Look for .
• Use to shed light on .
• Pull apart the you encounter.
• Discover if are due to
  insufficient , unknown
  , or issues.