I am participating in a book study for the book by Ian Byrd and Lisa Van Gemert:
If you haven't read it yet, it's a great introduction or refresher for Kaplan's Depth and Complexity. I've been a fan of Ian Byrd's for a long time. His ideas revolutionized how I taught and this is a great guidebook to activities and questions you can use in your classroom to step up the rigor.
My favorite concept is Ethics. Teaching students to choose a side and make an argument for it. Pro/Con, right/wrong. I do a little turn and talk with a question almost every day. When my Kinder students begin the year, they will give you the answer they think you want to hear. When they leave me, they are better at making an argument to support their opinions.
Some great books to use (besides fairy tales and Dr. Seuss books) :
A boy catches the huge fish that is a local legend-should he take it home and be a hero or throw it back and let it continue to thrive.
Was the boy right? Was the tree right?
A father tells his son to stay by the lion he drew in the sand. The boy draws a very long tail on the lion and goes to the other end of the beach. Was that the right thing to do?
Was it right for the letters to go back up the tree after they fell down.
Was it right for Max to leave the Wild Things and go home?
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