Extension Menu for Any Student/Any Subject

We want to be able to supply students at all levels with appropriate learning activities during these times. The following menu is useful to share with any student and will automatically be enriching, creative, and meaningful to them.

Extension Menu (make a copy and change as you wish).

This menu is based on the work of Dr. Sandra Kaplan from USC and her work on depth, complexity, and universal themes. It works because of a phenomenon known in Creative Studies as "forced fit." You may recognize this idea if you've ever done improvisational theater. It also relies on the Venn Diagram concept.

Here’s how the menu works: 

1. The student (or an adult if the child is too young to write or finds writing too laborious) puts a major interest of theirs on the first line. Alternatively, you, as the teacher, could put a curricular concept you are reviewing on the first line. 
2. The student chooses one of the depth and complexity words or one of the universal themes.
3. The student chooses one of the processes from the processes list. 
4. The student chooses one of the product choices from the product choices list. 
5. The student puts these together in a form of a sentence to create their “assignment.” 

An example using student interest: 

For example, they may have said their favorite interest is dinosaurs. Then they chose "beauty" from the universal themes list. Then they chose "devise" from the processes list. Finally they chose "machine" from the products list. They then write a sentence using dinosaurs, beauty, devise, and machine. It could go something like this: I will devise a machine that, if I could go back in time, would make dinosaurs beautiful. This will require them to naturally consider the universal theme of beauty (Who determines beauty? Is beauty different for each of us? Is it important?). They could research dinosaurs, and get creative with what could make a dinosaur beautiful. Let them research dinosaurs and use their imagination to ponder in what ways dinosaurs and beauty intersect.

Of course, there are many ways this project plays out and no “wrong” way. The point is to let a student learn, struggle, and attain satisfaction through their learning.

An example using a curricular concept for review: 

For example, you may wish students to review and extend their thinking around the simultaneous coevolution of Earth’s systems and life on Earth. This is written on the first line. Then the student chooses one of the depth and complexity words, a word from the processes list, and finally, a word from the products list.

Let’s use details, discover, and timeline from the three lists of choices.

The student then writes a sentence using the simultaneous coevolution of Earth’s systems and life on Earth, details, discover, and timeline.

It could go something like this: I will create a timeline of the details I discover when I review the simultaneous coevolution of Earth’s systems and life on Earth.

More on Depth & Complexity 

If you would like to learn more about Depth & Complexity, start by exploring here. One example of how Depth & Complexity automatically increase the expectations for knowledge is this:

Rather than just asking general questions about content, the Depth and Complexity prompts help you to quickly increase the level of content knowledge required in a question.

• A task like “Compare and contrast Lincoln and Washington” is ok, but too broad. It’s unlikely to push advanced students. They can too easily settle into the obvious and surface-level (both are humans, both are men, one has brown hair, one has grey hair). 
• Instead, ask students to “Compare and contrast the ethical dilemmas Lincoln and Washington faced” and suddenly there’s room for a deeper understanding. 
• Or say “Compare and contrast the rules that Lincoln and Washington created as presidents.” 

By adding a tool of depth and complexity, we should always see the expectations for knowledge increase. 

Please email me at laurie.wyatt@southeastpolk if you have questions or would like to discuss this menu or Depth & Complexity and your work with students,