Depth and Complexity

Modifications to the Core Curriculum for Gifted Scholars

• 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.

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.

Depth Language of the Discipline

Details

Patterns

Trends

Unanswered Questions

Rules of the Discipline

Ethics

The Big Idea

On the Page…

All students should learn these levels.

Language of the Discipline

• Grammar terms– Noun, verb, adverb…– Simple, compound…

• Literary terms– Prose fiction, nonfiction prose, poetry, drama– Metaphor, metonymy, hyperbole…

• General vocabulary

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

Between the Lines…

Some students should learn at these levels.

As many as possible.

As deep as possible.

Patterns

• The Ability to generalize

• Genres

• Similarities and differences

• Archetypes

• Themes and topics

• What does the author say in other works?

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

Unanswered

Questions

• What the disciplinarians don’t 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?

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

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 one’s cultural

context?

Ethics

• What language is appropriate in a given circumstance?

• What literature is appropriate for a given classroom?

• Political correctness

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 one’s voice• Justice and injustice

Complexity

• See the discipline in a broader context.

• How wide is your vision?

• Can you see in all directions?

• Challenge your students to breadth.

@Kathy Alvis PattersonClassen School of Advanced Studies

@Kathy Alvis PattersonClassen School of Advanced Studies

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma2007

(Based on OAGCT Spring Conference, 2000)

Over Time

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

past

present

future

Points of View andPerspective

• Personal interpretations

• Narrative device

• Examples:– Worker vs. employer– Man vs. woman– Facts vs. opinions

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

In other sources…

Studies should be as broad as

possible..

Depth and Complexity also apply in other disciplines

• Math

• Science

• Foreign Language

• English

• Fine Arts

• Career Studies

• Social Studies

• Military Science

• Athletics

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 .

“Don’t limit yourselves to

what your teachers know:Surpass them.”

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:

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.