GT Back to School Planning: Depth of Knowledge

 

Welcome to the first in the series of a week long guide for back to school planning with gifted learners in mind! For the first topic, I have chosen to discuss depth of knowledge; a vital part in ensuring rigor for each of our gifted students.

 

Backward Planning with Depth of Knowledge

 

As a teacher, backward planning is vital – starting with the end in mind. As a gifted teacher, backward planning is even more important. By beginning with recognizing WHAT we want our students to accomplish, we can ensure rigor in the activities we choose. If we begin with the activity, many times we recognize after the fact that it did not contain rigor. Sure it might have been fun or exploratory, but WHAT did the students learn or accomplish?

 

My favorite way to backward plan is through the use of Webb’s Depth of Knowledge.

 

Webb’s Depth of Knowledge vs Bloom’s Taxonomy

 

When I was in college, I was first introduced to Bloom’s Taxonomy as a strategy for developing higher thinking. Shaped like a pyramid, the goal is to move from the bottom (simple tasks) to the top (more complex tasks). Each step of the pyramid has a specific verb that elicits deeper thinking.

 

On the other hand, Depth of Knowledge, is organized into 4 categories based on complexity of activities. The four categories are acquired knowledge, knowledge application, analysis, and argumentation. What I specifically like about using DOK (rather than Bloom’s) is the simplicity of the 4 levels as well as the multitude of verbs that can be used at each level. When co-planning/co-teaching with teachers, I have found that teachers can get stuck on the specific verbs of Bloom’s and struggle to plan lesson objectives. With a wider range of verbs through DOK, teachers have an easier time recognizing higher level thinking as well as planning activities that match rigorous objectives. This is one of my favorite charts to use with teachers when planning: Depth of Knowledge Levels (DOK).

 

Overall, there is no right tool to use. If you are interested in learning more, this article has more information about each concept. Additionally, Dr. Karin Hess, created a Cognitive Rigor Matrix that allows you to compare and use both Bloom’s and DOK together. Check it out Hess’s Cognitive Rigor Matrix here.

 

What does this all mean for gifted students?

Gifted students many times already know topics, especially at the recall and concepts level. When planning lessons, it is imperative to think about how your students with previous knowledge or expertise can work at level 3 and 4 of DOK. If we do not plan for this BEFORE beginning the unit, we find ourselves scrambling to give the students something to do. And many times, that scramble leads to busy work or “helping others”, rather than purposeful deeper work.

 

Upper Grade Example: When planning a lesson on the American Revolution, many students may be spending time learning facts, history, and recalling information. But, if you have gifted students that you know have a lot of background knowledge on the American Revolution (or a small group that you know will be very interested and catch on quickly), you may plan a different activity. (Yes, different -not better- because they need something DIFFERENT to learn). For example, this lesson may allow students to analyze different sources of information (articles, books, primary sources..) and create an argument of accuracy. By planning this AHEAD of time, these students are exploring the same concept, but at a deeper level. Most of the time (of course there are always exceptions), gifted students should move quickly through DOK 1 & 2 and focus on DOK 3 & 4 when working in their strength areas. Using this DOK Chart helps to quickly brainstorm ideas of how to add rigor to any topic.

 

Lower Grade Example:  Many gifted students often come to Kindergarten knowing phonics skills. (I have an entire blog post about whether or not I think kids need to sit through a phonics lesson they already know…check it out here). Say your class is working on long vs short vowels – you are reading a story and brainstorming a list of words together as a class – and that one student who clearly already knows the information is rolling around on the floor and being distracting. What could you do instead? Looking at some of the verbs from the DOK Chart, you may think that a Kindergartener couldn’t independently work at DOK 3 or 4, but they certainly can.

 

Looking at the word “revise”, you could create some stories where you have mixed up the vowels and the student has to go through and fix your errors. (I promise, allowing a kindergartener to find a teacher’s mistakes will give them a lot of entertainment and excitement!) Looking at the verb “create”, you could allow the student to use the app book creator to create a book that uses the short vowel “a”. (Book creator was one of my Kinder gifted students’ favorite apps – they catch on so quickly!!). By looking at the DOK Chart and brainstorming ideas, there are endless possibilities for students of all ages to work at DOK 3 & 4.

 

**Later in this series we will talk more about ways to differentiate reading for younger students through Depth and Complexity and Picture Books. Join the email list for more freebies!

 

Depth Of Knowledge in Math

 

One of my most recent favorite ways to use DOK is in math. Robert Kaplinsky, an incredible educator, professor, and mathematician, is well known for creating higher level math questions called Open Middle. These questions removed numbers from math problems, allow students to think at a deeper level. Additionally, Kaplinsky created math matrixes for grade levels 3-5. These matrixes show an example question at each standard and how a teacher could ask the same question at deeper levels of thinking.

 

When I found Kaplinsky’s matrixes, I was amazed at how easy it is to ask the same question with deeper rigor. The only challenge is: getting out of the habit of constantly asking easy questions.

 

For example, instead of asking a kindergartener to skip count by 2’s (recall), you could ask the kindergartener “If I skip counted by 2’s and started at the number 4, would I ever land on the number 20? What if I started at the number 3?”. These questions measure the same standard of skip counting, but allow me to understand how deep the kindergartener was thinking. I was amazed by how much easier it was to REALLY identify my kindergarteners’ capabilities since I began using these matrixes. AND sharing this information at conferences was amazing for parents to see as well.

 

What does this mean for gifted learners? These matrixes show how easy it is to differentiate the same math question when planning ahead of time. I can’t begin to explain how many times I have been in a math classroom and all the kids are working on the same workbook page. Once the gifted students (or students who have already mastered the content) finish the page, the teacher tells them to do more. Or to create their own. Sure, creating their own might add a bit of thinking, but not much. If the teacher had preplanned a few questions at a higher depth of knowledge, the students would have something DIFFERENT to work on that allows them to stay engaged the entire class period. Yes, this takes time to plan, but all good instruction that meets the needs of all students does. Plus, I found, once I practiced writing questions at a deeper level, it became so much quicker and easier!

 

Check out the resources below:

 

Kaplinsky’s DOK Math Matrixes (3-12) here

 

Kindergarten Matrix  – One question at all 4 levels for EVERY standard!!

 

1st Grade Matrix  – One question at all 4 levels for EVERY standard!!

 

2nd Grade – coming soon!

 

BONUS: Join my email list to get more freebies – today I send out the K-1 Matrix for Free!

 

Interested in more K-1 Math Differentiation ideas? Check out my article Differentiating for K-1 Math.

 

In Conclusion…

 

Overall, gifted students need to be working at the DOK 3 & 4 level most of the day. When they are asked to continue to recall information that is not challenging to them, they are 1) going to be bored and possibly create behavior issues 2) not getting an adequate education. Gifted students deserve to be working at a level that challenges them, intrigues them, and allows them to learn. Starting with planning, each lesson can be adapted through brainstorming ways to incorporate deeper DOK levels. By no means is this always easy or natural, but the more you practice the easier it gets (and rewarding to see your students challenged!). My best suggestion is to being by brainstorming with a colleague! Go back and forth generating ideas using the different DOK verbs.

 

My last important note about DOK and planning at the beginning of the year – BEWARE of TPT products that look like big, pretty projects. I have been the first to think “ooo, this will keep my students busy and invested!”, but make sure to ask yourself, “Are my students thinking at a deeper level by completing this, or are they just regurgitating information?
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Happy planning and stay tuned for Blog #2 in the Back to School Series!!