DEPTH & COMPLEXITY
This year your child will be using the Icons of Depth and Complexity within their work at Cherokee Trail Elementary.
The icons were created by Sandra Kaplan, Bette Gould, and Sheila Madsen in California in the 1990s when they were identifying the thinking skills needed for students to be successful.
The Depth and Complexity Icons are visual prompts designed to help students go beyond surface level understanding of a concept and enhance their ability to think critically. These critical thinking tools help students dig deeper into a concept (depth) and understand that concept with greater complexity.
This is not an additional program for your child to work through, but rather a way of helping them to learn and access the thinking skills that will serve them throughout their life.
The icons are actually only one part of the Depth and Complexity Framework, but they are the part that you will see your child working with on a daily basis.
Below is a short description of each of the icons so that you will have an understanding of what your child will be using.
![BIG IDEA]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1726511929/dcsdk12org/bqzxk66jf8qdpgppzjrh/bigidea.psd","width":146}])
Big idea represents the ability to identify the key understanding of a subject. This understanding is the one idea that ties everything together. This is the theme of a book, the conclusion to a science experiment, or the key concept in a unit of study in math.
![DETAILS]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1726511929/dcsdk12org/cyrxnv53goecytbqxllm/details.jpg","width":147}])
This is the icon that most students immediately gravitate towards, but fail to understand the depth it represents. Details represent the ability to distinguish between information that is needed and that which is not needed. It is the information that is necessary to describe a concept.
![LANGUAGE of the DISCIPLINE]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1726511929/dcsdk12org/j1qrjrey77fqf0df7zny/language.jpg","width":146}])
The icon represents the ability to identify key words associated with a subject, and to use those words as a professional in the discipline. This is closely aligned with vocabulary development and the author's craft (writing).
![RULES]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1726511929/dcsdk12org/jxmx0coc5e3j3blk4ba1/rules.jpg","width":146}])
Rules is the ion of discovering the way things are organized. It is also the icon of the written and unwritten rules that society functions by.
![PATTERNS]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1726511929/dcsdk12org/cz0xfdyzy0h5ymdnt3vv/patterns.jpg","width":145}])
Patterns is the ability to identify reoccuring elements or patterns within a subject. It could be as simple as skip counting by 2s or looking at the pattern that stories follow. Patterns are predictable - you know what is going to come or happen next. Patterns can be repeating, such as in music or poetry, or provide a template to follow.
![ETHICS]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1726511929/dcsdk12org/uh7igvjuovryxw4f9vws/ethics.jpg","width":145}])
This icon has the misconception that it reprsents right and wrong. This icon represents thinking that is much, much deeper than that. Ethics is the ability to identify the belief system that you have, as well as the belief system that others have.
![TRENDS]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1726511929/dcsdk12org/wi8iqlzuqcz0yp0a7cwd/trentds.jpg","width":146}])
Trends is the icon of estimation and "best guess." Unlike Patterns, it is not guaranteed or completly predicatable. This icon is related to fashion trends or the stock market. Think of a scatterplot - you can tell the general direction the dots are going, but cannot predict where the next one will be exactly.
![UNANSWERED QUESTIONS]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1726511929/dcsdk12org/wrkushv40ohem8ripay4/querstions.jpg","width":147}])
This icon may represent the most long-term and powerful thinking process. This is the icon of asking questions about the subject being covered. These questions may or may not be answered by the end of the unit, but they guide the student in their own journey of discovery.
![ACROSS DISCIPLINES]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1726511929/dcsdk12org/oyy3cfhv0mqqjulydvjm/disciplines.jpg","width":145}])
This icon is one of the three "complexity" icons. It represents the ability to make connections about what is being studied with other disciplines or fields of study. For example, learning about exponents in math and realizing that the word "exponential" is related and talks about something getting really big fast.
![MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1726511929/dcsdk12org/jkza9x6bvho8v7idzdrp/perspectives.jpg","width":147}])
This is the second of the "complexity" icons. This icon is tied in with the saying, "Walk a mile in someone else's shoes." It is the ability to view a problem or situation from different viewpoints or in different ways.
![OVER TIME]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1726511929/dcsdk12org/diwa8v4fni1xopgkgr1e/overtime.jpg","width":146}])
This is the third and final "complexity" icon. It represents the ability to identify how a subject has changed over time. For example, it might be how an equation changes as it is simplified or how a character changes over the course of a book.