Developing A Greater Depth Toolkit To Aid Task Design

Having written a few blog posts over the years about working with pupils of greater depth, I occasionally get requests to work with schools on their greater depth provision. One such request recently caused me to revisit this toolkit that I had worked on previously with a couple of other schools.

The focus of this toolkit came from one of the general principles of challenge for greater depth that I wrote about in this blog post: Provide Opportunities For Children To Demonstrate And Do Something With Their Knowledge

Put simply, my idea for hassle-free, workload-friendly ways to create tasks that challenge pupils working at greater depth was to:

1. take a verb (I used Bloom's Taxonomy as inspiration)

2. add 'it' after the verb

3. use that new phrase to create an open-ended, challenging task that is relevant to the content pupils are learning

Below are some possibilities that you could use in your classroom with your pupils who are working at greater depth. For each one, in the interest of making workload even lighter for teachers who might want to use this, I challenged ChatGPT to come up with an example (using the prompt 'Give an example of a task for this prompt based on the uk primary curriculum. Write the examples as a task prompt for pupils.')

You can download a takeaway version of the prompts below for free:

Greater Depth Task Prompts

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Present it (teach it to others, something they already know, curriculum-related or based on their personal interests and learning)

e.g. Create a presentation for the class about the life cycle of a butterfly. Make sure to explain each stage—egg, larva, pupa, and adult butterfly. You can use diagrams, props, or any creative ideas you have! If you'd like, compare the butterfly's life cycle with another animal, like a frog, and explain how they're similar or different.

Explain it (describe to others, teach peers, create video content for peers, written explanations of what they have done)

e.g. Make a video or write a blog post explaining how to convert improper fractions to mixed numbers. Take your classmates step-by-step through the process, using examples and pictures to make it easy to understand. Be creative—your goal is to help others learn!

Explore it (read widely, broaden the learning around a particular objective)

e.g. Go beyond what we’ve learned about Ancient Egypt by exploring a new topic! You could research Egyptian gods, the importance of the Nile, or how pyramids were built.

Dive into it (deepen learning, find out more about a subject)

e.g. After reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, choose one theme (like bravery, friendship, or good vs. evil) to explore in more detail. Research how this theme is shown across the book or in different books by C.S. Lewis. You can choose how you present your ideas.

Answer it (teachers provide big, open-ended questions for children to answer, children then use ‘explore it’, ‘dive into it’ and then ‘explain it’, ‘present it’)

e.g. True or false? Human beings are at the top of every food chain.

Question it (children ask their own big, open-ended questions, identify their own lines of enquiry, children then use ‘explore it’, ‘dive into it’ and then ‘explain it’, ‘present it’)

e.g. Come up with your own big question about space! It could be something like, 'What would it be like to live on Mars?' or 'How do black holes work?' Once you've asked your question, research it by exploring different sources. Dive deeper to find out more, then explain and present your findings to the class.

Debate it (when children know enough about a subject, either breadth or depth, or both, they can explore both sides of a debate on the matter – outcomes could be recorded in various ways, not necessarily a piece of text, but could be verbal or in note form – links to ‘Answer it’ as the debate prompt can be a question, and later on may link to ‘Question it’ as children ask their own questions to prompt debate)

e.g. We will be debating the question: 'Is it more important to protect the environment or develop new technology?' Work in groups to explore both sides of this debate. You’ll need to know enough to argue both for and against, so research carefully. You can present your ideas verbally, in note form, or as a video recording.

Argue it (similar to debate it, but children take a prompt, ‘explore it’ or ‘dive into it’ (or both) and then have to argue just one point of view, perhaps that which isn’t aligned with their own point of view – leads to ‘present it’ and ‘explain it’)

e.g. After learning about the Romans' invasion of Britain, choose one point of view to argue. You might argue that the Roman invasion was good for Britain, or that it caused more harm than good. Dive into the facts to support your argument and be prepared to explain and present your point of view clearly to the class.

Critique/Analyse it (children identify strengths and weaknesses, areas for improvement etc – could be of their own work, the work of a peer, or something provided by the teacher – leads to ‘explain it’ as children would have to say why they thought something was a strength/weakness etc)

e.g. Look at your own landscape painting and the work of a peer. What are the strengths and weaknesses? Identify areas for improvement, such as the use of colour, technique, or composition. Explain why you think certain areas are strong or could be improved, and provide constructive feedback to help your peer.

Connect it (children take two or more things that they know – learned at school or in their own time – could be a current and/or historical event, fact, idea etc – and compare and contrast them – this should tie into deliberate links present in the curriculum, but can transcend these too)

e.g. Connect what you’ve learned about World War II with a historical fiction book set during the same period. Compare the real events with how they are portrayed in the story. What are the similarities and differences? How does the author use real history to make the story more engaging?

Free it (remove all scaffolds, barriers, constraints, requirements, success criteria etc and allow children to use and create things they have learned with no, few, or self-selected parameters)

e.g. Using what you've learned about building structures, create your own model or project with no limits or instructions. You can build anything you like—bridges, towers, or a creative structure of your own design. Think about the materials, design, and purpose. Be ready to explain your choices!

Use it (real-life contexts, children find ways that the knowledge and skills they have learned can be used and useful for solving problems, addressing needs, creating new things)

e.g. Using what you've learned about measurement and area, design a new playground for the school! You’ll need to calculate the area of different sections and ensure everything fits within the space we have. Be creative—your designs could include climbing frames, slides, or sports areas. Present your plan to the class and explain how you used your maths skills.

Collaborate on it (can be used in conjunction with any of the other activities – working together is a necessary skill for life and any of the above activities can be carried out alone or with others – collaborating requires a different approach to working alone and can be a challenge in and of itself)

e.g. Work together with a group to research and explore a science topic of your choice (e.g., renewable energy, the water cycle, or animal habitats). You’ll need to divide tasks, communicate well, and bring everyone’s work together to create one final project. Present your research as a team, making sure each person plays an important role.

Reflect on it (a metacognitive approach where children reflect on their own learning of something, thinking how they did it, how hard they had to think, what the outcomes were etc – can relate to all other of these activities)

e.g. After writing your own story, reflect on the process. How did you come up with your ideas? What strategies did you use when writing? Did you find any part of it challenging? Write a reflection explaining how you worked, what you learned, and how you might improve next time. Think about what you enjoyed and what you found difficult.

There is plenty more to say about how these are used as tasks: Are they additional tasks? Are they tasks that you'd want most or all pupils to work on too? Should children be allowed to get used just a small handful of these task types rather than facing a different kind every day? How much should teachers check any AI suggestions they use? What else should teachers be doing as well as potentially setting tasks like this? How should these tasks be selected and personalised to meet the needs of individual children? However, the answers to such questions are probably for another blog post on a another day!

Grab your free-to-download takeaway version of this blog post:

Greater Depth Task Prompts

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If you'd like a little more bespoke help with developing challenge for pupils working at greater depth in your school, here's your 3-step plan:

1. Drop me an email

2. Have a phone call with me to talk about your school

3. We'll work together to empower you and your staff to enhance teaching and to enrich your pupils' lives