Strategies to Promote Rigor in Your Classroom

Redefining Rigor

Strategies to Promote Rigor in Your Classroom

Surface

Strategies

Transfer

Strategies

Deep

2025-2026 PD Lakeview Team

Strategies

Rigor Website

Home

Surface

Transfer

Deep

AVID

Zoom In Zoom Out

Probing & Processing Questions

Habits

Build Knowledge Together - interact with new knowledge and elaborate on and summarize new information Check and Respond to Understanding Together - respond to surface-level questions and act on corrective feedback

Clear & Muddy

I Describe, You Draw

Surface

Rigor Website

Home

Surface

Transfer

Deep

AVID

Habits

Plan Scenarios

Build Contextual Understanding - find similarities and differences across multiple contexts Solve Complex Problems - solve difficult problems with others

SWOT

Whip Around

SCCG

Transfer

Rigor Website

Home

Surface

Transfer

Deep

AVID

Red Team

Habits

Kick the Tires

AVID Rigor Prompts

Develop conceptual understanding- develop relationships between ideas with others Apply conceptual understanding - answer and evaluate responses to questions that require relating ideas between and across ideas

2 Box Induction

Chalk Talk

Deep

Rigor Website

Home

Surface

Transfer

Deep

AVID

Clear & Muddy

In this strategy there are two phases: clear and muddy. Students go through both phases as they try to solve a problem. During the clear phase, students work together to determine if their answers are similar or different from others. Students share their rationale for their answer. Then. during the muddy phase (if students have different answers), students will share out what is clear on the concept and what is muddy. Then, you have a whole group discussion on the muddy parts.

Transfer

"Transfer learning is related to applying knowledge and skills from one situation to a new situation... Prior to engaging in complex problem solving, students need practice learning how to detect differences between various contexts" (McDowell).

Surface

"Surface learning is the development of readily accessible background and skills that may be accessed to solve problems" (McDowell).

Red Team

Students checking the quality of an argument or problem solving:Students are divided into two groups. The first group shares a current solution to a problem or an argument. The opposite group or "Red Team", presents weakness and vulnerabilities to the presenting group. The Red Team provides diverse perspectives to challenge assumptions, explore worst-case scenarios, and identify potential risks associated with the solution or argument presented.

Deep

"Deep learning is the process of combining ideas to form a coherent whole. Students must develop the ability to make connections and identify patterns of knowledge and apply that knowledge to solve problems with others that often have differing perspectives and ideas" (McDowell).

Chalk Talk

1. Present a question for students to reflect on. 2. Ask students to form groups and stand near a large piece of paper. Students should each have a different-colored marker so that they may draw visuals, connecting lines to others, questions, comments, and so on. Students should not talk during this time. 3. Students should then begin drawing on the paper in response to the question they reflected on. Students should not talk during this time. 4. Students should then rotate to another group's paper and begin adding ideas and questions to paper. Students should not talk during this time. 5. Next, students should return to their original paper and openly discuss any questions, comments, or understandings that emerged during the activity. These ideas are then shared as a class.

I Describe, You Draw

1. Students read a short passage or section of text and choose a specific object, scene, or description to focus on. 2. Partner A describes the selected part using only words–no gestures, pointing, or extra explanation. They must rely on precise language from the text. 3. Partner B draws only what is described. No questions, no guessing, no adding details that weren’t said. 4. Partners compare the drawing to the original text. They identify mismatches, refine descriptions, and discuss what details were essential or missing.

Whip Around

1. Students write down responses to a prompt. 2. Teacher calls on students around the classroom at a quick pace. When students are called on, they should not repeat a response but rather add something new. 3. As students share, teachers encouage students to create new ideas.

Zoom In, Zoom Out

1. Introduce the broad overview of the learning intention using a visual (example: a timeline of Reconstruction, diagram of parts of a cell) with an explanation of the board context. 2. Introduce a specific aspect of the learning intention and model & discuss the explicit link between the broader overview and the specific example. 3. Continue this process showing the link between the broader concept and specific example. Have students work in pairs to discuss and then share the connections. 4. Stop students while working through your set tasks, to share with the whole group the links between the broader concept and the specific examples.

2 Box Induction

Cult of Pedagogy

Comparing and Contrasting Different Concepts1. Present two boxes and share that students will need to make a rule for patterns found within each of the boxes. 2. Show students the first item in each box and have them share with peers what is similar and different across the boxes. Randomly check responses and write them down as "hunches" on the board. This is also a place for students to use the Three-Interval Turn and Talk strategy to discuss similarities and differences. 3. Show the second strand of information. Repeat the discussion. Continue this process with at least four strands of information. 4. Ask students to share their rules for each box. Provide the actual rule and ask students to reflect on their accuracy.

Kick the Tires

Students determining the strengths and weaknesses of an idea. Students walk through the four key steps: 1. Develop: Create a claim or evaluate a claim from others. 2. Determine: Consider the strengths and weaknesses of the claim. 3. Deviate: Create suggested modifications. 4. Discuss: Share your changes with others. Pro Trip: Integrate thinking and conversations related to CER.

Probing vs. Processing Questions

Strategies You Can Use to Ask These Questions: True or False Agree or Disagree Four Corners ABCD or 1234

Utilize whiteboards, Kahoot, Blooket, Gimkit, 4 corners, etc.

Click Here for Question Stems

SCCG

Sequence (order of events) Review the typical sequence of a process or procedure and determine if it can be changed. Example for The Book Thief started in Act II as opposed to Act I, or that the story was told not from the perspective of Death but another character. How would that have shaped the book? Cause (reason and motivation behind the event) Discuss the importance of each step of a sequence and the feasibility of changing the steps. For instance, students may explore potential changes to a story if the acts were rearranged and the perspectives of the story were changed. Consequences (outcomes and implications of the events) Generate a list of “What if…?” questions about what would happen if the process or procedural steps were changed or omitted. For instance, students begin creating different sequences of a story and sharing different perspectives. In this example, students could have an AI chatbot generate a story and then evaluate the story from different perspectives and arrangements of the story. Generate an alternative Generate a new process or procedure or a case for maintaining the current process procedure. For example, students create a new story and discuss the strengths and limitations of a new approach.

Plan Scenarios

Powerful strategy for enabling students to develop divergent thinking, which focuses on generating ideas and determining possibilities. Students are prompted with a variety of different scenarios formed in the “What if...?” structure. The routine includes the following 4 steps 1. Each group receives five “What if…?” scenarios. Such as: What if funding is cut? What if the client doesn’t agree with your proposed solution? And what if a new issue arises within the context? 2. Each group brainstorms a solution to their “What if…?” scenarios. They display their solution to one of the scenarios publicly. 3. The teacher walks around the classroom and places a dot on each paper and shares that teams need to determine if the dot represents a strength or a potential weakness in relation to meeting the success criteria or meeting the contextual problem. 4. Each group discusses the rationale for the dot and then presents their ideas to another group. The alternative group listens and then presents clarifying questions, “I like” statements, and potential “I wonder” questions. This process is repeated with groups switching roles.

SWOT

Stands for strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats SWOT protocol integrates both convergent and divergent possibilities and its a great way to support students in analyzing situations and possible solution.