
I first learned about ” Making Thinking Visible during my undergraduate reading class, where my professor organized a conference with Ron Ritchhart. Since that conference, I have never stopped implementing the culture of thinking in my classroom. Why? Because it develops a relationship of trust with students making them feel their thoughts and ideas are valuable. Therefore, all scholars need to share their thinking in different ways. Some students are timid but contribute to the classroom community, so as an educator, I’ll utilize a routine that works best to thrive, like chalk talk where students work quietly, writing their thoughts down in different charts papers.
Teaching scholars to make thinking visible is an essential task because we are helping them move from simple to complex thought. Creating a culture of critical thinkers is vital for high engagement and more successful comprehension of the world around them and awareness of their thinking which we call metacognition.
What thinking routines should we use?It depends on what you want to accomplish in your lesson. Various thinking routines serve different purposes, but the main one is high engagement and critical thinking. How can students be engaged and stay on task? They need to be involved in the thought process and autonomy to discuss different topics with their peers. By making thinking visible, we educators can better assess our students and learn how to take them where they need to be.
Here are a few Thinking routines you can promote in your classroom.
Think, Puzzle & ExplorePurpose: This routine activates prior knowledge, generates ideas and curiosity, and prepares students for deeper inquiryApplication: This routine can help you gauge students’ current understanding of a topic and inform your subsequent lesson planning. Set-Up: Use chart paper or the writing response if students are working individually.
I Think, Speak & WritePrompt:
- What do you think you know about this topic or this story?
- How might you explore your questions about this topic?
- What’s the writing process for my ideas?
Purpose: This routine activates prior knowledge, motivates brainstorming, and prepares students to share their ideas with their partners and practice their writing process.Application: This routine can introduce a new topic, concept, story, or theme in the classroom. Students write their thoughts, and to extend it, they can have their peers share a table to review their writing.Set-Up: students can use their writing journals
Chalk TalkPrompts:
- What ideas come to mind when you consider this topic, question, or problem?
- What connections can you make to the others’ responses?
- How do you evaluate the issue, ideas, or concerns?
Purpose: Motivate scholars to consider ideas, questions, or problems by responding to the prompt and others’ thoughts connected to the topic you or the class choose.Application: This routine builds collaboration, understanding and scholars learn to respect each other’s point of view.Set-Up: Write the question prompts on a large sheet of chart paper and place them on tables or walls around the room. You can assign students to groups or allow them to walk around the room responding quietly to the prompts. Click on the link below to use the jam board version with extra routines for you to implement with your class.
Make sure to make a copy of the jam board before using it. Happy Thinking!