The C: Color of CSI: Color, Symbol, Image

Both my third and fourth grade classes begins each day with our weekly poem. We spend at least one week on a poem, each day discussing our thinking and noticings or completing different routines to push our thinking. There are many purposes for implementing morning poem: First of all, it is one time during the day when oral fluency is emphasized. Secondly, this is one way I can address many different standards while exploring poetry. The new common core standards do not focus on writing poetry, but being able to make meaning of poetry is incredibly important. Also, many literary techniques and skills lessons are reinforced in our discussions.

This particular week we were working on Winter Eyes. 

Each week when planning poem, I think about what skills and standards we need to cover. I have a list of skills I plan to discuss. (This could be considered a very informal version of backward planning.)  In looking at this poem, I wanted students to clarify unknown vocabulary (colbalt, birch, velvet, sleet), notice sensory details, notice the organization, use their background and/or inferences to infer what is meant by the last two lines, and of course make meaning of the poem.

On Mondays students start by tracking their thinking. Then, the remainder of the days are spent discussing student's thinking and noticings. They lead our discussions, but I have an agenda of my own. If by Thursday they haven't addressed a point I wanted to discuss I will ask questions to spark their thinking. 

This happened to be a week where the students worked through these expectations quickly. We still had one day to work with the poem and deepen our understanding, so I decided to use a the Color, Symbol, Image thinking routine to guide us. Although, since it was our first attempt at using the routine, I just started with the color. (We only spend roughly ten minutes on poem each day.) I asked them to determine what color they thought represents the poem and explain what made them think that. The color that they chose was not extremely important, although it was a good measure of comprehension. It was more important to me that they explain their thinking, hopefully using evidence from the text. 

Overall, CSI was an intriguing routine to use because it allowed students to share their thinking in a different way than usual. I feel like I need to use it more consistently in order to get deeper results, but I was pleased with their thinking being it was our first attempt. Below are a few students responses.

The explanation for why this student chose white.

Color Symbol Image

Connect- I read  a story called Mardy Murie Did, written by Grandmother of Conservation.  Mardy Murie was an environmental activist who always knew she loved the earth and wanted to protect all that live on it.  This is only the 2nd time students have used this thinking routine but most really connected with the story so I feel like they did well.

Extend- Because they have such an interest in nature and animals, and the author made so many references to animals, they felt empowered to create a symbol that would strike a cord with anyone who read their response. The overall theme of "One person CAN make a difference " kept showing up in all the students thinking throughout this unit.

Challenge-  I tried to push them to create a color that wasn't so obvious like green or blue.  Only a few were really thinking and were creative.  One student chose "red" because he wants to spread the word and warn others about the dangers involving earth destrucion.

Color - symbol - Image

Connect - I attempted this thinking strategy with eighth graders during our chemistry unit. We had previously learned about the structure of an atom and were ready to study the elements in the periodic table.  I like to use a lesson called "adopt an element" to have students make connection to an element and a use in their everyday life.  I modified this lessons to include "color, symbol, and image."

Extend- For the symbol part, I asked students to use the standard symbol that they would find on the periodic table, which includes the abbreviation, atomic number, and atomic mass.  For color, I asked students to come up with a color that is reflective of that symbol. I encourage students to challenge their thinking and not be so literal. For example, most elements are metals, and was hoping that they would not simply use gray or silver for their color.  Then I asked students to draw an image reflective of their element. To take their thinking a step further, I asked students to come up with a slogan about their element.

Challenge - I was overall a little disappointed with the results of this lesson.  I was expecting students to stretch their thinking and turn in some amazing stuff.  Most students chose to be literal with their color choices- grey and silver for metals, "clear" color for gases. The images produced were more literal than I was hoping - like a drawing of a chunk of metal, rather than its applications.  There were some students, however, that produced some surprising results.  One example, shown above, was exactly what I was looking for. His element is radon, a clear toxic gas.  He chose the color red to symbolize danger and drew an image of person with lung cancer. His slogan was spot on too, and it actually rhymed: Radon is a radioactive gas in the fresh air. But be aware in can also cause lung cancer, so be aware. I will use this as an exemplar for future years.