Smith / Willett 2^nd Grade Thinking Routine:   See Think Wonder

Connect:  You begin by looking at an image or a problem and asking the students “What do you See” and writing everything they say down in the column.  Then, you ask “What do you Think” about anything that they noticed.  This probes them to look a little deeper at what they noticed on the surface to see if there is any significance to it.  Finally, you ask students “What do you Wonder?”, which allows them to take what they thought about the image or problem and let their imaginations run wild…what is the setting, what happened to cause this problem, why did the author/painter/creator set it up this way, what are we supposed to take away from this?  These are all high-level inquiries that propel our students into discovering the “answers” for themselves.

What I did:  I used this routine as an introduction to our Tracks Science Unit Investigating Earth Materials.  The big idea for the unit is to discover the properties of natural materials that are at the surface of earth including rocks, soils and water.  I brought in poster size print of an Ansel Adams photograph of Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona.  I chose this print because it shows a canyon with exposed sides, river flowing through the bottom of the canyon and a flat grassy area next to the river.  Someone with a strong background in geography would know that the river erosion carved out the canyon and exposed the layers rock and sediment that have been deposited over millions of years. 

The see-think-wonder routine was a useful tool to help me determine what my students knew about earth materials and how they change over time.   It also got them excited about this unit.
The students were silent and looked at the poster for about 2 minutes.   I asked them to use a stickie note and record what they saw.   Some were very literal.  “I see lots of rocks.”   “I see muddy water.”  A few were poetic.  “I see ribbons.”  “I see a snake.”  Everyone got to read and post their notes on chart paper.  Next we talked about what they thought the picture showed.   Again each person posted their I think post-it note.  Finally I asked them what they wanted to know about the picture and write their I wonder on a note to be posted on the chart.  Comments included, “I wonder how tall the mountains are.”  And “Are there volcanoes there.”

Extend:  The day after our routine, we went over some of the sticky note thoughts, sights, and wonders listed from our group of kids.  Students were given time to discuss their reasoning and thinking with each other through turn to talk, pair share. 
Students naturally chose posting that they thought were most insightful.   They were psyched to get started with the investigating earth materials.

Challenge:  My challenge is to create a learning environment where students know the expectation is that they will use their schema, analyze information and think deeply about whatever learning is taking place.   I think the more we use these routines, the more ingrained deeper level thinking will become in all the students. 

I used to think, now I think by Kim

Connect:   I thought that this would be an excellent strategy to discover what they had learned and how their thinking had changed. 
 
What I did: Andrea and Deb had told me about the Alma Project.  It is a free service available through DPS to provide multicultural materials for instruction.  Since six out of my seven students are hispanic and six out of seven are female, the LATINAS unit seemed perfect for them.  La Llorona is a famous Mexican folktale.  We were able to read a modern bilingual version (Prietita and the Ghost Woman/Prietita y La Llorona) and listen to Joan Baez's traditional Spanish version of La Llorona, (translated for the student who doesn't speak Spanish).  Another facet of the book that we read was about curanderas (traditional healers).

Extend: They developed familiarity with both concepts. Their discussions included questions and, sometimes disagreements, about whether or not La Llorona:
stole (kidnapped) children to replace the ones she had murdered,
walked/roamed every where or just near water
she was real or invented by people just to scare kids or just a myth
was she mean and horrible or kind and helpful as the book portrayed her
and much more.
The Curanderismo discussion was limited.  I am wondering if, since curanderismo is out of the norm in the predominant culture, they were reluctant to talk about it. It could also be that they don't refer to it as such or they don't have any/much experience with it. Perhaps, it is not an urban experience as much as it may be in rural areas.



Challenge: The challenge was that although it is a famous folktale, about a third had never heard of it. (Throughout this unit, they have become familiar with authors, artists, activists, and singers who they can identify with through language and heritage.) I am reminded daily that I cannot make assumptions about any schema.

See-Think-Wonder

Connect: I did a See-Think-Wonder with my students before the last field trip. Last time, I added a “learn” section to the end. I liked the idea of that, but I did not do a good a job of ensuring the students connect their “thinks” and “wonders” to it as I should have. I decided to try it again before the field trip to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

What I Did: I showed my class a picture I found online from DMNS’s rocks and gems exhibit. First, we had a discussion about what we saw, thought, and wondered. Then, the students wrote down their thoughts on a worksheet. I decided to have them do the worksheets instead of just having a discussion so that all the students would have to participate.  Before going to the museum, I reminded them of the picture and asked them to look for it in the museum. The day after the field trip, they discussed and wrote about what they learned.

Extend: Although this routine is pretty simple, I the students were so into it! I loved that it required them to look at a new image in three different ways. The first few times I did this routine, I didn’t really like the “see” part. I thought it was so obvious, and I didn’t see the value in responses like, “I see something shiny.” However, this time I noticed that the “see” responses inspired deeper thoughts and wonderings. A student saying “I see something shiny” led to an interesting, although very structured, conversation…

·         “I wonder why some stones are shiny and some are dull?”

·         “I think some are shiny because they’re polished by water.”

·         “I wonder why some parts of the stones in the picture are polished by water and some aren’t?”

·         “I think it’s not shiny because of water because then the whole thing would be.”

One student’s fairly surface comment led to some much deeper thinking!

Challenge: I acted purely as a facilitator for this routine, and it was difficult to not chime in to respond to some of the thoughts and questions the students had! I think I might share their responses with Shannon Umberger, the students’ science teacher, so that she can answer some of their questions. I also still didn't get the types of connections to their thoughts and questions that I was hoping for. This may be because it's outside of my content area. If I do this modified routine again next year, I will have to put some thought into how I get them to connect their "What did I learn" answers to their thoughts and wonderings.

Chalk Talk by Kim

Chalk talk

This was my first foray with Chalk Talk.  I had been impressed by Maggie's use of it last year and was eager to give it a go.   The 5th/6th grade group was beginning a nonfiction unit on Influenza.

Connect:  Since we all get sick and the media was advising everyone to get their flu shots, I anticipated that they would have some experiences, thoughts, questions, etc.   Perhaps because it was: their first time with the routine/they were unfamiliar with the complete word/the group was too small to work off of each other--their notes were superficial and not always related.

Extend:  Once they began the reading of the book, discussing it, and conducting the research, their understandings deepened.  Their discussions were meaningful and authentic.  The began ask questions about vaccines in general and about the flu.  They realized that they did know more than they initially thought they did. Additionally that although they knew the word "flu", they hadn't realized that it was short for influenza.

Challenge:  In looking back, I think that next time I would have them revisit the chalk talk, to demonstrate their new understandings.   I also realized that I needed to pre-teach the vocabulary of the question.  Where in most elementary classrooms, these concepts would be commonplace, that is not the case with my students. Vocabulary, vocabulary, vocabulary... 

We are often unaware of how many abbreviations, acronyms, slang terms we use daily.  This experience taught me that we all need to be aware of and define many times, what we are actually talking about.  We teachers can explicitly explain connections between words i.e., flu is a shortened form of influenza; NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration, when we use America or the United States, we should be aware that Mexico is part of America AND that the official name is Estados Unidos de Mexico OR the United States of Mexico

Smith / Willett 2nd Grade Thinking Routine: See Think Wonder

Smith / Willett 2^nd Grade Thinking Routine:   See Think Wonder

Connect:  You begin by looking at an image or a problem and asking the students “What do you See” and writing everything they say down in the column.  Then, you ask “What do you Think” about anything that they noticed.  This probes them to look a little deeper at what they noticed on the surface to see if there is any significance to it.  Finally, you ask students “What do you Wonder?”, which allows them to take what they thought about the image or problem and let their imaginations run wild…what is the setting, what happened to cause this problem, why did the author/painter/creator set it up this way, what are we supposed to take away from this?  These are all high-level inquiries that propel our students into discovering the “answers” for themselves.

What I did:

Kids were getting ready to go on a field trip to the Botanical Gardens as a hands-on experience after researching plants and geology.  Kids were shown some pictures given to us by the Botanical Gardens and their welcome packet.  Some of the pictures showed seeds, leaves, and shiny stones.  Kids were given sticky notes to write a See, Think, and Wonder for each of the 3 pictures.  Kids placed their sticky notes on the appropriate chart.

 

Extend:

Kids in the other 2^nd grade classes were participating in the same routine and with the same photos.  The day after our routine, we went over some of the sticky note thoughts, sights, and wonders listed from our group of kids.  Kids were given time to discuss their reasonings and thinkings with each other through peer share. 

Kids were asked to pick their most insightful thought, sight, and wonder and bring them along to the field trip to hopefully extend their thinking, get answers, or discover new findings while on the trip with their adult chaperone and peers.  Kids got to review their new learnings with their peers once back in class after the field trip.

Challenge:

I would like to try to switch class See Think Wonder charts among the Literacy classes to have deep level discussions on how kids in other classes show their thinking.  Are there patterns?  Do other kids have the same ideas we do?  What are they doing well that we could try?  What are we doing well that they could try?

Smith / Willett 2nd Grade Thinking Routine: Headlines

Smith / Willett 2^nd Grade Thinking Routine:   Headlines

Write a headline that depicts your thoughts on our field trip to the Botanical Gardens.

Connect:  Headlines is a thinking routine that can be used to help students focus on the big ideas or important themes in what you have been learning.   Headline routines call for synthesis of all the learning that took place.  It can be useful at the end of a unit of study or after a single activity such as a field trip, reading a book, or watching a movie.   To set up the routine after a learning experience, the teacher asks the students to write a short headline for the study that captures important ideas and summarizes the learning that took place.   Ask students to think about the core, central ideas that are at the heart of the learning.   We successfully used this routine after a Field Trip to the Botanic Gardens on Plant Day in both Literacy and Science content areas.

What I did:

Each year the Botanic Gardens present a series of plant day exploration field trips for students from schools around the metro area.  The staff at the Gardens set up 11 different learning stations where students get to try hands-on activities.   As the study of plants is one of the 2^nd grade Tracks Science Units of Study and this activity aligns perfectly with our standards, we try to participate every year.  It is only available a few days a year and we have to sign up for it well in advance.   This year we were scheduled to attend on April 18^th, the day after one of our big April snowstorms.  It turned out to be an amazing day!  The information stations were relocated inside the Mitchell Building so we did not have to contend with the snow and cold temperatures that were outside.   By mid- morning most small groups had completed their rounds at the stations and the temperatures outside had warmed up to tolerable levels.  We were able to walk around the mostly snow covered grounds.    

When we returned from the Field Trip, we were looking for a way to sum up the experiences of the day.    We gathered students on the rug for a de-briefing.   They were all feeling very excited about what they had learned at the informative stations.  Each person got a chance to talk about what they learned and which stations they enjoyed the most.   Most students agreed that the treasure hunt for food items in the conservatory, the interactive biosphere exhibit, seed sorting and of course, the pea seed planting station made a lasting impression.  After everyone got a turn to share, I reminded the students of the Headlines Routine that Ms. Willett had used before in Science and instructed them that we were going to use this routine to summarize and record our thinking about the big ideas and important learning that had happened during our field trip.   The students were given a rough draft paper and a piece of sentence strip for the final version.   They were able to share and try out their ideas with their teammates at their table.   When they were satisfied with their idea, they wrote and illustrated it on a sentence strip.  We collected and assembled their headlines to create a giant poster.   All together it shows a complete picture of the day, including poisonous dart frogs.  The posters record the students thinking and will help to remind them of what we learned.

 

Extend:

This routine worked beautifully as a way to synthesize all the learning that took place on our field trip to the Botanic Gardens.  Some students addressed small moments of the day and others capsulized the whole event in their headline.   The combination of all the Headlines truly gives a complete picture of the field trip.   It helped us to see and record the in depth learning that took place.    I will definitely use this routine over and over to capture the essences of learning events such as field trips, Junior Achievement, assemblies…

Challenge:

While the kids have done this routine mostly in Science class, I decided to try it in my Literacy class as well.  I wanted to see how the kids would do within the Literacy content and then compare their headlines from the Botanical Gardens to others that Ms. Willett has done in the previous Scholastic News routines.  The kids did remarkably well and had some insightful headlines.  Some were not optimal examples of deeper level thinking and that tells me I need to work more in small groups with those kiddos to try to challenge them to increase the complexity and depth of their headlines in the future.

I also want to do a lesson or two on how headlines compare and contrast with story titles in both Fiction and Non-Fiction.  I would like to see how the kids make connections within another concept using this routine.

Think, Puzzle, Explore with 6th graders

Connect: I have been working with all of my small groups to make this a routine.   I had ordered 5 ipads for use in my classroom.  After a longer wait than I had anticipated, I finally had them!  Given the socio-economic status of most of my students, I wondered what experience and knowledge they might have about the tablets.  This was about the third or fourth time that this group had used the strategy. It was exciting to field their questions regarding the topic.  It didn't take long for them to infer that they would be using them in class.

Extend:  I asked them to write their initials with their posts so that I could differentiate their experiences and perhaps pair a novice with a more experienced user.
I was surprised that some had extensive knowledge and others had heard of ipads but hadn't been able to use one.

Challenge: Using the ipads for authentic needs, not just using them because they are the new toy.   Increasing their knowledge and ease with the ipads, while staying on topic.  I do feel strongly that their experiences with them and the thinking skills will enable them to successfully compete in the 21st century.

See Think Wonder Ants

Connect-This was an intro to our ant study (animals and their needs).  I wanted to catch a glimpse of any ant schema they may have had.

What I Did- They spotted the ant farms and were dying to know why we had them.  I finally broke them into 2 groups and them them observe the farms.  I gave them about 20 minutes but told them to pay close attention to and to think about what they see, what they think is happening, and what they wonder. 

Add caption

Extend- We used many of the questions developed here in our Ant Inquiry study .  They were able to really look back at our pyramid and see just how much they learned after our study.

Challenge-I wish I would have chosen to use pictures instead of the ant farm.  The questions were too specific to what the ants were doing inside the farm instead of ants in general.



Ant Inquiry Study

http://msfrachetti.wikispaces.com/1st+gr.+projects+by+year

Connect-
Part of our science cirriculum in 1st grade is the study of ants (animals and their needs).  This lesson also tied into non-fiction reading and writitng.  Stduents created questions and then they researched answers to their questions through non-fiction books and searching the internet. They created a podcast/power point to present their learnings.

What I did- Students developed questions they had about ants based on a picture I showed them of an ant colony.  I gave them no information about the picture.  We then sorted the questions and together developed catagories.  They were then put into groups according which category was most intetesting to them. Within their groups, they first created a poster by painting "What They Think They Know" about ants.  They included their questions on their posters with notecards.  For the next month, students worked in their groups to research answers to their questions through the use of non-fiction books and internet. We scheduled many days to work in the library where Ms. Frachetti taught them how to use LION .  Toward the end of the study and after questions had been answered, Frachetti taught them how to cut and paste pictures that illustrated the answers to their questions.  Groups then painted new posters to illustrated "What They Know Now" about their topic.  Lastly, they recorded their voices with Ms. Frachetti for our podcast. Frachatti was a HUGE help in the creation of the final project.

Extend- Through this process, the students really learned so much about non-fiction book features which was extremely helpful when it came time to write our own non-fiction stories.  They also learned how to ask thoughtful questions that can really lend themselves to thoughtful research (questions NOT like "Do ants have butt cheeks?"....that really was a question).

Challenge- This was a VERY challenging process for all of us.  Because 1st graders are still beginning readers, it was quite difficult for many to read and research the information from the books.  I asked for many parent volunteers.  I found that having each student choose ONE question to own was very helpful as well. 

Headlines

Connect:  This thinking routine was to continue the work our class has done on Fridays with non-fiction articles.  We had been doing the red/yellow/green light as our normal routine, so we thought it would be fun to switch it up.  I have been very hesitant to use this routine, but after reading it had wanted to try it.  I finally was brave enough to get it a shot!  

What I did:  Lately our Friday lemonades have been very student directed as we had done the routine for over 14 weeks!  They share and lead discussions and I just facilitate more than anything.  This week I was very deliberate in my demonstrations and modeling.  We had examples from previous articles and newspapers to show them what they could look like.  They had very little schema about writing them, and so we did a lot of examples together about our field trip from the day before.  We were getting a lot of answers like “Field Trip” and eventually through examples from me and Jaime they got to “Students see Tropical Rainforest in Denver!”.  For dividing the students this week I took all the girls and Jaime took all the boys.  I made sure to keep circling around and helping them through their thinking.  The final product was actually pretty good!  The girls seemed to get a deeper understanding of what we were looking for and the boys didn’t quite get there.

Extend:  My plan is to use this routine again because it was a great way for students to pull from the 3 parts of our traffic light and then synthesize it together in one sentence.  I also think I will continue to have them work in groups or partners as it still seems like a lot for each child to do at this point.

Challenge:  I think the students overall did a great job on their headlines.  It was much more successful than I thought it was going to be.  I think the biggest challenge was building enough background information and schema about what the headlines look like.

Smith / Willett 2nd Grade: Chalk-Talk

Smith / Willett        2^nd Grade

Thinking Routine:   Chalk-Talk with Non-Fiction Unit

Connect:  CHALK TALK involves looking at the topic or question written on the chart paper and involves kids in the thinking questions below:

·         What ideas come to mind when you consider this idea, question, or problem?

·         What connections can you make to others’ responses?

·         What questions arise as you think about the ideas and consider the responses and comments of others?

Often, as teachers we instruct but rarely ask the kids why they think we should learn the material being presented.  This routine offers up a safe environment for kids to express their thoughts.

The purpose of this routine is to ask students to think about ideas, questions, or problems by silently responding in writing both to the prompt and to the thoughts of others.  All students can participate in the open-ended and exploratory nature of the routine.

What I did:

Kids were presented with the Chalk Talk question, “Why Study Non-Fiction?”  Kids were asked to think about that question for about 5 minutes and write some of their thinking down in their personal notebooks.  Then kids were asked to choose one thinking to write down on a sticky note and place that on the chart paper along with their name.

Extend:

Once kids finished placing their notes on the chart, I called them over in small groups of 6 to go over what they wrote in a small contained setting and asked kids to give each student speaking 1 connection thought, 1 compliment, or 1 question in regards to the student’s note.  This way, it makes room for all learners to have a voice and makes learning visible by focusing on reactions, connections, and questions.

Challenge:

CHALK TALK can be used to encourage reflective thinking.   The next day, we met as a whole group and I went over what was written and shared regarding our guiding question of, “Why study Non-Fiction.”  I noticed that a large amount of kids wrote about being prepared for 3^rd grade.  I wanted to make sure to address those thoughts with a deeper intention on why we teach NF in 2^nd grade and it is not just to get kids ready for 3^rd.  After having the discussion, I had kids write in their personal notebooks on how their thinking might have changed from the day before and what they would write today about our guiding question.

Smith / Willett Sentence-Phrase-Word with Leaf Creatures and Sensory Word Exploration

Smith / Willett        2^nd Grade

Thinking Routine:   Sentence-Phrase-Word Using Leaf-Creatures and Sensory Words

Connect:  “Sentence-Phrase-Word,” is a routine that is text based and used for capturing the essence of the reading as well as identifying themes.  Kids were deeply involved in sensory word exploration and how to use words to enhance their writing.  I took an activity that was initially just a creative experience and took it to a new level with adding in the Sentence-Phrase-Word routine established with the Non-Fiction project.  It was a great synthesis idea as well as extension to meet my own best practices.  In studying Making Thinking Visible, we were taught to tweak the routines to make it meaningful for your methodology.  I took that to heart this time and had a great turnout.

What I did:

Kids were given a blue sensory words sheet that showed through icons and lists words that meet the categories of see, taste, touch, hear, and smell.  Kids were also given a variety of leaves in differing color, shape, size, and texture to investigate using scientific investigative language taught in both Literacy and Science content areas.  Kids made a list of words that applied to each set of leaves.  Then kids were given a creative opportunity to create a picture of a living creature using only the leaves.  Kids worked independently on this activity and each created a living creature by gluing the leaves onto paper and using some extra tissue paper and markers to help complete the picture.  Then kids were asked to use the blue sensory word sheet and their list from the earlier investigation to create Sentence-Phrase-Word collages on the art created.  Words chosen should be representative of the creature created. 

Extend:

Once kids finished the activity and labeling work, I laminated the art to keep the leaves in place.  The kids were given the laminated art and were able to share among their table mates and discuss their creature, their words, their sentences, and their phrases and what they learned in the process. 

Challenge:

I think using the Sentence-Phrase-Word routine was a great way to incorporate language exploration in a fun art activity that involved an extreme level of deeper thought and planning.  Kids had to make conscious choices the entire length of the activity and had a good amount of ownership in the product and word choice.  I would love to have kids challenge this activity in the future by putting a star next to words or phrases that really jumped out to them as an important part of the creature.

This student was new to English language learning and was just developing his speaking, listening, and writing skills.  This project was a great way to help him with language development.

Smith / Willett 2nd Grade Sentence-Phrase-Word Thinking Routine

Smith / Willett        2^nd Grade

Thinking Routine:   Sentence-Phrase-Word

Connect:  “Sentence-Phrase-Word,” is a routine that is text based and used for capturing the essence of the reading as well as identifying themes.  Kids were deeply engrossed in their Non-Fiction research projects and were reading a ton of NF informative articles based on a topic of interest chosen individually.  The kids were in the technical aspect of learning and were digging through information they could use to help them answer their essential questions for their project.  Having a ton of information at the forefront of the mind for weeks upon weeks, I decided to try to mix things up a bit by using the Sentence-Phrase-Word thinking routine.  I thought it would really define the core information each child was gaining from their research.  It was a great synthesis idea as well as evaluative for me as an educator.

What I did:

Kids were given about a week to investigate NF text articles based on a specific topic of interest.  They spent time reading, evaluating, and coding tracks of their thinking on sticky notes inside the articles.  They shared some of their learnings and discoveries with peers in the class throughout the week.  Then, I had the kids come together as a group and asked them to draw a picture of something that really excites them about their topic. After the drawings were completed, students were asked to identify:   a sentence that is meaningful to them or captures the heart of the reading; a phrase that spoke to them in some way; or a word that captured their attention or was powerful in some way or that connects the picture to the writing and the readings done prior.  The power of this routine is in the justification, either through writing or discussion, about why the children chose the way they did.  Kids placed the sticky notes on the back of their drawing and shared their thoughts with kids at their working tables.  Kids described their pictures and why they chose the details in their drawings as well as shared their S-P-W.  It was a very insightful thinking activity that allowed me as an educator to evaluate how the NF research was going for the kids and which kids might need some extra instruction.  I could also collaborate with my partner teacher to have the kids practice this same routine in the weekly Scholastic News in Science and Social Studies.

Student's word choice

 



Student's thoughts on why he chose his drawing and why he connected his word / phrase.

 

Extend:

After the initial activity with the S-P-W, I thought it would be a great idea to have the kids do another drawing at the end of the NF research project to see how their thinking might have changed.  The kids worked on their drawings with the instruction of “Show your thoughts through careful picture choices and details in order to connect with your new S-P-W.  I decided to use both pictures and writings as the front and back covers to the kids’ projects.  Interestingly enough, most of the kids showed dramatically deeper level thinking when it came to the pictures and thoughts.  Kids skills increased and their meaningful connections were extremely strong the 2^nd time around.

Challenge:

I think this routine was a creative way to include art and thought into one activity.  Students struggled at first with the thought behind their choices, but over time they began to use words like:  "When I read this part I was worried..." or "This word excites me because..." or "This phrase makes me think... or What I learned most was… or Something important about my research was…"  I plan on considering using this routine to deepen comprehension for read alouds, content area reading, as well as fiction and even poetry.

I added another spin on this activity using leaf art created by the students and had them include the S-P-W on the front of the art to help connect to this routine on a higher level with a lot of choice words instead of just one.