Something that has helped Kate a lot with her learning, confidence and being able to put into words what she is thinking and feeling has been the use of Thinking Routines developed by the team at Project Zero, Harvard University.
Thinking Routines are simple questions and activities that help make children's thinking visible. These are tools that Kate can now use with the children.
Making children's thinking visible is important for having respectful and positive relationships with the children. It also helps with their cognitive development. The children's voices are an important part of documentation which then helps teachers plan for the children's learning.
Thinking Routines create a habit of thinking which leads to deep understanding, truth seeking, fairness and imagination.
It is important to teach children HOW TO THINK not WHAT TO THINK!
Thinking Routines focus on observing, analysing and questioning, which are all important life skills that help with all types of problem solving. Thinking Routines are also flexible and can be applied to anything at all - a concept or an object, a leaf or a bird or a work of art.
We have successfully used the following Thinking Routines with Kate
See Think Wonder
This routine helps to learn about observing and noticing things. It also helps you to find words to describe what you are thinking. The wondering part can lead to inquiry projects with children where they can do research on something they wonder about.
You ask:
What do you see?
(what do you notice - it is literally what do you see with your eyes)
What do you think?
(what do you think is going on? There is no right or wrong answer. One person might think something different to another person)
What do you wonder?
(what does it make you wonder? what questions does it bring up for you? Again wondering is deeply personal)
Attached is a worksheet that can be used to guide a See Think Wonder activity.
I used to think...Now I think
This Thinking Routine can be used to reflect on how your thinking has changed over time. It helps to consolidate new beliefs.
You can use it after learning something new, after watching a film or making an artwork.
I have found this routine to be particularly helpful for Kate as sometimes she can be very stuck in her ways and has quite an old fashioned outlook on life. It has helped Kate change her perspective on many things, especially around her disability. Kate has become more hopeful.
What Makes You Say That?
Just by asking a child "What makes you say that?" after they have given you a short answer can help children to describe what they see or know and asks them to explain. They describe something and then support it with evidence. This is a skill that is needed in many a workplace for adults too!
This Routine helps children to understand alternative or multiple perspectives.
I have also used this Thinking Routine with Kate with a lot of success when she would say "It's hard to find the words". Now Kate sometimes automatically gives explanations for things.
By using a Thinking Routine like See Think Wonder over and over in many contexts, the thinker is challenged to go beyond the superficial and think in more complex ways. Thinking Routines not only create a culture of thinking but a culture of inquiry and curiosity.
Comments