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Visible Thinking Routines

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Routines to Make Thinking Visible

Introduction to visible thinking routines.

Visible Thinking is a flexible and systematic research-based conceptual framework, which aims to integrate the development of students' thinking with content learning across subject matters.  At the core of Visible Thinking are practices that help make thinking visible: Thinking Routines loosely guide learners' thought processes and encourage active processing.

Visible Thinking makes extensive use of learning routines that are rich in thinking. These routines are simple structures, for example a set of questions or a short sequence of steps, that can be used across various grade levels and content. What makes them routines, versus mere strategies, is that they get used over and over again in the classroom so that they become part of the fabric of classroom' culture. The routines become the ways in which students go about the process of learning. Routines are patterns of action that can be integrated and used in a variety of contexts. You might even use more than one routine in teaching a single lesson. Thus, you shouldn't think about the routine as taking time away from anything else you are doing; they should actually enhance what you are trying to do in the classroom.

What is Project Zero (PZ)?

Pz thinking routines, creating cultures of thinking podcast.

Click/Tap for more information

Drew Perkins talks with Ron Ritchhart about his new book, Cultures of Thinking in Action: 10 Mindsets to Transform our Teaching and Students’ Learning.

**Book: Cultures of Thinking in Action: 10 Mindsets to Transform our Teaching and Students’ Learning

In this podcast you will learn about:

Ron's background researching and developing the idea of "cultures of thinking" over 20+ years at Harvard Project Zero. He has recently retired but continues writing and working with schools on this concept.

His new book that identifies 10 mindsets that effective teachers hold in order to build a culture of thinking in their classrooms. Mindsets drive teacher actions more than tools or practices alone.

Key mindsets which include beliefs that learning occurs as a result of thinking, at the point of challenge, and through curiosity. Teachers need to understand these to leverage practices like thinking routines successfully.

The difference between informational and transformational learning. Facilitative questioning stems from curiosity and supports the latter.

Productive struggle whiuch is important for learning. Teachers should identify where students may struggle but not over-scaffold to remove all challenge.

When planning units, teachers should identify the most important concepts for understanding, consider how to engage students, and determine the thinking students need to do to grapple with content.

Progress and pockets of cultivating cultures of thinking, though not as widespread as he would like. This requires professional learning for teachers focused on understanding practices deeply and responding effectively.

Source: Thought Stretchers Education

Using Thinking Routines with Distance Learning: by Ron Ritchhart

Written By Ron Ritchhart - April 67, 2020 - Source LINK

As we collectively move into the world of distance learning, we face a lot of questions and uncertainties: 

How do I ensure that the tasks I assign students remotely are worthwhile and will actually produce learning versus just keep them busy? 

How do I manage students doing different things at different times in different places?  

How do I explain complex assignments and ideas remotely? 

How do we stay together as a community of learners?

This is unfamiliar space for many of us.  While not a panacea and certainly not an answer to all of the questions above, I believe that thinking routines can be a very useful tool during this time.  Someone asked me the “best” thinking routines for distance learning.  My reply was that the best routines would be the ones you have already established and with which your students are already familiar.  This saves both you and your students the time needed to teach a new routine. This is precisely why we have routines, to provide structures that scaffold and support learning.  As these structures are used over time,  they become routine ways of interacting with content, and learners become more independent.  Using familiar routines, allows students to learn in a familiar space in which they can experience a sense of agency and security.  That said, new thinking routines can be taught online and I want to share a few with you that might be very useful in distance learning.

As David Perkins has said, “learning is a consequence of thinking.”  Therefore, as we engage students remotely with content that they are reading, listening to, or watching on their own we want to make sure they are thinking about that material.  

A simple routine that can help ensure students are thinking about the material is the “ Take Note ” routine, which is one of the new routines featured in the new book due out at the end of April.   The Take Note routine asks students to respond to at least one and up to four different prompts after they have read/watched/listened to the material:

What is the most important point?

What are you finding challenging, puzzling or difficult to understand?

What question would you most like to discuss?

What is something you found interesting?

Students can post their response online for others to use (perhaps on Padlet or a Google doc) or you can collect them via email.  Based on students’ responses, you can then design online discussions & future instruction.

Peeling the Fruit

A second thinking routine that might be useful is Peeling the Fruit . Many teachers are using this time away from the classroom to have their students engage in some kind of independent inquiry. Students investigate a topic of interest using online and in-home resources.  One way of documenting that inquiry would be to use the Peeling the Fruit routine. (See "Peeling the Fruit" image below this article) 

Students begin on the skin by "describing what's there" and identify prior knowledge about their topic of inquiry. Then move inward to identify their puzzles, wonders and mysteries. As the inquiry progresses, they can keep track of the connections they are making explanations being built, and the different perspectives they have explored. Then Identify what is at the core: What's it all mean? Finally step back to identify the nuances and complexities of the topic. If students do have access to large chart paper (even a paper sack cut apart would work) they can document each stage on their personal graphic organizer. Alternatively, each stage of the routine can be documented on paper or in a word processing document using the appropriate heading.

Of cours there are many other possibilities for the use of thinking routines and distance learning than just these two. Around the world, educators are coming together as a community to share their practices and help others. Some of these that might be helpful are:

Carol Geneix, and Jaime Chao-Mignano at Washington International School have put together a resource page in which thinking routines are matched to appropriate online tools.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JM826jA_dZobwu21SaLlovzaaetuJiFO0aCn9IIQDyo/edit

https://mailchi.mp/bdb1b398afc0/stumped-with-distance-learning-weve-got-solutions?e=90b05b1441

Thinking about how to communicate with his students and explain concepts, Erik Lindemann, a Third grade teacher at Quaker Valley School District, discovered the Loom was a great tool. Loom has also made its Pro version completely free for teachers to use. The easy to use app allows you to create a video using any open window on your computer in which your video image appears in the corner of the page to offer commentary. It also has highlighting tools.

Visible Thinking Toolbox

Visible Thinking Poster

Thinking Pathways Website

Thinking Pathways website is managed by Alice Vigors. The website below (which is interactive) houses a vast amount of information about Thinking Routines, Visible Learning, Culture of Thinking , and Inquiry-Based Learning . Just choose a topic at the top of the web page and explore.

In the Thinking Routines section Alice not only provides a clear explanation of each routine, but also includes templates that can be downloaded for use in your classroom and examples of what the routine looks like in the classroom.

THINKING ROUTINES     VISIBLE LEARNING     CULTURES OF THINKING     UNITS OF WORK     PODCAST     INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING     BLOG     BOOK

Visible Thinking Resource

Information about using the Visible Thinking Resource below.

When visiting the the linked routine pages you will notice that each routine has a one-page overview that can be downloaded. The routine overview describes the purpose of the routine, offers potential applications for the routine, and provides suggestions for its use and tips for getting started. You’ll also note that several of the routines are included in more than one “use bucket” as PZ researchers have explored different applications for those routines. On the bottom of each page, you’ll note the specific research project(s) within which the routine was developed and/or further explored as well as guidance about how to reference the routine and copyright and licensing information.

Visible Thinking Prompt Picker

Adapting Chalk Talk Protocol

What's Going on in This Picture?

What's Going on in This Picture? published by t he New Your Times (NYT) is a wonderful resource using a range of powerful images designed to develop critical and creative thinking skills. Also see their collection of 40 intriguing photographs

The NYT invite teachers and students to use this bank of puzzling images, all stripped of their captions or context, to practice visual thinking and close reading skills by holding a “What’s Going On in This Picture?” discussion or writing activity, via in-person or remote instruction.

If you’re not sure how to get started, the NYT have created a recorded webinar that walks teachers through the process and describes the power of this simple activity. In addition, they have lesson plans and resources to help teachers use a wide variety of Times images to get students writing, thinking, speaking and listening.

Try Using With The Following Visible Thinking Routines:

Zoom ; Think, Puzzle, Explore ; See, Think, Wonder ; Chalk Talk ; Circle of Viewpoints ; Claim, Support, Question

Peeling The Fruit

3-2-1 Bridge

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Think Better

• Posted February 5, 2018
• By Bari Walsh and Iman Rastegari

Part of a yearlong series exploring Project Zero’s 50 years of innovation in education. 

What does it mean to think well?

Over the span of five decades, researchers at Project Zero have probed the question, concluding that the act of thinking well is not just about mastering a cognitive skill. It’s also, in equal parts, about developing a disposition — a mindset that combines capacity with readiness, motivation, and an alertness to the opportunity to use our skills.

Thinking is a necessary precursor to learning, the researchers say, so the idea is not just to think; it’s to think when it counts — to take advantage of opportunities to use the thinking skills we have, to notice the times when they might be useful, and to activate your learning.

Routines like See, Think, Wonder might seem almost too simple — but they were designed that way, to be easy to remember and use. The intention is not to simplify ideas; it’s to simplify the ways to approach and engage with ideas, and make a habit of that process.

So, can “good thinking” be taught? Project Zero research suggests that it can.

Building on insights developed by David Perkins , Ron Ritchart , and Shari Tishman , Project Zero has created a large suite of “ thinking routines ” — exercises, activities, discussion prompts, and practices — that help students develop  habits of mind that support good thinking in a variety of situations and contexts. (For example, the video below illustrates a routine called +1 , part of a collection of tools in  Pathways to Understanding , which Project Zero designed to develop note-taking and memory skills.)

Thinking Well, When It Counts

According to Project Zero's approach, the habits of mind that foster good thinking include:

• Having a repertoire of thinking moves to draw on;
• Having an inclination to use those moves;
• Being sensitive to the times when thinking would be helpful.

Good thinkers are in the habit of observing, analyzing, and questioning , Project Zero researchers have theorized. Thinking routines — a set of short questions or a sequence of steps — build those habits by:

• Helping students become close observers, go beyond the superficial, and dig deep;
• Teaching them to organize their ideas;
• Giving them tools to navigate complexity;
• Prompting them to reason carefully;
• Prompting them to reflect on how they’re making sense of things.

Thinking routines are simple structures, designed to be practical, easy to remember, and easily transferrable across subjects or disciplines. A classic example is See, Think, Wonder .

• What do you  see ?
• What do you  think  about that?
• What does it make you  wonder ?

When used repeatedly and intentionally, this exquisitely simple routine can encourage close analysis and thoughtful interpretation — and it can become a habitual part of the way students approach a new topic or idea. It stimulates their curiosity and provides a path forward.

There are many other routines to sample , but just as most habits develop from repetition, PZ researchers say that habits of mind do, too. They suggest that practitioners who are new to the technique choose one core thinking routine and try it out in as many contexts as possible . Once they’re comfortable with the way that one thinking routine has worked in their classroom, they can branch out and focus on different kinds of inquiry, like Here Now/There Then , which could be used in a civics class to help students understand how past perspectives change over time; or Parts, Purpose, Complexities , which encourages observation and understanding of art objects or mechanical systems.

Routines like See, Think, Wonder might seem almost too simple — but they were designed that way, to be easy to remember and use. The intention is not to simplify ideas; it’s to simplify the ways to approach and engage with ideas . By breaking down the thinking process and by making thinking visible , thinking routines foster a community of thinkers in a classroom and a culture of thinking in a school or district.

Additional Resources

• Project Zero's research on cognition, thinking, and understanding
• Visible Thinking, an online course for educators
• More on Visible Thinking from Project Zero

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Great Visible Thinking Routines for the Classroom

Visible Thinking Routines (VTRs) are a series of steps that make complex thinking processes accessible to students through the use of Visual Thinking, “the process of thinking through visualization.” 1 VTRs are effective because humans, by nature, are visual thinkers; our minds are hardwired to rapidly process and remember visual input. 2 According to the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching, “A well-designed visual image can yield a much more powerful and memorable learning experience than a mere verbal or textual description.” 3

All ages and types of students, including those specified as visual learners—believed to make up approximately 65% of the population 4 — can benefit from the use of VTRs in the classroom.

Read on to explore how Visible Thinking Routines can benefit your students.

A Brief History of VTRs

VTRs were created by Project Zero, a Harvard Graduate School of Education initiative launched in 1967 by philosopher Nelson Goodman. 5 As part of its research into how students learn, Project Zero noticed highly capable thinkers employ Visual Thinking Strategies, or thinking approaches, through established habits of, “observation, analysis, and questioning” 6

Using these findings, Project Zero created VTRs to encourage all students to use Visual Thinking skills in order to “think better," by:

• Becoming observers
• Organizing their ideas
• Reasoning carefully
• Reflecting on how they are making sense of things 7

VTRs are great for classroom use because they:

• Do not require previous experience
• Make complex concepts highly accessible to all learners
• Are easy to remember and easy to use
• Help users develop positive mental habits that can be used in class and in the world around them.
• Help users dig deeper
• Encourage critical thinking and the exploration of different perspectives
• Help groups develop group thinking skills 6,7

Today’s global classrooms are finding Visual Thinking exercises an especially constructive classroom tool that can help boost students’ critical thinking, literacy, observation, and evidentiary skills. 8

Best VTRs for the Classroom

We’ve compiled this shortlist of VTRs from a comprehensive Project Zero database 9 of VTRs. Give more than a few a try! Be encouraged to use more than one VTR per lesson. You can also share your classroom experiences with other educators to share the educational outcomes of using VTRs.

Think, Pair, Share

Best for: paired assignments, idea exploration, peer collaboration

Boost your students’ active reasoning and explanatory skills with this simple and effective VTR. Think, Pair, Share encourages students to collaborate in order to understand more than one perspective. In this Thinking Routine, students engage in both listening and speaking as they think about the topic you address, pair themselves with a student partner or team, and share their ideas about that chosen topic.

Example activity: Have your students complete an assigned reading, ponder a point from that reading, and individually take notes on paper about their thoughts before sharing those thoughts in two-person pairs. Have student pairs work on their ideas, reshaping and reforming their individual ideas to form new ones based on their collective discoveries. Close out the activity by having each student pair share what they have ideated and synthesized together with the rest of the class.

See, Think, Wonder

Best for: new ideas, idea exploration, art-based learning

Get students to activate their research skills and inquisitiveness with the See, Think, Wonder Visible Thinking Routine. Students should observe what they see , then consider what they think about what they have seen, and then add musings about what they now wonder about.

Example Activity: Have your students take time to examine a new piece of art or unfamiliar item which relates to your curriculum. Embolden students to look for new things, beyond the familiar, with the item. After they’ve had time to see and to think thoroughly, have them write down “I wonder ” questions to help them build on their ideas and thoughts about the item. Then have students participate as a group by sharing their observations and questions out loud in class.

What Makes You Say That?

Best for: idea exploration, deep thinking, idea justification

If you’re ready to build your students’ evidentiary reasoning skills, What Makes You Say That? is the perfect VTR. This routine asks students to elaborate on their ideas by supporting them with the facts they've acquired from classroom teachings, personal experiences, and present circumstances/surroundings. This routine also helps students better understand how to justify their reasoning as they interpret texts and take in classroom sights, sounds, and surrounding stimuli.

Example Activity: During classroom reviews of assigned reading, ask students, “What makes you say that?” Have individuals offer their viewpoints and consider the viewpoints of other classmates that have already participated. Let students know it’s okay to refer to the comments of others when supporting their own positions and perspectives to build classroom engagement and camaraderie.

Think, Puzzle, Explore

If you are looking for ways to have your students focus on their deeper thinking abilities while activating prior knowledge about concepts to generate curiosity, Think, Puzzle, Explore is the perfect VTR. Ask students to write down what they currently think about a certain topic. Have students add what puzzles them about that topic. Finally, ask students to share how they would explore and look for certain information that could provide the answers to the questions they have come up with. This Visible Thinking Routine works well for younger students as well as older students who need to dissect and absorb complex concepts in history, geography, science, social studies, etc.

Example Activity: Have your students consider what they think they know about a many-layered topic from a textbook reading, artifact, or visual object, encouraging them to contribute any ideas concerning what they think they already know. Next, have students ask their questions out loud. Lastly, have students share the best places and sources to gather the information they seek for these questions. As an added bonus, review correct answers students have about the artifact in a subsequent class to dispel any misconceptions and reinforce correct answers. Be sure to moderate this Visible Thinking Routine by writing down student contributions on a shared board viewable by all students during the exercise.

Best for: classroom collaboration, positive feedback habits, peer review

Learning how to positively critique each others’ work and give effective feedback is the purpose of this VTR. Give 3 asks students to provide beneficial feedback about student work in a manner that fosters interaction as well as an atmosphere of teamwork. Have students support their comments for their peers with examples from the work, being sure to remain helpful, engaged, and positive.

Example Activity: Have students prepare a short work to a lesson that will be seen and commented on by their classmates. Ask each student in class to share their feedback for each of the three VTR steps before moving to the next portion of the activity. Start the exercise with an example of your own work to teach students the proper way to review peer work.

Color, Symbol, Image

Best for: organizing ideas, originating ideas, idea distillation, art-based activities

Get your students to practice their knack for colors and visual ideas with this VTR. Color, Symbol, Image asks student participants to read/watch activity material and then draw using a color they think best encompasses the lesson ideas. Next, have your students create a symbol that represents their idea. Lastly, have students construct a more complete image of that idea, fleshing out their color and symbol creations as they go. Ask students to explain, in a short note, why they have made each particular visual choice.

Example Activity: Share a short video or reading with your class that builds on your lesson plan for the week. Have your students draw and share what they have created, adding their reasons for doing so, at each stage of the activity. Call on a variety of students with different perspectives and drawing abilities to create an engaging learning atmosphere that brings out the best in students who respond to art-based activities.

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Support Online and Blended Learning with Powerful Thinking Routines

Project Zero at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education has created a collection of Core Thinking Routines as part of their Visible Thinking Project. Teachers can view the entire collection on the Project Zero website , where each routine is described in detail (e.g., purpose, application, launch) in both English and Spanish.

These routines encourage students to be intentional thinkers.

• What do they know or notice?
• What is their perspective or position on an issue or idea?
• How can they support their position or thinking?
• What do they wonder? What are they confused about?
• How has their thinking changed? What caused that change?

These thinking routines can be modified and adjusted for different age levels and subject areas, making them extremely versatile. As teachers read the descriptions of each routine provided on the Project Zero website , it is clear that these routines would work well to engage students in dynamic face-to-face activities and discussions. Given that many teachers are working with students online, at least part-time, I created the Google Slide decks below for teachers to copy and use in an online learning scenario. Each slide deck focuses on a specific thinking routine and is designed to engage the entire class. That way, students can learn with and from each other.

Thinking Routine #1: See, Think, Wonder

Thinking Routine #2–Claim, Evidence, Question

Thinking Routine #3–I Used to Think…Now I Think

Thinking Routine #4–Connect, Extend, Challenge

Thinking Routine #5–Compass Points

Important notes :

• The title of each thinking routine is linked to a detailed PDF created by Project Zero describing the routine and how teachers can use it.
• The image of each Google slide deck is hyperlinked to a sharable version. In order to make a copy, you need to be signed in to your Google account so that the copy has a place to save. When you click on the slide deck you want to use, you’ll be prompted to “make a copy.” Once you have your copy, you can edit and modify it.
• The structure of each slide deck (e.g., tables, icons, instructions) is built into the master view of each slide so students cannot change it when working on their slides. To edit or modify the slide decks for your grade level and subject area, click “View” at the top of the slide deck. Then click “Master” to make changes on the back end of the slide deck.
• Since these slide decks are designed for the whole class, you will need to share the deck via Google Classroom, or your learning management system, so that anyone with access can edit the slide deck. You should have a conversation with your students ahead of time about only editing the slide deck with their name on it.

Teachers using these thinking routines with students can share their experiences using the hashtags associated with each. I’ve included the hashtag for each thinking routine on each of the Google slide decks. I would love for teachers using these routines with students in a blended learning or online learning scenario to share how they are using them. That way, we can crowdsource ideas to inspire other educators to try these valuable thinking routines! You can post a comment here sharing your specific lesson or you can post a note on Twitter with the hashtag for the thinking routine and tag me @Catlin_Tucker .

47 Responses

This is wonderful. Thank you, Catlin!

You’re welcome, Ashley!

Your resources are so practical. THANK YOU!

You’re welcome, Pat!

Omg! These are exactly what I needed and was trying to think on how to make. You have made my day. I’m a special education teacher and with serving such a variety of needs these are so helpful in that it can be adjusted to fit anyone students ability.

Yay! I’m thrilled these are helpful, Olenma! In a follow-up post below, I shared five more thinking routines. I wanted to share the link in case any of those are helpful.

https://catlintucker.com/2020/12/thinking-routines-part-2/

Take care. Catlin

The questions are intriguing and requires thinking. Thanks for the routines, Catlin!

You’re welcome, Purva! I love these thinking routines!

You’re welcome, Morgan!

My professor for my masters program used these with us. By far this was what made the learning applicable for me. The reflection was key. I started using it with my 5th graders and the same insight began to happen with them. Thanks for making these slides with the visuals.

You’re welcome, America!

Thank you so much for your generosity in sharing this resource.

You’re welcome, Belinda!

So good, as usual. I’m planning to use this with Ethics & Media students as we examine news sites. I will have students look at a site that does not align with their personal biases and walk through these thinking and wondering patterns. Thanks for this tool to help my students think deeply!

You’re welcome, Molleen! So glad you can use these with your students.

These are so useful Thank you for sharing

Hi, I love the Google Slides with the activities. It is mention that you have them in Spanish but I do not find them. Thanks for these wonderful ideas and work.

If you click on the title of each routine, it will take you to the Project Zero website where they have English and Spanish descriptions of each. The slide decks I created are only in English.

Wow nice stuff thanks to Catlin, you provide interesting ideas! Gret work I really enjoy reading your online learning routine!

You’re welcome, Camellia!

Wow great information Thank You

You’re welcome, Yolanda!

I like these resources you have shared with us. I cant wait to learn more about them.

I love these resources! I am going to use the see-think-wonder slide deck with my kindergarten class virtually. I wanted to use the graphics for see-think-wonder and put them on a popsicle stick to use with my class. The graphics you used are perfect! Is there any way to get the same graphics, so it matches your slide deck?

The graphics are built into the master slide, so you will get them when you make a copy.

You’re welcome, Evelyn!

I have used the “I see, I think, I wonder” process paired with visuals in social studies classrooms for a few years now. This has really allowed kids to be engaged and you will be surprised what higher level observations kids can come up with.

Thank you very much!

You’re welcome, Kim!

wow thanks catlin..i hope teachers will make use of the this for their students

You’re welcome! I hope so too!

Hello Caitlin:

I am working on getting to know Thinking Routines better and these will be fantastic resources! In case you haven’t come across this yet, I wanted to pass along this fabulous TR resource from Alive Vigors in Australia. Her site, Thinking Pathways ( https://thinkingpathwayz.weebly.com/thinkingroutines.html ), is jam-packed with all kinds of Thinking Routines material. She’s created wonderful graphics for most of the PZero routines and also generated some of her own!

Hope this is helpful.

Thank you, John!

Thanks for these valuable resources. I haven’t thought to use the thinking routines in a master slide. I will use them with my students. Thanks a lot.

You’re welcome, Sofia!

These are beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing them with the community!

You’re welcome, Bonnie!

Thanks for your post. This article gives me a lot of advice, it’s very helpful for me!

Thank you for sharing. These are great! I already know how these will help me in my projects for next year.

You’re welcome, Cheryl!

These PZ Thinking Routine templates are fantastic, Caitlin. Thank-you for generously sharing them!

You’re welcome, Donna!

These are great; it looks like you have “S” twice in your compass points routine, replacing “E”. (I did find it, though… what is Exciting about this?)

Thank you Caitlin. Your resources are GREAT!

Thank you! I’m so glad they’re useful.

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Boosting Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum

Visible thinking routines that encourage students to document and share their ideas can have a profound effect on their learning.

In my coaching work with schools, I am often requested to model strategies that help learners think deeply and critically across multiple disciplines and content areas. Many teachers are looking to adapt research-based methods to help students think about content in meaningful ways by making connections to previous learning, asking relevant questions, displaying understanding through learning artifacts , and identifying their challenges with the material.

Educator Alfred Mander said, “Thinking is skilled work. It is not true that we are naturally endowed with the ability to think clearly and logically—without learning how and without practicing.”

Visible thinking routines can be an excellent and simple way to start using systematic but flexible approaches to teaching thinking dispositions to young people at any grade level. Focusing on thinking types, powerful routines can strengthen learners’ ability to analyze, synthesize (design), and question effectively. Classroom teachers want these skills to become habits, making students the most informed stakeholder in their own learning.

Not to be confused with visible learning research by John Hattie , Visible Thinking is a research-based initiative by Harvard’s Project Zero with more than 30 routines aimed at making learning the consequence of good thinking dispositions . Students begin to comprehend content through thinking routines composed of short questions or a series of steps. During routines, their learning becomes visible because their ideas are documented, voiced, discussed with others, and reflected on.

For example, the routine See, Think, Wonder can be used to get students to analyze and interpret graphs, text, infographics, or video during the entry event of project-based learning units or daily lessons. Guiding students to have rich and lively discussions about their thoughts, interpretations, and wonderings (questions) can help teachers decide on appropriate lessons and next steps.

Another effective visible thinking routine is Connect, Extend, Challenge (CEC). Learners can use CEC to organize, clarify, and simplify complex information on graphic organizers. The graphic organizer becomes a kinesthetic activity for creating an informational artifact that students can refer to as the lesson or unit progresses.

Here are some creative but simple ways to carry out these two routines across multiple classrooms.

See, Think, Wonder

See, Think, Wonder can be leveraged as a thinking routine to launch engagement and inquiry in daily lessons by introducing an interesting object (graphic, artifact, etc.). The idea is for students to think carefully about why the object looks or is a certain way. Teachers introduce the following question prompts to guide students’ thinking:

• What do you see?
• What do you think about that?
• What does it make you wonder?

When the routine is new, sometimes young children may not know where to begin expressing themselves—this is where converting the above question prompts into sentence stems, “I see…,” “I think…,” and “I wonder…,” comes into play. For students struggling with analytical skills, it’s empowering for them to accept themselves where they currently are—learning how to analyze critically can be achieved over time and with practice. Teachers can help them build confidence with positive reinforcement .

Adapt the routine to meet the needs of your kids, which may be to have them work individually or to engage with classmates. I use it frequently—especially when introducing emotionally compelling graphics to students learning about environmental issues (e.g., the UN’s Goals for Sustainable Development) and social issues . This is useful in helping them better understand how to interpret graphs, infographics, and what’s happening in text and visuals. Furthermore, it also promotes interpretations, analysis, and questioning.

Content teachers can use See, Think, Wonder to get learners thinking critically by introducing graphics that reinforce essential academic information and follow up the routine with lessons and scaffolds to support students’ ideas and interpretations.

Connect, Extend, Challenge

CEC is a powerful visible learning routine to help students connect previous learning to new learning and identify where they are struggling in various educational concepts. Taking stock of where they are stuck in the material is as vital as articulating their connections and extensions. Again, they might struggle initially, but here’s where front-loading vocabulary and giving them time to talk through challenges can help.

A good place to introduce CEC is after students have analyzed or observed something new. This works as a natural next step to have them dig deeper with reflection and use what they learned in the analysis process to create their own synthesis of ideas. I also like to use CEC after engaging them in the See, Think, Wonder routine and at the end of a unit.

Again, learners can work individually or in small groups. Teachers can also have them move into the routine after reading an article or some form of targeted informational text where the learning is critical to moving forward (e.g., proportional relationships, measurement, unit conversion). Regardless of your approach, Project Zero suggests having learners reflect on the following question prompts:

• How is the _____ connected to something you already know?
• What new ideas or impressions do you have that extended your thinking in new directions?
• What is challenging or confusing? What do you need to improve your understanding?

I like to have learners in small groups answer a version of the question prompts in a simple three-column graphic organizer. The graphic organizer can also become a road map for prioritizing the next steps in learning for students of all ages. Here are some visual examples of how I used the activity with educators in a professional development session targeting emotional intelligence skills.

More Visible Thinking Resources

• Project Zero’s Thinking Routine Toolbox : Access to core thinking routines
• Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners , by Ron Ritchhart, Mark Church, and Karin Morrison
• Creating Cultures of Thinking: The 8 Forces We Must Master to Truly Transform Our Schools , by Ron Ritchhart

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A Brief Guide to Thinking Routines

• by Claire Bown
• January 29, 2020 April 19, 2023

Interested in thinking routines but not sure where to start? Focusing on thinking routines is one of the easiest and most accessible ways to start working with Visible Thinking. Here is my brief guide:

In 2011, I spent a year developing a new programme at the Tropenmuseum   using  thinking routines  from  Visible Thinking   as a way of engaging and interacting with museum objects. The resulting programme Stories Around the World used thinking routines as the structure around which students explored objects in the museum in a slow, careful and detailed way.

What is a routine?

A routine is simply defined as a sequence of actions or pattern of behaviour that is regularly followed or rehearsed.

What are thinking routines?

Thinking routines are tools specifically designed to help, support and guide mental processes or thinking.

They consist of short, easy to learn and teach steps that get used in a regular fashion. No training is required before starting working with these routines. With habitual use, you can modify and use the routines as needed for different applications and students are able to cue the steps of the routine themselves. They have catchy and appealing names too – See-Think-Wonder or Think-Puzzle-Explore – to help learn them by heart and recall them independently when required.

Thinking routines are typically short and memorable with only a few steps based on carefully crafted questions – ‘What do you see?’ ‘What do you think about that?’ ‘What does it make you wonder?’ . These routines loosely guide the analysis of a wide variety of materials such as artworks, photographs, documents, newspaper articles, museum objects and so on.

Where can you use them?

Thinking routines can be used across a variety of contexts and environments from schools, universities, private institutions and corporations and, of course, museums, heritage and cultural organisations . They are also not subject-specific either – thinking routines have a wide appeal and application across a variety of disciplines including arts, history, maths and science contexts . Their flexibility means that they can be used on an individual as well as a group basis.

How many are there?

There are currently 100+ thinking routines that I’ve collated in a single guide (see below to download it). The majority of the routines are in the two books – Making Thinking Visible and The Power of Making Thinking Visible – although there are thinking routines that are from Artful Thinking , Agency by Design and Out of Eden Learn PZ projects too. There are also thinking routines that have been developed by teachers, researchers and museum educators that are not listed in either the Project Zero books or on the PZ website.

Each routine encourages certain types of thinking and the name of the routine helps to guide the participant as to the type of thinking required – for example, observing closely and describing, reasoning with evidence, making connections, perspective taking etc.

In order to be effective, it is first important to establish the type of thinking that you would like to elicit and then choose the correct thinking routine for that task. 

One of the many powers of thinking routines is their flexibility – with such a wide variety of routines to choose from, you can vary the way you work depending on the goals of your programme or class. Want to know more? Read my Essential Guide to Visible Thinking or What’s the Best Way to Get Started with Visible Thinking? to dive deeper into Visible Thinking.

The Ultimate Thinking Routine List

I’ve been working on an ultimate list of ALL 100+ thinking routines as a handy instant reference guide for educators, guides and creatives working with Visible Thinking. Get inspired!

If you’d like to receive a free copy, then click here .

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If we regularly make our students’ thinking and learning visible;

then we will demonstrate the value of learning, gain useful formative assessment data, & engage students as active agents in their own learning.

 Why it Matters

Thinking and learning can at times seem a mysterious, opaque, and veiled processes locked in a learner’s head.  As a result, we often focus on the tests and work students produce as evidence of learning and thinking.  This may feel somewhat easier and certainly more familiar with our experience of schooling.  However, in doing so we deprive our students of opportunities to grow as learners and thinkers and as a community of learners.  Furthermore, we rob ourselves of the very information needed to enrich and guide our teaching.  Like Vea Vecchi from Reggio Schools so eloquently states, “We feel it is necessary, once again, to deny the assertion that learning, and how we learn, is a process that cannot be seen, that cannot be activated and observed, leaving the school with the sole task of eliciting learning and then verifying it after the fact. What we are interested in is precisely an attempt to see this process and to understand how the construction of doing, thinking, and knowing takes place, as well as what sort of influences or modifications can occur in these processes” ( 1 ). Accordingly, we take the idea of making learning and thinking visible as a central goal of the teacher.

As Vea Vechhi names, informing instruction and better understanding learning are certainly two very important goals of making learning and thinking visible.  At the same, time research has shown a host of other benefits as well.  With respect to learners:  visibility helps to shape the type of learner a person becomes, visibility supports the development of expertise and deep learning, and visibility can lead to better learning outcomes.  Where teachers are concerned, visibility is the key to a rich formative assessment practice and visibility helps shape the culture of the classroom.

Shaping the Learner .  How students think about learning and thinking affects the way they approach new learning tasks ( 2, 3, 4, 5 ) .  “Teachers alerting students to a different type of learning, a learning that is more investigative, participatory, and personal, can affect students’ approaches to learning regardless of their conceptions of learning.” ( 2 ).  When we provide the structures and tools that routinely demystify the complexity of thinking , we make meaningful strides towards achieving the larger goal of molding learners who see themselves as thinkers ready to take on new ideas and information.

Helping students better recognize when and how thinking is happening can improve metacognitive abilities, increase awareness of one’s own thinking, and foster positive attitudes towards learning.  “When students are aware of their thinking, the more they are better able to control it” ( 6 )   .  Research suggests that increased abilities, awareness and attitudes towards thinking help individuals better control their thinking and promote healthy dispositions that are valued and necessary for thinking (7, 8 ). Linked to this is the possibility that metacognitive ability plays a role in improved learning, enabling us to focus more efficiently on what we still need to learn ( 9 ). When students think about their thinking they achieve at higher levels (10 ).  

Development of Expertise and Deep Learning .  Expertise in any field is not merely acquiring the knowledge base of that field but of mastering the way people in that field think through problems, make decisions, and create new knowledge. Learning to think like and expert is a central part of developing disciplinary understanding and deep learning (Gardner and Boix).  We learn this through a cognitive apprenticeship in which experts make their thinking visible.  It is “the interplay among observation, scaffolding, and increasingly independent practice [that] aids apprentices both in developing self-monitoring and correction skills and in integrating the skills and conceptual knowledge needed to advance toward expertise” (11 ).     Reciprocal teaching is a well-researched reading intervention that uses the cognitive apprenticeship model to develop students as effective readers (12 ). In reciprocal teaching, the teacher models expert strategies in a shared problem context of knowing that students will soon undertake the same task. Reciprocal teaching is extremely effective. In a pilot study with individual students who were poor readers, the method raised their reading comprehension test scores from 15 percent to 85 percent accuracy after about twenty training sessions (11 ).   Similar results in other studies have been attained in subsequent studies. ( 13, 14, 15, 16 ). These are very dramatic effects for any instructional intervention.

Better learning outcomes.  Data from individual teachers and schools who have embraced making thinking visible as both a goal and a practice and nurtured it at their schools or classrooms through sustained professional learning, have seen substantial gains for students on standardized tests such as Smarter Balanced Assessment and PARCC in the United States, the VCE and HSC in Australia, and IB Diploma worldwide in addition to other state tests ( 17 ).  In an experimental study conducted with university students attending a business studies course in Chile, students (N=152) who were taught using thinking routines achieved a final exam grade that was on average 1.3 points higher (on a 1–7 scale) than their peers (N=731) taught using traditional methods identified in two separate control groups ( 18 ).

Formative assessment practice .  To understand how our students are making sense of ideas and building understanding, we have to make their thinking visible. True formative assessment is the ongoing and embedded effort to understand our students’ learning. It is a two-way street actively involving students and teachers in dialog about learning. Formative assessment lives in our listening, observing, examining, analyzing, and reflecting on the process of learning. Part of the process of thinking then is not only doing the thinking, but also sharing that thinking with others.  This is why sharing and documentation is such a necessary part of making learning thinking visible. It makes the process of thinking more apparent to both teachers and learners.  Teachers better understand how their students are thinking, while students gain awareness of their own thinking and those of their peers. In this way, we transform formative assessment to an ongoing practice, rather than a task ( 17 ).

Shaping the culture.  Making learning and thinking visible helps transform learning into a collective enterprise where both students and teachers reflect on their thinking and work towards advancing future teaching and learning ( 17 ). Classroom research has shown that back and forth communication around thinking and learning “leads to greater student engagement, deeper understanding, and increased retention. Also, talking about their work helps students to develop critical learning skills that prepare them for future challenges and opportunities” ( 19 ). When school is less about having the correct right answer in advance and more about collective meaning making and group understanding students take on a collaborative spirit in which everyone’s learning is lifted ( 12 ).

What It Looks and Sounds Like 

Of course, there is no one way that making thinking and learning visible will look and sound. There is ample room for individuals to add their own creativity and stamp on things. The list below is a sampling of ideas that might be useful to advance your practice.

Make use of the 4 Practices for Making Thinking Visibl e.

Plan for thinking. Match your choice of thinking routines to the type of thinking that students need to do in order to make sense of and build understanding of the content with which they are working (see Exhibit 1 )

Use thinking routines to structure students’ discussion and exploration to allow them to reach higher levels of engagement and understanding.

Make use of student responses to thinking routines as ongoing, integrated, and formative information to feed back into lesson planning.

Display not only the products of thinking but also the process of thinking. That means that what is on your wall is not merely a static display of past learning but a dynamic display of ongoing learning (see Exhibit 2 on “Documentation vs Display”).

Document the learning and thinking of students both individually & collectively by seeking out and capturing information, data, and evidence of student learning and thinking (see Exhibit 3 on “Where to Look for Learning”).

Engage students in reflection and analysis of documentation and artifacts of learning.

Reflect on documentation individually and with colleagues better understand students’ collective learning journey and to inform future instruction (see Exhibit 4 ).

Share documentation that includes your reflections publicly with the school community. Move from being monitors of the work to become an active looker and listener for learning.

Ask “ facilitative questions ” such as “What makes you say that?” that press students and invite students to elaborate, give evidence, justify, and explain their thinking.

Ask “ constructive questions ” that help students to build understanding. Use the Understanding Map as a basis for generating.

Ask and teach students to ask themselves “ metacognitive questions ” that encourage self planning, monitoring, and evaluation of learning.

Get curious about your students and their learning. Real listening emerges when we take a vigorous interest in the other.

Practice the five different types of listening .

Prime yourself to listen for and spot thinking occasions for the types of thinking you are trying to promote. If you want to promote “reasoning with evidence,” look for where, when, and how you see that emerging in your classroom. Notice, name, and support it.

Plan for listening. Where and when will you listen? What are you listening for and trying to understand through your listening? Remember, listening for correctness isn’t really listening but evaluation.

Reflecting on Your Teaching

Reflect on you are making learning and thinking visible in your classroom:

At the end of a lesson or day of instruction, what insights have I gained into my students as learners and thinkers?

What are the “go to” routines for learning and thinking in my class? Why these routines? What do I learn from them? What do my students learn?

Where, when, and how am I planning for students to look closely, make connections,and uncover complexity (or other thinking moves) while engaging with ideas and one another?

How do I recognize thinking as it unfolds in real time in front of me? What do I prime myself to look for and notice? How do I avoid focusing solely on correctness?

How do I interact with my students around the thinking they are making visible, in this moment and beyond this moment? Do I press for thinking in a way that communicates the value and importance i place on thinking and my expectations for them as learners?

What is my stance toward thinking? Is it central to my teaching or just an occasional happening? How am I positioning myself to make thinking more routine in my classroom? (See Exhibit 5 for more on Planning, Priming, Pressing, and Positioning )

When using thinking routines, how do I frame our use of them? Do I position them as tools and a series of moves that I want students to grow into and develop expertise around or are they just activities?

Where and when am I making my own thinking visible?

What do I document as a teacher? What do I wish I were doing a better job of capturing in terms of students and learning? How might I begin to do just a bit more in this area?

Where, when, and how might I engage students in self-documentation?

Using Quick Data to Inform Your Efforts

There is no one way a thinking classroom has to look and feel.  Every classroom is unique to some extent, depending on the students, the teacher, and the subject matter taught.  However, there are some commonalities.  In thinking classrooms, teachers make sure that thinking is visible.  Thinking is regularly modeled, discussed, shared, displayed, challenged, and made evident so that students are immersed in thinking.  The acronym MYST, can be useful for looking at how thinking is made visible in classrooms.  MYST stands for Me, You, Space, Time. 

Questions to Consider from the Quick Data:

What interesting or surprising details do you notice?

What questions or reflections do your response evoke?

Which questions were the hardest for you to answer and provide specific evidence for? Why were these challenging?

What additional data might you collect to better answer these questions or to provide evidence for your responses?

What implications do your responses have for your future teaching?

If you asked a colleague or your students to fill out MYST on your classroom, what do you think their responses would be?

Connection to the 8 Cultural Forces

Routines . Thinking routines are key tools for making students thinking visible. With use and over time, it is the thinking that becomes routine. Once students have internalized the frequent use of thinking routines, they’re more likely to employ them at their own will rather than waiting around for directions or external prompting

Interactions . We interact with our students through our questioning and listening, two key ways we make thinking visible. When we take a vigorous interest in our students’ thinking and actively engaged in trying to make better sense of what the students are understanding, we are more present as teachers and human beings. Generative, constructive, and facilititative questions promote student thinking. The regular use of these kinds of questions help pull the curtain back on significant thinking moments and illuminate the very processes with which students can be empowered.

Modeling . Thinking is often an invisible and mysterious process locked inside the individual’s head. When we model our thinking, we make it visible and demystify it. To develop expertise, learners need to be exposed to the thinking processes of more expert learners and problem solvers in the field. Continually drawing attention to the thinking at play in any learning or problem solving endeavor gives students models in which they can engage and recreate for their own learning pursuits.

Time . We cannot make thinking visible unless we provide time for thinking to happen. When time is spent demystifying thinking and illuminating moments where thinking is critical, students become sensitive to occasions for thinking and are in a better position to notice these occasions.  

Environment . Students’ thinking becomes visible in the documentation we collect and exhibit in the classroom. Documentation is not merely a display of learning but an effort to capture the dynamic, emerging, and progression of the class’s collective sense making and exploration around a topic. It tends to be more communal in nature than individualized work products.

Expectations . Once making students’ thinking becomes a priority for teachers, they begin to communicate the expectations they have for students to bring curiosity, perspective seeking, uncovering complexity, etc. to their learning routinely.  Students begin to realize that meaningful learning is dependent on when and where they make their thinking visible more than simply getting through assignments.

Opportunities . We need to provide students with opportunities to make their thinking visible, explain their thinking, share, and discuss their thinking as opposed to just having opportunities to demonstrate correctness. This relates to our planning. We also need to be primed to look for, spot, and capitalize on opportunities that may arise for listening, documentation, and thinking.

Language . Through our language we notice and name the thinking our students are demonstrating. Thus, we draw attention to it and make it visible. In doing so, the thinking becomes an object that we might inspect, review, discuss, and explore in order to better understand it.

Mindset #10: Making Thinking and Learning Visible

“ We feel it is necessary, once again, to deny the assertion that learning, and how we learn, is a process that cannot be seen, that cannot be activated and observed, leaving the school with the sole task of eliciting learning and then verifying it after the fact. What we are interested in is precisely an attempt to see this process and to understand how the construction of doing, thinking, and knowing takes place, as well as what sort of influences or modifications can occur in these processes. ”

“ When thinking becomes visible—it is clear to students that school is not about memorizing facts but about exploring ideas ”

“ The interplay among observation, scaffolding, and increasingly independent practice aids apprentices both in developing self-monitoring and correction skills and in integrating the skills and conceptual knowledge needed to advance toward expertise. Observation plays a surprisingly key role. ”

“ True formative assessment is the ongoing and embedded effort to understand our students’ learning. It is a two-way street that actively involving students and teachers in a dialog about learning. . . formative assessment lives in our listening, observing, examining, analyzing and reflecting on the process of learning ”

“ Documenting individual and group learning carriers the promise of altering pedagogic focus away from solely summative and standardized measures of student achievement toward more qualitative, formative understandings of student learning. ”

“ In many school systems today, the emphasis on standards, goals, and predefined outcomes has resulted in an unintended narrowing of our views about learning. As a result, a de-emphasis or no emphasis is placed on the thinking of the child in relation to the curriculum, much less the thinking of the child that may appear unrelated to the curriculum goals driving instruction. ”

Project Zero’s Thinking Routines video

This animated video explains thinking routines, what they are and how they can be used to develop students thinking dispositions and make their thinking visible

Modeling Expert Reading: Three Tips for success

This article offers tips on how to model expert thinking to students. Though it is in the context of reading, these tips can be generalized to other content areas.

Effects of Using Thinking Routines on the Academic Results of Business Students at a Chilean Tertiary Education Institution

This study investigates the effects of using thinking routines to promote interactive learning environments on the academic results of tertiary education students enrolled in the Cost and Budgeting course at a Chilean higher education institution during 2016. The results show that students taught using thinking routines obtain better academic results than their counterparts taught using traditional methods.

2 pages + Video

Reciprocal Teaching 

A quick overview of what reciprocal teaching is, how to use reciprocal teaching in your lessons, templates that can be used when implementing this in your classrooms, and a video of reciprocal teaching in action

  The Power of Reflection

Cognitive neuroscientist, Stephen M. Fleming explains the origins of metacognitive research, how it is done, and key theorists that have contributed to our understanding in an accessible manner. He shares his insights and research on why metacognition and reflecting on our thinking is important

Zooms: Promoting Schoolwide Inquiry and Improving Practice

A group of teachers and the Project Zero researcher Ben Mardell describe a powerful collaborative and interactive teacher research process they developed at their school. The process engages teachers in generating new insights about teaching and learning. This article provides a road map for creating Zooms—documentation panels that are snapshots of classroom life—as unique, concrete models of teacher research.

Modeling Expert Thinking 

A discussion of the value of modeling expert thinking to students and suggestions for how to model expert thinking in the classroom.

Documentation: When Does It Make Learning Visible?

Documentation serves different purposes during different stages of learning. Quality documentation focuses on some aspect of learning—not just “what we did”—and it prompts questions and promotes conversations among children and adults that deepen and extend learning. This article provides a set of questions to ask when creating or examining documentation that tries to make learning visible. These questions may change depending on your purpose or context.

Making Thinking Visible

Researchers David Perkins and Ron Ritchhart explain the Visible Thinking approach to learning and teaching, describing what it looks like to make thinking visible with examples from classrooms.

My Favorite No - Learning from mistakes

  My Favorite No is a great formative assessment activity that turns students’ mistakes into collective opportunities for learning. It can be done with any math topic or content as well as non math concepts.

Accountability in Three Realms: Making Learning

This article describes the changing culture of a public school as members of its community explore new ways of being accountable to progressive ideals in an age of skills-based learning and standardized testing. Using documentation makes adult and student learning visible in and outside the classroom, supporting three forms of accountability: (a) accountability to self (looking at what one intended to teach in relation to what actually happened); (b) accountability to each other (contributing to collective learning as well as one’s own); and (c) accountability to the larger community

A New Rhythm of responding

This article discusses the importance of wait time for teachers and students in order to give students time to think. It reviews the practice of both wait time 1 and wait time 2 and their role in promoting deeper thinking and higher levels of engagment.

Inquisitive is the education team with a mission to simplify access to quality primary lessons, so teachers enjoy teaching and students learn with purpose

A Teacher’s Guide to Visible Thinking Activities

Sara Bell, Tim Power and Sarah Rich · 27 March 2019

This is a practical guide to using thinking routines in the classroom, with quality ready-to-use activities for each type of routine. This guide begins with a short summary of the research that underpins the use of thinking routines and the purpose of making thinking visible.

Thinking Routines and Activities

See think wonder.

• Compass Point

Peel the Fruit

Question organiser, 3-2-1 bridge, six thinking hats, think puzzle explore, plus minus interesting, think pair share, venn diagram, i used to think, connect extend challenge, colour symbol image, 3-2-1 organiser, concept map, infographic, step inside, 10 x 2 thinking, about inquisitive.

• Further Research

What are Thinking Routines?

Thinking routines teach students to make their ideas visible and accessible. This is done through a variety of graphic organisers which help structure ideation and reasoning. They are simple to use, yet powerful in impact.

The purpose of thinking routines is to promote a deeper understanding of content, and help students understand how they think and learn. As Margaret Mead writes:

“Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.”

A substantial body of research (Hattie, Murdoch, Ritchhard and others) underpins the development of thinking routines in the classroom. One of the benefits for teachers in using visible thinking routines, is being able to see learning through the eyes of students.

Why make thinking visible?

For many students the thinking behind answers and how other students and teachers reach conclusions is ‘ invisible ’. By making thinking ‘ visible ’ students are let into the ‘secret’ of learning by seeing teachers and peers explain their thinking and reasoning.

“Learning is a consequence of thinking, not something extra we tack on for good measure but something in which we must actively engage to promote our own and others’ learning.” Ron Ritchhart, Creating Cultures of Thinking (2015)

For learners to thrive in the 21 st century, they must be able to share their thinking in the most accessible way for ‘ active engagement ’ with others.

What are some good Thinking Routines?

This guide includes 24 thinking routines which you can use in your classroom and school. Many of the thinking routines are linked to a lesson within inquisitive.com , showing how they come alive as visible thinking activities.

The curiosity of students is ignited by using a simple object, picture, video, artwork or artefact (stimulus). This is a great introductory thinking routine.

Whilst looking at the selected stimulus, students are asked to write down or share with the class, their observations of what they see. Students then use their inferencing skills to decide what they think about their observations. ‘What is happening or being represented?’ Students are encouraged to support their thinking with reasons. Lastly, students are asked to wonder what else might be happening within or outside the stimulus.

Inquisitive uses an enticing video to introduce the unit Great Journeys (History, Years 3-4). Students are prompted with the question, ‘What was the age of exploration?’ They dive into a See Think Wonder routine, as their inquiry unfolds.

Lesson: What was the Age of Exploration?

Compass Points

This thinking routine is used to assist students in thinking deeply about a proposition or idea from four perspectives (Compass Points).

Students are presented with an idea and immediate responses can be recorded. They are then asked to look at this idea using the compass point routine. Students record what excites ‘E’ them about the idea presented, and also consider the negative side of the idea by recording what worries ‘W’ them. They are then asked to think about what else they would need ‘N’ to know before accepting or denying the idea. Lastly, students are asked to record their suggestions ‘S’ for moving forward with the idea. Once complete, students can be asked to reflect on how their thinking has changed throughout the process.

In the Inquisitive unit, A Diverse and Connected World (Geography, Years 5-6), students are asked to think about global connections in the context of tourism. Students watch a short video advertisement for the Best Job in the World, being caretaker of Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef. They then use the Compass Point thinking routine to help them assist in the evaluation of this job opportunity.

Lesson: I’ve Been to Bali Too

In Peel the Fruit, students are asked to ‘peel’ back the layers of the issue.

Starting with the skin which represents the surface issues, students are asked to ‘get under the skin’ with deeper questions regarding the issue. Students are then moved on to the substance of the deeper issue until finally they are asked to evaluate the issue at the core . Peel the Fruit can be used as a way to organise and map out deep understanding of a complex issue over several lessons or a unit of work.

In the Inquisitive unit, Democracy and Citizenship (History, Years 5-6), students are asked to investigate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Rights throughout the 20 th Century. Students are posed the question ‘How fairly do you think the Aboriginal people were treated in the early 20 th Century?’ They are then asked to colour a square on an Opinion Meter demonstrating how important they believe this issue to be.  A variety of statements, images and questions are then shared with the students throughout the unit. Students are consistently asked to return to the ‘Peel the Fruit’ image to assist them with showing their learning and understanding of this complex issue. Once complete, the students are then asked to graph their answer to the original question and reflect on any changes to their original opinion.

Lesson: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People Rights

This is a graphic information organiser with spaces for questions which begin: when , why , who , where and how . It is designed as a visual guide to help students progressively delve deeper into a question or topic to reach a stronger understanding of the chosen area.

Celebrations and Commemorations (History, Years 3-4) is a unit that focuses on cultural celebrations and commemorations around the world. Students are asked to organise themselves into a small group. Each group member selects a different celebration or commemoration to research. Students use the Question Organiser to develop their thinking and assist in breaking down the research question into manageable parts. Students then use this information to create a chapter in a book or film documenting different celebrations and commemorations from around the world.

Lesson: A Celebration of Cultures

The 3-2-1 Bridge organiser is used to record initial thoughts, ideas, questions and understandings about a given topic. After reading an article or watching a video, students are then asked to rethink their initial opinions after learning more about the topic. The idea is for bridges to be built between ideas when new information is obtained. Students should be focussing on the idea of understanding and connecting their thinking and ideas.

The 3-2-1 Bridge thinking routine is used in the unit The Australian Colonies (History, Years 5-6). In this unit, students are asked to watch a video about the spread of European settlement across Australia during the 1800s. They are then asked to write down three facts, two questions and an interesting observation, from which students research the answer to the two questions they posed.

Lesson: A Story of Australian Settlements

This thinking routine assists students by looking at things from a number of different points of view ( hats ). The Six Thinking Hats technique was created by Edward De Bono. It is good for developing decision making and creativity in thinking. Students are able to put on a hat to view things from a different point of view. The six hats are:

White Hat : Information. What are the facts? Yellow Hat : Positives and advantages. Black Hat : Difficulties and dangers. Red Hat : Emotions and feelings. Green Hat : New ideas and creativity. Blue Hat : Managing the thinking process.

In the unit, Different Environments (Geography, Years 3-4), students are introduced to the natural features of Australia.  In a differentiated activity, students are asked to use the thinking hats routine to do some research into traditional musical instruments made by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples using natural materials from their surrounds. They are asked to use known information and apply white, yellow, black and green hat thinking.

Lesson: The Great Southern Land

This is a great routine to use at the start of a new topic as it breaks down how a student can frame their inquiry, surfacing what they already know, whilst opening up new areas of interest. What does a student think about the topic? What puzzles them, or what unresolved questions are in their minds? What and how can they explore more about the topic?

The Think Puzzle Explore routine can be a useful way to complete a formative assessment before starting a new learning journey.

Inquisitive uses the Think Puzzle Explore routine to introduce the topic of the United Nations in the unit, The World’s Cultural Diversity (History, Years 5-6). Student curiosity is sparked with a stimulus video: Kid President visits the UN. Following the video, they are invited to write down their thoughts on what they know about the UN, what still puzzles them, and which aspects of the United Nations they should further explore.

Lesson: Human Migration

A Plus Minus Interesting chart, or PMI chart, is used to record all the positives ( plus ), negatives ( minus ), and interesting parts of an idea, which gives students an opportunity to look at a concept or idea from different angles. This can help weigh up the pros and cons, which in turn develops a students’ critical thinking and decision-making skills.

In the unit, Features of Places, (Geography, Years 1-2), students are asked to think about the way features of places have changed over time. They select a feature of their local area and examine how it has changed. They brainstorm ways this feature could be improved in the future and as a group, vote on the idea they liked best. Students then use a PMI chart to consider the positive (plus), negative (minus) and interesting aspects of the improvement that most people voted for.

Lesson: Change

Students are given time to think about a question before sharing their answer with a partner ( pair ). Students are then given the opportunity to share their thoughts with the class. This is a very simple routine that can be used daily in a class setting whenever posing questions that might require deep thinking. This routine allows for deeper thinking about questions, respect for others opinions and the benefit of considering a variety of responses.  

Inquisitive uses this thinking routine in many of its lessons. In Past and Present Family Life (History, Years 1-2), students are asked to think about how families have changed over time. Photos from the past are displayed showing large families with numerous children. Two questions are presented for discussion which follow the think, pair, share routine: What would be the good things about living in a big family? What would be the bad things about living in a big family?

Lesson: Families Then and Now

Venn Diagrams are used to compare two or more things and to show both their similarities and differences . A Venn Diagram is usually made up of two or more circles that overlap. In the outer circles students are able to record how things differ and within the overlapping section they record the similarities. By using this routine, students are able to compare and contrast ideas for a greater understanding. Venn Diagrams can be used for a variety of purposes in all subjects.

Within First Contacts (History, Years 3-4), students are presented with differing ideas and opinions of what has taken place in modern Australian History. This lesson is entitled Terra Nullius? and asks students to research this term.  The class is then asked to think about the decision of the British to declare Australia as ‘Terra Nullius’ and form an opinion on this. Students then create their own Venn Diagram to show the similarities and differences between the views of European and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples towards land ownership. Students are then asked to reflect on how these opposing views would have impacted on the early relations between the European and Aboriginal Peoples.

Lesson: Terra Nullius?

This routine captures a change of opinion or perspective from what a student ‘ used to think’ to what they ‘ now think .’

It enables students to reflect on their learning, be willing to consider different ideas and to be able to acknowledge when their opinion has changed. It can be a useful routine to use for topical or emotive issues. It also gives students the opportunity to reflect on why their thinking may have changed and enhances reasoning skills. 

In First Contacts (History, Years 3-4), students are asked to identify who they think discovered Australia. They research a range of explorers who made a significant contribution to the ‘discovery’ of Australia. Students are asked to think deeply about this question and justify their reasoning and response. They are given opportunities to change their mind, reflecting and analysing along the way. Students are then asked to consider Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ feelings about this question.

Lesson: Who Discovered Australia?

Mind maps are diagrams to visually organise information branching out from a central concept. The branches unpack the central concept into smaller categories . They become a map of a student’s thinking.

There are two forms of mind maps: unstructured or structured. An unstructured mind map can be used to assist the recording of free-flowing ideas related to a singular concept.  A structured mind map is an excellent way to guide students in their research to help them identify key areas related to a topic or concept. It helps order thoughts and divide concepts into categories.

In the unit, The Earth’s Environment (Geography, Years 3-4), students are guided through a study of Brazil. They are provided with a quality eBook about Brazil, and asked to summarise the information of interest to them, using a mind map.

Lesson: South American Country Study

In using this routine with a topic, students connect with what they already know, record where they were challenged and learnt new things, and devise new questions to extend their interest.

This Connect Extend Challenge routine helps students make connections between new and prior knowledge, with an implicit guide as to how to develop their interest further. Recording students’ ideas and using them at a later time can also be useful for reflecting on their understanding.

This routine is used in the unit, People and Places (Geography, Years 1-2). Students are shown a video ‘Our Intergalactic Address.’ The video explores the idea of where Australia is located on Earth and within the Milky Way. Students use the routine to delve deeper into an understanding of where we are located with the following questions: ( Connect ) What did you already know about our planet? ( Challenge ) What new things did you learn? ( Extend ) What questions do you have about Australia’s place on Earth?

Students are then invited to write their questions on sticky notes and display them in the classroom. The class works together to write their own intergalactic address, starting with their classroom and expanding out until they identify their planet.

Lesson: Our World

This chart helps students to organise their thinking before, during and after conducting research.

• K stands for what you already KNOW about the subject.
• W stands for what you WANT to learn.
• H stands for figuring out HOW you can learn more about the topic.
• L stands for what you LEARN as you read.

Students structure their research by stepping through each part of the process and also recording what they learn as they go.

Whilst working through the unit, The Earth’s Environment (Geography, Years 3-4), students are asked to consider the concept of sustainability. They are given the option of researching one of the most sustainable cities in the world, provided with guided research links to websites and then use the KWHL chart to record their thinking.

Lesson: Who’s Looking after this Home of Ours

After reading, watching or listening to a source, students are encouraged to relate their thinking and feelings on the topic in a non-verbal way, using colours , symbols and images . Students are asked to select a colour that they feel represents the essence of the source. They then create a simple symbol for the source, such as a circle to represent something continuous, or an arc to represent a rise and fall. Students are then asked to think of a more complex image that represents their feelings. At the end, they should be given an opportunity to justify their choice of imagery.

In the unit, A Diverse and Connected World (Geography, Year 5-6), students learn about global connections through the study of the Olympic Games. In one particular lesson, they are shown a moving video of athlete Derek Redmond running in the Olympic semi-finals in Barcelona in 1992. Students are encouraged to record anything they find interesting, important or meaningful. They are then asked to use the Colour, Symbol, Image routine in relation to one of these observations.

Lesson: Faster, Higher, Stronger

The Jigsaw routine is achieved by forming groups with 5 or 6 students. Each student in a group has to investigate and learn about a different piece of the overall topic ( jigsaw ). They become the expert of that piece. If you have multiple groups, the experts from each group focussing on the same piece, can join together in researching and attaining key insights, before returning to their group to share.

Use of this strategy ensures that all students contribute equally in a group that is inclusive of all. It gives individuals autonomy and responsibility as well as the opportunity to become an ‘expert’ whilst being supported and guided by those around them.

This routine is completed using the following steps:

• Students are placed into a group of 5 or 6.
• Individuals are each given an inquiry question (all groups are given the same set of questions).
• Students then find others from different jigsaw groups who have the same question. This is their expert group.
• In their expert group, students discuss the inquiry question. They should record prior knowledge and work together to research and record the information required.
• When time is up, students are to return to their jigsaw group with the information collected and present their puzzle piece to their group.

When all the puzzle pieces are put together students then have the complete research project.

Inquisitive uses this routine to assist students in locating and analysing information relating to the development of the Australian Colonies after 1800. This lesson, from the unit The Australian Colonies (History, Years 5-6), starts off with a 3D animated presentation introducing the changes made during this time. Students then use the Jigsaw Strategy to investigate inquiry questions in Expert Groups before reporting back to their original Jigsaw Group. 

Lesson: A Colonial Puzzle

A 3-2-1 organiser is used to help students summarise information when researching, by narrowing down the source to three things learned , two interesting facts and one new word . The process of narrowing down helps students in comprehending the source. The organiser can be presented in a variety of different ways such as clouds, pyramids or boxes. This graphic organiser can also ask students to locate many different words, facts or concepts, depending on the topic and what the teacher would like them to identify.

In the unit, The Earth’s Environment (Geography, Years 3-4), the focus is on how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples live sustainable lives. During this research, students are provided with a link to a website about Kakadu, which teaches them about Bininj and Mungguy peoples. Students select an area to research. To assist in summarising this research, a 3-2-1 Organiser is provided requiring the following information:

• Record three things you have learned about protecting the environment, using resources and/or sustainability.
• Record two interesting facts you discovered.
• Record one new word for your vocabulary.

Lesson: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Sustainability

The Tug of War routine uses students’ familiarity with this game (two teams pulling against each other on a rope) to demonstrate ways in which arguments can be put across to ‘ pull ’ an audience to one side of a debate. Teachers can easily bring this routine into their classroom with a variety of issues and topics in different subjects. This can be completed in pairs, small groups or as a whole class.

In the unit, Australia as a Nation (History, Years 5-6), students are taught about human rights, and learn that privacy is one of those fundamental rights under the UN Declaration of Human Rights. Notwithstanding this, children and adolescents often use the Internet in ways which put their privacy at risk.

Students are posed the question: Does a parent’s concern for the right to a safe environment interfere with a child’s right to privacy?

An image of a Tug of War rope, with people on opposing sides, is placed in the classroom. Students are asked to think of reasons for both sides of the argument and justify them, recording this on a sticky note to display on each side of the image. Students are then asked to discuss each side. After the discussion, each student is asked to write a recommendation about how rights of safety and privacy for children using the Internet, could be managed.

Lesson: Human Rights

A concept map is used to show how ideas are connected . Starting with a main idea or topic, arrows fan out to circles and boxes for associated ideas. It allows students to unpack and organise their thinking, and is a powerful way to enrich and deepen student comprehension.

Inquisitive guides students through the creation of a concept map whilst teaching students about traditional land ownership in the unit, Factors that Shape Places (Geography, Years 5-6). Students spend time researching an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander land management technique, and are required to present their findings in a concept map.

Lesson: Traditional Land Management

An infographic is a way to present information as a diagram , using pictures, graphs, symbols and images. Text is also important on an infographic but should only be in small sections and be short and to the point. Presenting information this way can assist visual learners in understanding the information presented, being easier to read, and designed to be more memorable than paragraphs of words. By using this strategy in the classroom, students are asked to clearly summarise information that they have learned and share it with others.

In the unit, Community and Commemorations (History, Years 3-4), students are asked to research either the International Day of Peace or International Mother Earth Day. They are provided with links to assist in their research. Once they have learned about the significance and origin of their chosen international day, students are asked to create an infographic to share their knowledge.

Lesson: International Celebrations and Commemorations

The Step Inside routine, asks students to consider ( step inside ) events or topics from the perspective of different people, or even the perspective of animals, objects or other phenomena. From this unique perspective, what do they perceive , know and care about ?

Asking children to look at things from another point of view helps them understand our world and gain empathy and understanding of others. This routine can be used in many different subject areas in a variety of ways. For example, students could be asked to write about a bushfire, however they could be asked to write from the fire’s perspective. Students may be shown a picture of the moon landing. Students could discuss the point of view of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, the moon, the people watching at home, the Russian astronauts.  All of these would have different ideas, opinions and feelings about the same event. Even the youngest students can benefit from this routine.

Inquisitive provides opportunities for Foundation students to place themselves inside a picture. In the unit People Live in Places (Geography, Foundation or Kindergarten Year), students are asked to think about places they belong. They are then asked to think about what it would be like to be in another place. Students are shown visual images of a roller coaster, a waterfall, a birthday party and a dental surgery. They are then asked to step inside each picture and describe what they might see, hear or smell whilst there.

Lesson: Places I Belong To

In the 10 x 2 Thinking routine, students are shown an image of an artwork for 30 seconds and then asked to write down ten words or phrases that come to mind regarding the picture. Once students have completed their 10 words/phrases, they repeat the activity , with another 30 seconds to relook at the artwork, and then recording another ten words or phrases, different from the first.

By using the 10 x 2 Thinking routine, students have the opportunity to look more deeply into a piece of artwork. It helps students to slow down and make detailed observations beyond a first impression.

Paintings can be used as a historical source to provide insight into the past. In the unit, The Australian Colonies (History, Years 5-6), students learn about the History of Australia beyond 1800. Students are provided an eBook of paintings created by Joseph Lycett, a convict sent to Australia after being sentenced for money forgery. Lycett’s talent was discovered by the settlement’s commander and he was given the task of recording and painting scenes of the new settlement and its surrounding environment.

Students select a painting to focus on. They use the graphic organiser provided to structure their thinking. In the centre circle, students write the name of their chosen painting. They are given 30 seconds to do nothing but look at the image they have chosen. They then record ten words or phrases about the image. Students repeat the activity, recording their next ten words in another colour.

Lesson: Two Worlds

An Anchor Map is a frame for students to express and share their learning across a topic, unit of work or cycle of learning.

Anchor Maps can be used formatively as students progress through each part of a phenomenon or topic, as they wonder and build understanding.

Students are encouraged to use ‘I can’ statements within their Anchor Maps, as a way of expressing what they have learnt in the first person, and as a means of checking whether they have reached or extended beyond a learning objective.

They can also be used summatively for knowledge retrieval by students and reflection on learning. It can be a highly effective way for students to clarify their thinking and identify any gaps in their learning. It helps to foster agency and self-evaluation skills.

As a summative tool, Anchor Maps can also be used as an informal or formal way of assessing a student’s progress.

Anchor Maps were created by Inquisitive to provide schools with a rich and flexible way to support student learning, as an alternative or complement to traditional summative assessments.

A Cline activity uses the visual prompt of a slope to guide students in organising words, images or concepts using a scale from weak to strong, low to high or other similar taxonomies.

The word cline in this context means slope, and can be used in any subject or topic as a means for students to explore differences between an array of words, ideas, phrases, labels or representations.

A classic form is a Word Cline, in which students sequence words into a continuum according to the slope and scale. This can be a powerful means of extending vocabulary and understanding the meaning of words as students grapple with their ordering choices, and then are asked to justify or share the reasons for their choices.

Word Clines can explicitly target any aspect of grammar to match with the abilities and interests of students, and for the development of all forms of writing: narrative, imaginative, persuasive, discursive, or otherwise.

In the Inquisitive lesson, A Rise in Tension (English, Year F), students explore an author’s use of action verbs, unpacking the precise choices of verbs in order to build tension and engage readers. Students are given the image of hurricane, with the caption ‘A hurricane swirled’ and then asked to organise an array of action verbs from weakest to strongest.

Inquisitive is the world-leading education team with a mission to simplify access to high-quality learning, so teachers enjoy teaching and students learn with purpose and depth.

This research into thinking routines and visible thinking, informs the ongoing development of inquisitive.com. From this base of research, all learning design is then trialled, workshopped and refined in classrooms. This is how Inquisitive achieves a unique level of quality.

Contact us if you would like to write for Inquisitive.

Head of Education: Sarah Rich

Telephone: +61 2 9969 1885 Email: [email protected]

Further Research and Acknowledgements

Harvard Graduate School of Education – Project Zero – Visible Thinking Resources

Mind Tools – Visible Thinking

• A Teacher’s Guide to the 5e Pedagogical Model >

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Thinking Routines in the Classroom

Home » Education » Thinking Routines in the Classroom

• By Vicki Davis
• December 14, 2017
• Subscribe to the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast

Today Karen Voglesang @NBCTchr teaches children to use thinking routines in her classroom. After participating in Harvard’s Project Zero , she is applying and using the methods in classrooms and with teachers. Learn some thinking routines and how to apply these valuable techniques in your classroom. Karen was the 2015 Tennessee State Teacher of the Year and I interviewed her at the NNSTOY Conference in DC this summer.

• Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher
• Stream by clicking here .

How to Teach Thinking Routines in the Classroom

What are thinking routines.

00:09 Vicki: Today we are with Karen Vogelsang or Ms V from Tennessee. Hey, that rhymes, that’s awesome. She was State Teacher of The Year for 2015. And I’m at the in NNSTOY Conference , that’s N-N-S-T-O-Y.org. So thanks to NNSTOY for having me to present but also letting me talk to so many amazing teachers. Now, Karen, thinking routines are very important to you in your classroom. What are thinking routines?

00:39 Karen V : Thinking routines are really an opportunity to allow students to ask questions and really give teachers an opportunity to deepen their understanding of different content knowledge. And one of the beautiful things about thinking routines, it doesn’t matter if you’re a kindergarten teacher or a 12th grade teacher, thinking routines can be used for all grade levels.

Karen included photos of students using thinking routines for this post. Such engagement!

The “Compass Points” thinking routine is a great way to open up a school year1

01:01 Vicki : So give me an example of how it’s used in your classroom.

01:04 Karen V: One of the things that I do at the very beginning of the year is I use this thinking routine called “ compass points “. And it’s north, south, east, and west. We got a little integration of social studies there. And I did this routine for the very first time when I came back from Harvard’s Project Zero Classroom in 2012, and it’s an opportunity for the kids to really share what are they nervous about so that’s the N. What are they nervous about? What do they need from me as the teacher? And then the S is, what support do they need for me? What specific things do they envision as they go throughout the year that they’re going to need my support in?

The Visible Thinking website is a fantastic resource. I’ve linked to the thinking routines Karen mentions here, but there are many more thinking routines to teach students. Also the book Making Thinking Visible can help you with these concepts. Harvard’s Project Zero teaches courses in Visible Thinking – it looks like they have an online course starting in September but you need teams of 3-5 people to join.

And I’ll never forget the year Morgan told me, “Ms V, I’m not good at math and I can’t ever have you raise your voice at me ’cause I get too nervous about it.” Not that I was ever a teacher that raised her voice but Morgan was just that nervous about it.

And then W, worries. What worries do you have about being in that particular year? It was second grade but I’ve done this for third graders and fourth graders. And then E, what excites you? And what happens, children are honest and they basically put down what are their Ns, what are their Ss, what are their Es, what are their Ws, and what that does is it really gives me a glimpse into what they’re thinking about as they embark on this school year. So that’s just one example of getting the year started off with a thinking routine.

02:36 Vicki: I love that. So are these different ways of thinking that you teach students?

The Book: Making Thinking Visible

02:43 Karen V : Yeah, now I don’t know if I can plug a book here but the…

02:47 Vicki : Go ahead, plug a book, plug away.

02:48 Karen V : The book is “ Making Thinking Visible “ and the principal author was Ron Ritchhart, it was also written by Mark Church. There’s different types of thinking.

Perspective Taking Thinking Routines

So for example, one of the types of thinking is perspective taking .

So as we go through and we read a book, I may ask my students to step inside those characters and ask them, “What are they seeing? What are they thinking? What are they feeling as that character?” And what happens is they have to go back in the text and they have to look for evidence in the text that would reinforce what they’re learning, what they’re reading about in that text. So it depends on what kind of thinking that you’re wanting the children to do and that will dictate, in some respects, what thinking routine you’ll use as a teacher.

The biggest mistakes Karen made with teaching thinking routines

03:36 Vicki: What do you think the biggest mistake you made with thinking routines was?

03:39 Karen V: What I learned… I was privileged to go back for a second time as a study group leader to Project Zero a couple years after my initial experience there. I didn’t teach my kids the specific routines.

Note from Vicki: Could there be a more important point than this? We all need to listen to Karen here. We want to teach students to think! So, let’s give them the routines to think and let’s help them know the routines to think. Then, students can go into that mode of thinking when tackling problems. This is a fantastic point!

Karen : So, when I came back that following year, I was teaching third grade, and so I really taught my children what these thinking routines were. So instead of having to constantly repeat the steps and the other beautiful part about these routines, is none of them have more than three steps. So they’re very easy to integrate in any content area, in any grade level. That was the first year when I came back that second time I was like, “Okay. I’m going to teach them what these routines are.”

The tug-of-war thinking routine

Karen : So if I said to the kids, “Hey, guys we’re getting ready to do tug-of-war .”They knew what tug-of-war was and I’ll never forget the first time I did that. I was like, “Okay, guys we’re going to be looking at this debate. These two different authors have two different view points about this particular topic. When we’re done reading it we’re gonna do tug-of-war.” “Yay! Yay!” They get all excited about it. So not teaching them the routines when I first came back and now that’s something I’m very deliberate every year. I start to teach the students what these routines are so when there’s an applicable point of using them, they jump right in and do it.

The first routine many teachers use: See/Think/Wonder

05:00 Vicki: So you’ve already given us three examples. Do you have another example or two that are like, “These are your tried and true, we use these a lot?”

05:08 Karen V : The very first routine that most teachers come back and use when they come back from this experience, is See/Think/Wonder . And See/Think/Wonder can be done in so many different kinds of ways because it can be done with pictures that teachers cultivate from different resources and they put up on a smart board, they project it on a promethean board, whatever it is. It may be actual artifacts.

I actually did math with art one year when we were looking at geometry and had them use these particular different pieces of art that really incorporated a lot of geometry. And that is really giving them an opportunity to name what they observe so that’s practicing observation skills. Then from there, they’re answering the questions, “What do you think is going on in that picture?” And then from there, “What do you wonder?”

05:58 Karen V : And that’s the beautiful part right there because when you get the kids to say what they’re wondering about, for me, that was like my road map of, “Where am I going to go next to help them explore what it is that they wanna know?” Because when I do that, then they’re engaged, they’re excited about the learning. And there’s no behavior problems that are going on in the classroom ’cause they’re so excited about this kind of learning.

And as a teacher, those questions also help me capture any misconceptions. And you know as well as I do that when kids get hold of a misconception, if we wait until there’s an assessment and then we catch it, it’s already so deeply rooted that it takes that much more time to undo it. So these are great opportunities to find out what student misconceptions are and catch those on the front end.

How Karen’s classroom has changed since using thinking routines

06:51 Vicki : Give me an example of how you think your classroom has changed now that you’re using thinking routines?

06:57 Karen V: It is a student centered classroom where they are excited about learning and I am just the guide on the side. I’m the person that’s going around asking them questions, “What do you notice? What do you wonder? What is your partner talking about?” They’re collaborating with each other. Every time I use a thinking routine I have never ever had a child off task. And that’s been the exciting part because this is really tapping into what they’re bringing to the table in their learning, so it’s just been very exciting to see the enthusiasm they have for learning. So as I’ve come up and over the learning curve in utilizing these thinking routines, I keep trying to find more and more ways to integrate them whether it’s in ELA, science, social studies, math.

Resources to Learn More

07:48 Vicki: So your favorite resources for thinking routines, you have “Making Thinking Visible”, you’ve got the Project Zero resources. Any other places that you go to learn these?

07:56 Karen V: Well, if you live in Memphis, Tennessee or Shelby county [laughter] myself and another teacher were asked, actually asked by Harvard’s Project Zero to start basically a Project Zero satellite group in Memphis . And so, every year we conduct Project Zero workshops where we bring in teachers from all the surrounding areas.

You can just google Project Zero or you can google “Making Thinking Visible” and you will find a multitude of resources out there. There’s videos out there so that you can see what this actually looks like in a classroom, whether it’s early childhood, middle childhood, if it’s secondary. And we use these during in service to get our teachers kicked off so that they can see how these routines are used, model that for them, and then take it back to fit their students and their particular content areas.

A Challenge to teach them to think

08:47 Vicki: So remarkable teachers, we all have an important strategy to understand and that is thinking routines. And I especially like how Karen or Ms V says that we need to teach these routines to our students because this is something they can carry with them for a lifetime, the way to think, the way to analyze. And really, isn’t that something that so many teachers say, “I want my students to know how to think?”

Well, maybe we’re not teaching them how to think. Maybe we’re just feeding them too much and not giving them the thinking routines they need. So, so many great resources and a way to unlock more remarkable teaching.

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Vicki Davis

Vicki Davis is a full-time classroom teacher and IT Director in Georgia, USA. She is Mom of three, wife of one, and loves talking about the wise, transformational use of technology for teaching and doing good in the world. She hosts the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast which interviews teachers around the world about remarkable classroom practices to inspire and help teachers. Vicki focuses on what unites us -- a quest for truly remarkable life-changing teaching and learning. The goal of her work is to provide actionable, encouraging, relevant ideas for teachers that are grounded in the truth and shared with love. Vicki has been teaching since 2002 and blogging since 2005. Vicki has spoken around the world to inspire and help teachers reach their students. She is passionate about helping every child find purpose, passion, and meaning in life with a lifelong commitment to the joy and responsibility of learning. If you talk to Vicki for very long, she will encourage you to "Relate to Educate" or "innovate like a turtle" or to be "a remarkable teacher." She loves to talk to teachers who love their students and are trying to do their best. Twitter is her favorite place to share and she loves to make homemade sourdough bread and cinnamon rolls and enjoys running half marathons with her sisters. You can usually find her laughing with her students or digging into a book.

As a future teacher I really appreciate this post! I have been thinking a lot about this lately and I think it is so interesting that I have fallen into this mindset that my students already know how to go about solving or mathematically reasoning when some classes do not give them a chance to learn how to do this. I have definitely fallen into the category of feeding them the information and not giving them the tools and routines to thinking. I have been looking for ways that elicit student thinking and mathematical reasoning and it is great to hear some different strategies. I am currently a student teacher and have done a number talk with my students and it was so incredible to hear all of the conjectures and solutions that they come up with and then the discussion following was so much more engaging and helpful to them to clear up any misconceptions.

Great thoughts about this. Check out the project zero site! It has some great ideas for this as well. Thanks for sharing!

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