Defining Thinking Routines
Tools used over and over again in the classroom, that support specific thinking moves such as,
• Making connections
• Describing what’s there
• Building explanations
• Considering different viewpoints and perspectives
• Capturing the heart and forming conclusions
• Reasoning with evidence
Structures, through which students collectively as well as individually initiate, explore, discuss, document, and manage their thinking. These structures are:
• Explicit: They have names to identify them
• Instrumental: They are goal directed and purposeful
• A few steps: Easy to learn, and easy to remember
• Individual as well as group practices
• Useful across a variety of contexts
• Help to reveal students’ thinking and make more visible
Patterns of behavior adopted to help one use the mind to form thoughts, reason, or reflect. We see these patterns emerging as the routines:
• Are used over and over
• Become ingrained in us both teachers and students
• Flexibility emerges
From Ritchhart et al, 2006
• Making connections
• Describing what’s there
• Building explanations
• Considering different viewpoints and perspectives
• Capturing the heart and forming conclusions
• Reasoning with evidence
Structures, through which students collectively as well as individually initiate, explore, discuss, document, and manage their thinking. These structures are:
• Explicit: They have names to identify them
• Instrumental: They are goal directed and purposeful
• A few steps: Easy to learn, and easy to remember
• Individual as well as group practices
• Useful across a variety of contexts
• Help to reveal students’ thinking and make more visible
Patterns of behavior adopted to help one use the mind to form thoughts, reason, or reflect. We see these patterns emerging as the routines:
• Are used over and over
• Become ingrained in us both teachers and students
• Flexibility emerges
From Ritchhart et al, 2006
Thinking Routines at Hilton
&
How Parents Can Use at Home
Shared with us from our friends at Way Elementary in Boomfield Hills!
Chalk Talk
The Chalk Talk thinking routine invites various viewpoints and allows for thoughtful reflection. All students have an equal opportunity to participate in this silent written form of conversation. The classroom teacher writes a relevant question in the center of a chart paper. Several chart papers are placed around the room. Each child is given a pencil and time to respond to the teacher generated prompt, as well as to the comments shared by others.
How to Use at Home: Do you struggle with the dilemma of keeping your house "picked-up?" An ongoing Chalk Talk discussing sharing ideas and thoughts as to how to work as a team to keep the house in order might be helpful!
Connect, Extend, Challenge
The connect, extend, challenge thinking routine helps students make connections between new ideas and prior knowledge. It also encourages them to ask questions as they reflect on what they are learning. Students are asked, "How are ideas presented connected to what you already knew?" and "What new ideas did you get that extended your thinking in new directions?" or "What is still challenging or confusing for you to get your mind around? What questions or wonders do you have?
How to Use at Home: Perhaps after sharing a non-fiction text at home, you could complete a connect-extend-challenge to determine new information learned and what curiosities or questions still exist.
Circle of Viewpoints
The purpose of this learning opportunity is to explore and different and diverse perspectives. It is important for our children to understand that people think and feel differently about shared experiences. After identifying a topic, students are asked to, 1) Brainstorm all the various viewpoints or perspectives possible, 2) Select one of the generated perspectives to explore further, and 3) From this perspective, describe the topic by acting as the character. After all perspectives have had an opportunity to share, a discussion takes place addressing what new ideas have emerged and/or what new questions have surfaced.
How to Use at Home: Have you ever asked your child to look at an issue from your perspective? Might you have a different stance if you stood inside your child's shoes?
Claim, Support, Question
This routine helps students develop thoughtful interpretations by encouraging them to reason with evidence. Students learn to make claims and explore strategies for uncovering truths to support these claims. They are also encouraged to question one another's claim if the support is unclear.
1. Make a claim about a topic.
2. Identify support for your claim.
3. Ask a question related to your claim. (What wasn't explained? What new reasons does your claim raise?)
How to Use at Home: What claims can your children make about what is valued and important in your household? What support can they find for their claims? What questions does this raise?
Compass Points
The purpose of this thinking routine is to encourage students to explore various aspects of an idea before taking a stand or expressing an opinion. Students answer the following questions as they examine any given idea:
E = What excites you about this idea or proposition? What's the upside?
W = What do you find worrisome? What's the downside?
N = What else do you need to know or find out about? what additional information would help you evaluate things?
S = What is your current stance or opinion? OR What suggestions do you have?
How to Use at Home: Are you making a big family decision such as a vacation or getting a pet? Try to decide using the Compass Points thinking routine!
CSI: Color, Symbol, Image
This CSI thinking routine requires students to think metaphorically. Personal connections and feelings are expressed as students synthesize material being presented and then select a color, symbol, and image to represent an important idea or theme. As students participate in learning opportunities, they are asked to identify what is most important, interesting, or insightful. Once they have identified a them, they are asked to make associations based on life experiences and prior knowledge to depict their understanding. While sharing each color, symbol, and image choice, students must tell why they made that choice as a representation of that idea.
How to Use at Home: At the dinner table... What color would you choose to represent your day and why? What symbol would best represent the events of your day? What image would best capture these happenings?
See, Think, Wonder
This routine encourages students to make careful observations and thoughtful interpretations. It helps spark curiosity before a unit of study and sets the stage for inquiry. It requires students to think carefully about why something looks the way it does.
Students are asked:
- What do you see?
- What does this make you think? What do you think about that?
- What does this make you wonder?
(All 3 responses should be connected to one another.)
How to Use at Home: After unpacking the groceries at home, have your child make observations and interpretations related to what is going to be for dinner and lunch this week.
Think, Puzzle, Explore
The think, puzzle, explore thinking routine sparks interest in an upcoming unit of study, highlights what prior knowledge the students have, and sets the stage for deeper inquiry. Students are asked, "What do you think you know about this topic?" After initial thinking is captured, students are then asked, "What questions or puzzles do you have?" As a class, the list of puzzles are reviewed to see what common themes of interest emerge. It is then decided, "What does the topic make you want to explore?"
How to Use at Home: Before celebrating a family tradition or holiday, you could discuss as a family, "What do you think you know about this celebration? What questions or puzzles do you have, and what areas would you like to explore further?"
Headlines
This thinking routine draws on the idea of newspaper-type headlines as a vehicle for summing up or capturing the heart of an event, idea, concept, or unit of study. Students are asked, "If you were to write a headline for this topic that captured the most important aspect that should be remembered, what would that headline be?" To uncover how one's thinking has changed over time, students may also be asked, "How has your headline changed based on today's learning? How does it differ from what you would have said yesterday?
How to Use at Home: At the dinner table.... What would your headline of the day say?
The Chalk Talk thinking routine invites various viewpoints and allows for thoughtful reflection. All students have an equal opportunity to participate in this silent written form of conversation. The classroom teacher writes a relevant question in the center of a chart paper. Several chart papers are placed around the room. Each child is given a pencil and time to respond to the teacher generated prompt, as well as to the comments shared by others.
How to Use at Home: Do you struggle with the dilemma of keeping your house "picked-up?" An ongoing Chalk Talk discussing sharing ideas and thoughts as to how to work as a team to keep the house in order might be helpful!
Connect, Extend, Challenge
The connect, extend, challenge thinking routine helps students make connections between new ideas and prior knowledge. It also encourages them to ask questions as they reflect on what they are learning. Students are asked, "How are ideas presented connected to what you already knew?" and "What new ideas did you get that extended your thinking in new directions?" or "What is still challenging or confusing for you to get your mind around? What questions or wonders do you have?
How to Use at Home: Perhaps after sharing a non-fiction text at home, you could complete a connect-extend-challenge to determine new information learned and what curiosities or questions still exist.
Circle of Viewpoints
The purpose of this learning opportunity is to explore and different and diverse perspectives. It is important for our children to understand that people think and feel differently about shared experiences. After identifying a topic, students are asked to, 1) Brainstorm all the various viewpoints or perspectives possible, 2) Select one of the generated perspectives to explore further, and 3) From this perspective, describe the topic by acting as the character. After all perspectives have had an opportunity to share, a discussion takes place addressing what new ideas have emerged and/or what new questions have surfaced.
How to Use at Home: Have you ever asked your child to look at an issue from your perspective? Might you have a different stance if you stood inside your child's shoes?
Claim, Support, Question
This routine helps students develop thoughtful interpretations by encouraging them to reason with evidence. Students learn to make claims and explore strategies for uncovering truths to support these claims. They are also encouraged to question one another's claim if the support is unclear.
1. Make a claim about a topic.
2. Identify support for your claim.
3. Ask a question related to your claim. (What wasn't explained? What new reasons does your claim raise?)
How to Use at Home: What claims can your children make about what is valued and important in your household? What support can they find for their claims? What questions does this raise?
Compass Points
The purpose of this thinking routine is to encourage students to explore various aspects of an idea before taking a stand or expressing an opinion. Students answer the following questions as they examine any given idea:
E = What excites you about this idea or proposition? What's the upside?
W = What do you find worrisome? What's the downside?
N = What else do you need to know or find out about? what additional information would help you evaluate things?
S = What is your current stance or opinion? OR What suggestions do you have?
How to Use at Home: Are you making a big family decision such as a vacation or getting a pet? Try to decide using the Compass Points thinking routine!
CSI: Color, Symbol, Image
This CSI thinking routine requires students to think metaphorically. Personal connections and feelings are expressed as students synthesize material being presented and then select a color, symbol, and image to represent an important idea or theme. As students participate in learning opportunities, they are asked to identify what is most important, interesting, or insightful. Once they have identified a them, they are asked to make associations based on life experiences and prior knowledge to depict their understanding. While sharing each color, symbol, and image choice, students must tell why they made that choice as a representation of that idea.
How to Use at Home: At the dinner table... What color would you choose to represent your day and why? What symbol would best represent the events of your day? What image would best capture these happenings?
See, Think, Wonder
This routine encourages students to make careful observations and thoughtful interpretations. It helps spark curiosity before a unit of study and sets the stage for inquiry. It requires students to think carefully about why something looks the way it does.
Students are asked:
- What do you see?
- What does this make you think? What do you think about that?
- What does this make you wonder?
(All 3 responses should be connected to one another.)
How to Use at Home: After unpacking the groceries at home, have your child make observations and interpretations related to what is going to be for dinner and lunch this week.
Think, Puzzle, Explore
The think, puzzle, explore thinking routine sparks interest in an upcoming unit of study, highlights what prior knowledge the students have, and sets the stage for deeper inquiry. Students are asked, "What do you think you know about this topic?" After initial thinking is captured, students are then asked, "What questions or puzzles do you have?" As a class, the list of puzzles are reviewed to see what common themes of interest emerge. It is then decided, "What does the topic make you want to explore?"
How to Use at Home: Before celebrating a family tradition or holiday, you could discuss as a family, "What do you think you know about this celebration? What questions or puzzles do you have, and what areas would you like to explore further?"
Headlines
This thinking routine draws on the idea of newspaper-type headlines as a vehicle for summing up or capturing the heart of an event, idea, concept, or unit of study. Students are asked, "If you were to write a headline for this topic that captured the most important aspect that should be remembered, what would that headline be?" To uncover how one's thinking has changed over time, students may also be asked, "How has your headline changed based on today's learning? How does it differ from what you would have said yesterday?
How to Use at Home: At the dinner table.... What would your headline of the day say?