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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 , and identifying their challenges with the material.

Educator Alfred Mander said, 鈥淭hinking is skilled work. It is not true that we are naturally endowed with the ability to think clearly and logically鈥攚ithout learning how and without practicing.鈥�

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鈥� 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 Thinking is a research-based initiative by with more than 30 routines aimed at making learning the consequence of good . 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 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 (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鈥� 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鈥攖his is where converting the above question prompts into sentence stems, 鈥淚 see鈥�,鈥� 鈥淚 think鈥�,鈥� and 鈥淚 wonder鈥�,鈥� comes into play. For students struggling with analytical skills, it鈥檚 empowering for them to accept themselves where they currently are鈥攍earning 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鈥攅specially when introducing emotionally compelling graphics to students learning about (e.g., the UN鈥檚 Goals for Sustainable Development) and . This is useful in helping them better understand how to interpret graphs, infographics, and what鈥檚 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鈥� 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鈥檚 where front-loading vocabulary and giving them time to talk through challenges can help.

A good place to 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 of how I used the activity with educators in a professional development session targeting emotional intelligence skills.

More Visible Thinking Resources

• : Access to core thinking routines
• , by Ron Ritchhart, Mark Church, and Karin Morrison
• , by Ron Ritchhart