Making Thinking Visible

1. Thinking routines make student cognition visible and enhance understanding

Learning is a consequence of thinking. Retention, understanding, and the active use of knowledge can be brought about only by learning experiences in which learners think about and think with what they are learning.

Thinking routines reveal cognition. These simple, repeatable practices make students' thought processes visible to themselves, their peers, and teachers. By externalizing thinking, routines allow students to examine, build upon, and refine their ideas. They provide a structure for students to engage deeply with content, moving beyond rote memorization to active construction of understanding.

Enhanced understanding through visible thinking. When students articulate their thoughts, they clarify their own understanding and create opportunities for others to engage with their ideas. This process of making thinking visible:

• Allows teachers to assess and respond to students' developing understanding
• Enables students to learn from and build on each other's ideas
• Develops metacognitive skills as students reflect on their own thought processes
• Creates a classroom culture that values thinking and thoughtful learning

2. Effective questioning and listening techniques promote deeper thinking

What makes you say that?

Powerful questioning stimulates thinking. Effective questions move beyond simple recall to encourage students to:

• Explain their reasoning
• Consider alternative perspectives
• Make connections between ideas
• Apply concepts to new situations
• Identify assumptions and implications

Active listening deepens understanding. When teachers truly listen to student responses, rather than simply waiting to deliver the next bit of information, they:

• Gain insight into students' thought processes and misconceptions
• Can ask follow-up questions that push thinking further
• Model the importance of thoughtful listening for students
• Create a classroom environment where all voices and ideas are valued

3. Documentation of student thinking supports learning and assessment

To make sure thinking isn't left to chance and to provide us with the information we need in order to respond to students' learning needs, we must also make their thinking visible.

Capturing thinking enhances learning. Documenting student ideas through notes, charts, photographs, or recordings:

• Allows students to revisit and build upon earlier thoughts
• Makes the learning process visible, helping students see their own growth
• Provides a rich basis for class discussion and further inquiry
• Creates artifacts that can be shared with parents or other teachers

Documentation informs assessment and instruction. By examining documented student thinking, teachers can:

• Identify misconceptions or gaps in understanding
• Recognize emerging ideas that can be developed further
• Plan responsive instruction based on students' current thinking
• Assess conceptual understanding, not just factual recall

4. Connect-Extend-Challenge routine deepens engagement with new information

Active processing of new information can be facilitated by connecting the new information to what one already knows, identifying the new ideas that extend our thinking, and looking for how these new ideas challenge us to think in new ways or to question assumptions.

Connect encourages students to activate prior knowledge and find meaningful links to new information. This process helps students:

• Contextualize new learning
• Recognize patterns and relationships between ideas
• Increase retention by connecting to existing mental frameworks

Extend prompts students to identify how the new information pushes their thinking further. This step:

• Highlights new insights and understandings
• Encourages students to articulate their learning
• Promotes metacognitive awareness of how thinking changes

Challenge asks students to grapple with aspects of the new information that are puzzling or contradictory to their existing ideas. This:

• Surfaces areas for further inquiry
• Develops critical thinking skills
• Helps students become comfortable with uncertainty and complexity

5. See-Think-Wonder routine develops observation and interpretation skills

This routine encourages students to make careful observations and thoughtful interpretations. It helps stimulate curiosity and sets the stage for inquiry.

See focuses on careful observation. Students are asked to describe what they notice without interpretation. This step:

• Slows down the thinking process
• Encourages attention to detail
• Builds a shared foundation of observations for the group

Think moves to interpretation. Students explain what they think is happening or what the observations might mean. This stage:

• Prompts students to use evidence to support their ideas
• Encourages consideration of multiple interpretations
• Develops reasoning skills

Wonder elicits questions and areas for further inquiry. This final step:

• Stimulates curiosity and a desire to learn more
• Identifies gaps in current understanding
• Provides direction for future learning

6. Claim-Support-Question routine promotes critical analysis of ideas

Claim-Support-Question is a thinking routine designed both to identify and to probe these claims. Identification of claims calls on students to look for patterns, spot generalizations, and identify assertions.

Claim asks students to make an assertion or interpretation about the topic. This:

• Encourages students to take a stance
• Promotes synthesis of information
• Develops confidence in expressing ideas

Support requires students to provide evidence for their claim. This step:

• Builds reasoning skills
• Encourages close examination of sources
• Helps students distinguish between fact and opinion

Question prompts students to identify areas of uncertainty or potential weaknesses in their argument. This:

• Develops critical thinking skills
• Encourages intellectual humility
• Identifies areas for further research or clarification

7. Creating a culture of thinking transforms classrooms and schools

We define cultures of thinking as "places where a group's collective as well as individual thinking is valued, visible, and actively promoted as part of the regular, day-to-day experience of all group members."

Shift focus from content delivery to thinking. In a culture of thinking:

• Students are seen as active constructors of knowledge, not passive recipients
• Questioning and inquiry are valued over rote memorization
• Thinking processes are made visible and discussed explicitly
• Mistakes and uncertainty are viewed as opportunities for learning

Foster collaborative learning. A thinking culture emphasizes:

• Sharing and building on each other's ideas
• Respectful disagreement and debate
• Group problem-solving and decision-making
• Peer feedback and assessment

Develop thinking dispositions. Beyond teaching specific skills, a culture of thinking nurtures:

• Curiosity and a desire to understand deeply
• Open-mindedness and willingness to consider alternative perspectives
• Intellectual perseverance in the face of challenges
• Metacognitive awareness and self-reflection

8. Teacher modeling and language shape students' thinking dispositions

Vygotsky (1978), writing about the importance of the sociocultural context of learning in providing models, stated, "Children grow into the intellectual life of those around them" (p. 88).

Model thinking processes. When teachers openly demonstrate their own thinking, they:

• Make cognitive strategies explicit for students
• Show that thinking is an ongoing, sometimes messy process
• Normalize uncertainty and the need to revise ideas

Use language intentionally. The words teachers choose can:

• Highlight specific thinking moves (e.g., "What evidence supports that claim?")
• Encourage deeper exploration (e.g., "What might be another perspective on this?")
• Foster a growth mindset (e.g., "This is challenging, but let's break it down.")

Create expectations for thinking. Through consistent practices, teachers communicate that:

• Thoughtful participation is expected from all students
• Ideas will be respectfully examined and questioned
• Thinking is valued as much as arriving at correct answers

9. Rich content selection amplifies the power of thinking routines

Meaningful discussions emerge from meaningful content.

Choose content that:

• Has multiple layers of meaning or interpretation
• Connects to big ideas or enduring understandings
• Challenges students' existing ideas or assumptions
• Relates to students' lives or interests
• Provokes curiosity and questions

Consider the fit between content and routine. Select routines that:

• Match the thinking skills required by the content
• Help students access the complexity of the material
• Build towards desired learning outcomes
• Can be used flexibly as student thinking evolves

Use a variety of stimuli. Engage students with:

• Visual images (artwork, photographs, diagrams)
• Text excerpts (primary sources, literature, news articles)
• Physical objects or artifacts
• Video or audio clips
• Real-world problems or scenarios

10. Consistent use of routines develops students' metacognitive abilities

As students become more aware of their own thinking and the strategies and processes they use to think, they become more metacognitive.

Regular practice builds habits of mind. With consistent use, thinking routines:

• Become internalized, allowing students to apply them independently
• Help students recognize when specific types of thinking are needed
• Develop students' ability to monitor and direct their own learning

Reflection enhances metacognition. Incorporating opportunities for students to reflect on their thinking:

• Increases awareness of cognitive processes
• Helps students identify effective strategies
• Builds confidence in tackling complex tasks

Transfer across contexts. As students become comfortable with routines, they can:

• Apply thinking strategies to new situations
• Recognize connections between different areas of learning
• Develop a toolkit of approaches for various cognitive challenges

Last updated: August 9, 2024