Purpose What kind of thinking does this routine encourage:

This routine helps students connect new ideas to those they already have and encourages them to reflect upon how they have extended their thinking as a result of what they are learning about or experiencing.

Application: When and where can I use it?

Use this routine when you want students to make explicit connections to something previously learned or experienced. Since it is designed to help students process new information actively, it works well as the conclusion to lessons in which students have been reading, watching videos, or otherwise taking in new information. Another approach is to use the routine to close the discussion of a topic or unit of study in order to help students synthesize the information. Some questions you might consider in your planning: Are there connections to be made between this content and what students already know? Will students be engaging with new information that they might find challenging?

Tips for Launch:

This routine works well with the whole class, in small groups, or individually. If you are using it in a group discussion, ask students to share their thoughts. As you process each step of the routine, document their comments either in a public space for all to see or in your own notes. If students are working individually, they could document their responses in a journal or in a way that can be displayed in class

Purpose What kind of thinking does this routine encourage:

This routine helps students describe what they see or know and asks them to build explanations. It promotes evidential reasoning (evidence-based reasoning) and because it invites students to share their interpretations, it encourages students to understand alternatives and multiple perspectives.

Application: When and where can I use it?

This is a thinking routine that asks students to describe something, such as an object or concept, and then support their interpretation with evidence. Because the basic questions in this routine are flexible, it is useful when looking at objects such as works of art or historical artifacts, but it can also be used to explore a poem, make scientific observations and hypotheses, or investigate more conceptual ideas (i.e., democracy). The routine can be adapted for use with almost any subject and may also be useful for gathering information on students’ general concepts when introducing a new topic.

Tips for Launch:

In most cases, the routine takes the shape of a whole class or group conversation around an object or topic, but it can also be used in small groups or by individuals. When first introducing the routine, the teacher may scaffold students by continually asking follow-up questions after a student gives an interpretation. Over time students may begin to automatically support their interpretations with evidence without even being asked, and eventually students will begin to internalize the routine. The two core questions for this routine can be varied in a number of ways depending on the context: What do you know? What do you see or know that makes you say that? Sometimes you may want to preceded students’ interpretation by using a question of description: What do you see? or What do you know? When using this routine in a group conversation, it may be necessary to think of alternative forms of documentation that do not interfere with the flow of the discussion. One option is to record class discussions using video or audio. Listening and noting students’ use of language of thinking can help you see their development. Students’ words and language can serve as a form of documentation that helps create a rubric for what makes a good interpretation or for what constitutes good reasoning. Another option is to make a chart or keep an ongoing list of explanations posted in the classroom. As interpretations develop, note changes and have further discussion about these new explanations. These lists can also invite further inquiry and searches for evidence. Other options for both group and individual work include students documenting their own interpretations through sketches, drawings, models and writing, all of which can be displayed and revisited in the classroom.

Purpose What kind of thinking does this routine encourage:

This routine helps students to reflect on their thinking about a topic or issue and explore how and why that thinking has changed. It can be useful in consolidating new learning as students identify their new understandings, opinions, and beliefs. By examining and explaining how and why their thinking has changed, students are developing their reasoning abilities and recognizing causal relationships.

Application: When and where can I use it?

This routine can be used whenever students’ initial thoughts, opinions, or beliefs are likely to have changed as a result of instruction or experience. For instance, after reading new information, watching a film, listening to a speaker, experiencing something new, having a class discussion, at the end of a unit of study, and so on .

Tips for Launch:

Explain to students that the purpose of this activity is to help them reflect on their thinking about the topic and to identify how their ideas have changed over time. For instance: When we began this study of ________, you all had some initial ideas about it and what it was all about. In just a few sentences, I want to write what it is that you used to think about _________. Take a minute to think back and then write down your response to “ I used to think…” Now, I want you to think about how your ideas about __________ have changed as a result of what we’ve been studying/doing/discussing. Again in just a few sentences write down what you now think about ___________. Start your sentences with, “Now, I think…” Have students share and explain their shifts in thinking. Initially it is good to do this as a whole group so that you can probe students’ thinking and push them to explain. Once students become accustomed to explaining their thinking, students can share with one another in small groups or pairs.

Purpose What kind of thinking does this routine encourage:

This routine helps students understand their own process of learning by considering their conceptions of a topic before and after a learning experience and how their conceptions changed.

Application: When and where can I use it?

This routine works well when the topic of the learning experience is one in which students have some prior knowledge. If the topic is something that students would not recognize, it would not be a good choice to use with this routine. Use the “Before Learning” part when you want students to remember their prior ideas, questions, and understandings about the topic. Then, near or at the end of the learning experience, invite students to complete the “After Learning” and “Bridge” parts of the routine.

Tips for Launch:

When you introduce the topic or concept in the learning experience, share just a few details, remembering that the goal is to use the “Before Learning” part of the routine to activate students’ prior knowledge. This will give you (and them) a chance to see their initial thinking. Have the students write down 3 words or thoughts, 2 questions, and 1 metaphor or simile about the topic. Encourage them to capture their thoughts quickly, using words and questions that they think of first. Next, engage students in the learning experience. This might be reading an article, watching a video, examining an artifact, observing artwork, or engaging in an activity having to do with the topic. The learning experience should introduce new information or perspectives about the topic that will extend students’ thinking in new directions. After the learning experience, students complete the “After Learning” part of the routine. Then, students will do the “Bridge” part where they make connections between their initial and new thinking, explaining how and why their thinking shifted. Explain to students that their initial thinking is not right or wrong; it is just a starting point. New experiences take our thinking in new directions.

Purpose What kind of thinking does this routine encourage:

This routine encourages students to think about something, such as a problem, question or topic, and then articulate their thoughts. The turn and talk routine promotes understanding through active reasoning and explanation. Because students are listening to and sharing ideas, Turn and Talk encourages students to understand multiple perspectives.

Application: When and where can I use it?

Turn and Talk can be applied at any given moment in the classroom. For example, when approaching a solution, solving a math problem, before a science experiment, or after reading a passage or chapter of a book you may ask students to take a moment to think about a particular question or issue and then turn to their neighbor and share their thoughts. Sharing can also be done in small groups. Some times you will want to have pairs or groups summarize their ideas for the whole class

Tips for Launch:

When first introducing the routine, teachers may want to scaffold students’ paired conversations by reminding them to take turns, listen carefully and ask questions of one another. One way to ensure that students listen to each other is to tell students that you will be calling on individuals to explain their partners thinking, as opposed to telling their own thoughts. Encourage students to make their thinking visible by asking them to write or draw their ideas before and/or after sharing. Journals can also be useful. Student pairs can report one another’s thoughts to the class and a list of ideas can be created in the classroom

Purpose What kind of thinking does this routine encourage:

Application: When and where can I use it?

Tips for Launch:

Purpose What kind of thinking does this routine encourage:

Application: When and where can I use it?

Tips for Launch: