Planning Considerations:
There are important factors to be considered when planning to implement this thinking routine. First, the developmental level of students will vary, but providing modeling and scaffolding for each step in the routine is important. Students should be comfortable engaging in open-ended discussions, but may need to be shown the types of ideas to generate and how to draw connections. Prepare prompts or guiding questions aligned with the book’s themes to help guide the discussions and to have some ideas in mind beforehand. Small groups should create group norms to ensure respectful listening and building on each other's ideas.As for the time allotment, at least 35-40 minutes should be given for a thorough discussion. The best time for implementation would be after students have read a portion of a book or completed it, ideally during the reflection and/or assessment of their understanding of the text.
Suggested Resources/Materials:
Chart paper or whiteboards
Markers, sticky notes
Copies of the book or passages
Optional: Padlet for digital brainstorming
Standards alignment:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.2: Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis
ELA:
NJSLSA.R.1: Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence.
NJSLSA.R.2: Determine central ideas or themes and analyze their development.
NJSLSA.SL.1: Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations.
NJSLSA.SL.4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly.
NJSLSA.W.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Student examples:
Students recorded notes in their reading journals as we discussed their ideas, connections, and elaborations on a white board. These can be turned in to be used as student samples for other classes.Thought Trackers were used to keep track of their thinking.
Recommendations:
One key recommendation is to ensure that students are familiar with the academic language used in the routine. Terms like “generate,” “sort,” “connect,” and “elaborate” may be unfamiliar or abstract to some learners. Take time to explicitly define and demonstrate what each step means, ideally using real classroom topics or relatable examples.
In addition, it’s important to model the process of small group discussions before expecting students to work independently. Show them how to brainstorm (“generate”) ideas out loud, how to group similar thoughts (“sort”), draw lines or arrows to make links (“connect”), and then expand on one of those ideas with evidence or reasoning (“elaborate”). These scaffolds not only support understanding of the routine but also help build strong collaboration and communication skills within the group.
To go along with this, you could provide sentence starters to support elaboration. Use visible thinking tools like mind maps or digital platforms. Consider assigning group roles to support equitable participation. Ask probing questions to push student thinking.
Reflection:
When introducing this thinking routine, it took time for students to adjust to a new way of thinking and discussing their book club texts. Initially, the transition was challenging, but once they became familiar with the process, students were highly engaged and made insightful connections between characters’ decisions and real-life experiences, whether their own or those from other books and films.
Looking back, I would provide more structure during the “Elaborate” step by incorporating graphic organizers or sentence starters to support students in extending their ideas. Despite this, students shared that they appreciated the change in discussion format and felt it helped them see their books through a new lens.
The depth of their conversations and the quality of responses recorded on their Thought Trackers reflected strong higher-order thinking. I plan to revisit this routine during our nonfiction unit to help students visualize the relationships between concepts. Now that students have experienced the routine once, I aim to model each step more intentionally and give them time to process before moving on to the next phase.