Literacy & Thinking

As part of my reading programme I like to integrate a thinking tool to focus on each week. This week has been the Red Thinking Hat. My class is very good at articulating their feelings but need support to explain why they are feeling this way. We have had whole class discussions based on our shared book and have also talked about this in our guided reading groups. I have noticed that this has really enhanced their vocabulary and has structured their communication in an informative way.

A tool I have found useful for this has been talking frames. Giving the children a sentence beginning has meant those who are usually reluctant to contribute have the confidence to participate in conversations. Those who are more confident have extended these so it has been an all round success.

Big question: How can I ensure the children in my class have the same level of comfort when discussing their own feelings relating to deeper issues as they do in this context?

What if?

Over the term we have been thinking about all sorts of things that may or may not be possible with the sentence starter what if? The children read the what if question and then discuss ideas with their thinking buddy. They then take post-it notes and record their ideas and post on the whiteboard. We would then share the ideas. Over the term it has evolved and the children suggested we use the thinking hats to organise the types of ideas we place on the board.

An interesting reading I came across was Why we teach thinking skills. Some very important points to consider.

I am pondering what is the best way to help my classroom of students understand that there are different types of thinking?

Room 2

We have some cool things happening in Room 2. We have been applying our thinking skills in our reading programme. By using the thinking hats as tools to organise our thinking we are able to see the different ways we make connections to help understand what we are reading. It has resulted in some real Aha moments.

The parents of our readers that are not achieving at expectation came to a workshop, we shared the different ways we can connect with reading, how we can think about characters and plots when we read and listen to stories. There has been a huge feeling of success for these children and they are more engaged and excited about their reading.

The tadpoles have turned into froglets. We have been looking at our first wonderings and thinking about the different things we have learned along the way. It has been exciting to see the wonderings turn into "what we know nows".



I went to a fantastic writing course with Murray Gadd. He incorporated thinking into his writing programme and showed how important it is to give children experiences they can talk then write about. Came back with a list of exemplars of what children should be achieving and skills to be taught for different text types.

My big question at the moment is; when children have a real strength in creative thinking how do we make them feel as successful when using critical thinking?

Room 3 Learning Reflections

Room 3 - Positives of this term so far

Room three have proven to have been a very low ability class in terms of reading and writing and when getting to know the kids they are very maths smart although lack confidence in writing and reading. This can be seen on their lack of motivation in these areas. To try and engage the children we have introduced a learning centre approach and the habits of mind to work on their thinking skills. This is working but it needs reflecting on daily as a class to get them thinking about their habits and their learning goals. Sarah and I have discussed knowing themselves as a learner and having them write out their daily routine and goals would help establish their understanding of what they need to achieve in a day. This could possibly help for next term. We have made progress to a lot of children with consistent reminding hopefully this will drive them into good habits for next term or will it?

*School Values explicit teaching

*Computer routines and integration with hyperstudio and comic life

*Reading and Maths routines and goal setting

*Writing children know the process integrating hyperstudio into the writing process

*PE - skills and games underway and very enthusiastic

*Music -

What is the resource of the week?

Erin gave her tricky words for children to use to improve their writing

What big questions do you have

How to bookmark a blog? Widget add a widget (websites) copy the url and it asks you to link it. Thanks Melisa!!! I will grab you at some stage.

Room 1- Learning how we learn

Over the last few weeks we have been learning about multiple intelligences. Each student has completed the online survey and found out which are their preferred style/area of learning. The overall results have been very insightful for the students "Yes! That's is so me..." they have begun to understand what motivates and drives their learning. There have been a few suprises along the way which intrigued me One G and T student in particular showed an extremely low preference for linguistic activities (Word Smart) where as this is a strength of hers that is evident throughout most aspects of her learning. So as I do, I try to think of reasons why this may have happened in order to really understand the learner. Has she done the test before and doesn't want to be seen as strong in that area? (Common sign of a Gifted Girl conforming) Or is it just that she doesn't enjoy doing things she is good at and would rather be challenged? Could it be that she would have rather been reading her book as she carried out the online test and answered questions flippantly? Either way I think that it is important for both myself and the student to make the effort to get to know in what ways they learn best. Already I have seen a marked difference in some students in my class who have begun to understand when they learn best and have become aware that the tasks or activities they have been set reflect this.

A great resource I have come across is Books Into Ideas - A community of Inquiry (Tim Sprod) This book goes through real life scenarios and helps you to explicitly model thinking skills.

My big question at the moment is...

Is multiple intelligences giving me a whole picture of the learners in the classroom. I value the information it is giving and can witness the benefits for students learning but I know there is more.......

Learning Journey 2

Room 2 Learning Journey is working well. Children are able to verbalise why they make the devisions they do to reach their learning goal. They can describe the journey they have been on so far.

The Joy Allcock Spelling resources - Combines chunk check cheer/ Jolly Phonics with applicable worksheets that meet the specific needs. A copy of worksheets and tools is on the server. Shows the list of same sounds so children can make the connections where they may not have immediately known the sounds are the same.

A big question I have is...

How do you keep a balance when some children grasp a concept and are ready to go with it but others are not quite there yet?

Thinking about Respect

Room 3 - Establishing routines, have lots of low abilities. Have spent three weeks on respect - me/home/community. Dramatised them today and freeze framed for photographs. Values in the community.

Effective Grammar resources - Grammar and meaning (Drogger and Humphrey)

Our big question we are thinking about at this point is....

How do you make a classroom blog and get it working in the classroom?

How do you get a reading tumbler moving without kids moving aimlessly?

Wonder Wall Room 2

Room 2 - Wondering wall about our tadpoles has promoted discussion and questions promoted thinking and independent learning. Threw out plan for values because the children planned their own learning journey and are enjoying the ownership of this. Adapting the Flip a coin to the overcoming problem dice.

Great Writing resources - recount plans and self assessment ideas.

My big question at this point is....
How do you keep the spark and thinking and keep the classroom running.

A thinking toolbox

Thinking in Room 1 - Our thinking tool box is now underway with explanations of different thinking tools we will be using. Children collating it in a book. Children aware that it is their job is to be a learner so in order to do their job efficiently they need to have a toolbox in which along their learning journey they will add to. First example to go in is the thinking hat tool.

A good professional reading I have come across is Flip a Coin (attitude)

My big question to wonder about at this point in time is....

How do you get a child who struggles to communicate to start thinking about thinking and be aware they are thinking?

Our Thinking Journey

This year we are embarking on a journey through specifically teaching children about thinking. We will use this blog to share our ideas, links to resources and pose questions for discussion to help us think about our own thinking and teaching.