Making Thinking Visible

Most thinking is invisible because it happens inside our heads. Teaching students to make their thinking visible means they can share their thinking with their peers, the teacher, and themselves, in order to make connections and continue to extend their thinking. The use of thinking routines in the classroom, gives students a simple way to express their thoughts. In Religious Education, the ‘I wonder’ statements that students articulate can lead the class to explore many different themes and concepts. Here are some ‘I wonder’ statements that came from Kinder and Year One students after reading about Moses.

I wonder why Moses’ mum put him in the river.

I wonder why God saved Moses.

I wonder why the princess rescued Moses.

I wonder why Moses has a crown.

I wonder why the Israelites were bad.

I wonder why the king (Pharaoh) wanted to kill all the boys.

These ‘wonderings’ allow the teacher to understand what the students are thinking and provide opportunities to explore the historical background of the people for whom the text was written, and themes such as power and greed, at a level that is developmentally appropriate and relevant to the students.

The student who wondered about Moses’ crown was actually referring to a yellow halo around his head. This led to the class exploring some other sacred art images to try to understand what the artists are trying to show by using halos.

The use of thinking routines can also allow teachers to clarify misconceptions. The student who wondered why the Israelites were bad, needed to understand that the people in power wanted others to believe the Israelites were bad, not that they actually were bad.

The use of thinking routines in the classroom allows all students to have a voice and engages every student in the thinking and learning process.