“Every Lesson counts for every child”

Thinking & Learning

Getting children thinking!

Talk and thought are centre of learning

Speaking,listening & thinking are connected

When ideas fail, words come in very handy

If you are stuck for words it helps to find time to think

What is thinking?

An invisible process arranging things in the mind, triggered by questions which generates learning.

Thinking Starters

They can be general or focused

Here are some examples;

Thinking Starter 1

What is the difference between black & white

Thinking Starter 2

Write four down four times and make as many sums as you can. Ask your partner to do the sums

4 4 4 4

Thinking Starter 3

What must all flowers have in order to be flowers

Thinking Starter 4

What does it mean to be British at the beginning of the 21st century

Thinking starter 5

Look at this image

Your own thinking starter

You Come up with your own

Talk & Thought

Core tools of 21st century learning

Learning to learn Thinking to learn Learning to think Thinking to talk Talking to think

Promoting thinking

Engaging children’s thinking prior to direct teaching

Ask open-ended, authentic questions Support and encourage personal

expression, thoughts, ideas and perceptions Modelling, recognising and rewarding good

thinking Keeping expectations open

Role of a 21st century teacher

20th Century 21st CenturyCorrect Answer Raise Questions

Complete Explore

Accurate Reproduction Generates own ideas

Satisfies expectations Satisfies self

of others expectations

Hard evidence of work (writing) Soft evidence of hardwork (Thinking)

Ease & Speed Depth & Complexity

To help children take control!

Principles of intelligent learning

1. AQ: Asking authentic questions

2.CCC: Making conceptual, cognitive connections

3.ED:Using exploratory dialogue

4.JDC Making judgement, choices & decisions

AQ: Asking Authentic Questions

Getting children to ask their own questions about the key ideas in lessons and use these as starting points for learning

c

AQ: Asking authentic questions

Ask pupils to analyse Choose factor and why Ask students to design questions Randomly ask students to mark feature on the

picture and justify Discuss with partner Progress into partner/group/ class discussion

A no hands up policy can be crucial in the ensuring all

children are encouraged to engage in the process!

Other resourses you could use are;

Or maybe

OrMA LIBELLULE

En te voyant, toute mignonne,Blanche dans ta robe d’azure,Je pensais à quelque madoneDrapée en un pen de ciel pur.

Je songeais à ces belles saintesQue l’on voyait au temps jadisSourire sur les vitres peintes,Montrant d’un doigt le paradis:Et j’aurais voulu, loin du mondeQui passait frivole entre nous,Dans quelque retraite profonde

T’adorer seul à deux genoux

Or perhaps

http://uk.youtube.com/user/lowteck

Remember

The quality of the resource

is only as good as the

quality of the questioning

(both yours & theirs)

Your Turn

Think of a scenerio for your subject and come up with a resource

CCC: Making conceptual, cognitive connections

The children make connections between the key concepts in the lesson

Making Connections 1

3 5 12 4032 15

100 251 71200 400

23

Connect 2, 3, 4 or 5 numbers together

Making connections 2

Abrasion Erosion Pyramidal Steep sides

Peak Glacier Corrie Deposits

Moraine Tarn Flowing IceFreeze

Weathering Arete Wearing away Thaw

U shaped Truncated Lake Valley

Spur Knife Edge Flat bottom

Connect the words!Try to link the words together. Explain why you have put them together

Can you identify differences and similarities between the two images

Differences DifferencesSimilarities

Similarities & Differences boards 1

Can you identify differences and similarities between the two images

Differences DifferencesSimilarities

Similarities & Differences boards 2

Associated objects 1

Construct a sentence to link the boxes

Eg. Imagination is nature, knowledge is nuture

KnowledgeImagination

Associated objects 2

Construct a sentence to link the boxes

Government freedom

Bridging the gap 1

Explain what has happened

Bridging the gap 2

Explain what has happened

Before After

ED: Exploratory dialogue

Through questions & discussion

We should aim for 80% of our lessons to be about investigating, exploring and personalised learning

And, 20% for learning new knowledge and skills

Children make judgements, decisions and choices based on the knowledge and ideas they explore together. They explain their thinking using reasoning based on evidence.

JDC: Making judgement, choices & decisions

Ranking ladders

List up to four facts about Gandhi

Rank them in importance

Cool Wall

Create your own cool wall

(In class or on the computer)

You can use the same headings or apply your own.

Cool Wall : Famous Artists

Seriously Un-cool Un-cool Cool Sub-zero

Teaching strategies that promote thinking skills

Advance Organisers Analogies Audience and Purpose Classifying Fortune Lines Living Sources Odd one out Reading Images Relational Diagrams Summarising

Conclusion

How can the principle of ‘thinking & learning’ be used to differentiate in your classroom?

Further Reading

“The new psychology of success” Carol Dweck

“Self-monitoring Questioning Strategies”

Tony Hurlin