Investigating Thinking Strategies

2013-2014

Guiding Questions

How do we grow thinkers?

Guiding Questions

What does it take to for students to engage in challenging intellectual

work that leads to understanding?

Guiding Questions

How do the thinking strategies support readers, writers, speakers

and listeners to the meet the demands of the new standards?

Through Comprehension Strategies

we:

• Become more reflective readers & thinkers

• Develop a common language of thinking• Teach deep level comprehension explicitly • Raise expectations & support for all kids• Emphasize reading with depth & focus• Teach the “reader” not just the text • Build a bank of content area knowledge

From: Comprehension Going Forward, “Comprehension Instruction Grows Up,” Keene, 2011

Institute Outcomes . . .

1) Increased knowledge of metacognitive strategies that

proficient thinkers use to grow understanding

•

Institute Outcomes . . .

2) Increased knowledge of how instructional techniques such as workshop model and gradually releasing responsibility support

thinking

3 ) Increased knowledge of how intentional planning helps students meet rigorous standards such as

CCSS

Institute Outcomes . . .

We Started With Research

P. David Pearson, Roehler, Dole, and Duffy, 1992. “Developing Expertise in Reading Comprehension.” What Research Has To Say About Reading Instruction. IRA

Duke, N.K., & P.D. Pearson. 2002. Effective Practices for Developing Reading Comprehension.

As a Participant….

• • Engage with research-based thinking

strategies that support understanding of texts across genres, content areas, and difficulty

• Design learning experiences that integrate

meaningful discourse

• Draft or refine unit plans that incorporate research-based thinking strategies that support understanding of texts across genres, content areas, and difficulty

Essential Question

How do we grow thinkers?

“Mix and Mingle”

1.Grab a quote, read it over, and mull it over.

2.Find a partner and share your quote and thinking.

3.Trade quotes and find a new partner & repeat.

How Do we grow thinkers?

Create a working explanation… use words,

icons, metaphors, etc.

Composing: Work Time

Read and annotate your text with your thinking… What are you doing as a reader?

“Leave Tracks in the Snow”

Catch & Release

Find a Partner & Share Annotations

What did you notice about yourself as a reader of this type of text?

ReflectionCheryl’s Classroom:

• What metacognitive strategies did you use to make meaning?

• How does annotating the text support understanding?

• How does discussing your thinking support understanding?

Return by 10:30

A film is made up of still images flashed in rapid succession to simulate movement… Slow down the film, and the movement and meaning slows and the film's impact is diminished. Viewers won't learn as much about the film as if it were shown at normal speed.

With reading the same thing can happen. When a person reads word by word, like frame by frame, they are not reading on the level of ideas. You need to read on some level that's more conversational and allows things to coalesce into ideas themselves.

Doug Evans, Institute of Reading Development

What is it that proficient thinkers do?

Surface vs. Deep Structures

Thinking Strategies in Theory, #4

Surface Structure Systems

Provide the reader with visible and audible information about letters, sounds, words, and grammatical structure to identify words and read fluently:•Grapho-phonic System: sounds•Lexical System: sight words•Syntactic System: form and structure

Surface Structure Systems

What thinkers know and are able to do when using surface structure systems:•Use decoding strategies•Recognize sight words•Use word analysis strategies (prefixes, derivations, etc.)•Skim/scan; reread (“does the word make sense?”)•Use text features such as bold, etc

Deep Structure Systems

Deep Structure Systems

Provide the reader with information about the meanings of words and longer pieces of text, the purpose for reading, and prior knowledge related to the text:

•Semantic System: Vocabulary•Schematic System: Organizing framework to Connect new to known•Pragmatic System: Social construction

Deep Structure Systems

What thinkers know and are able to do when using deep structure systems•Apply cognitive thinking strategies flexibly and fluidly to develop understanding

Cognitive Thinking Strategies

1.Activate, revise and apply schema (background knowledge)

2.Draw inferences

3.Ask questions

4.Determine importance

5.Synthesize

6.Evoke sensory images

7.Monitor for meaning and employ fix up strategies when meaning breaks down

Proficient thinkers draw on schema or background knowledge.

We use our own background knowledge to understand the text as we readPearson, et al 1992., Gordon and

Pearson, 1983; Hansen, 1981.

Activating Schema Looks and Sounds Like:

• This reminds me of…

• How is this like…?

• How can I connect this to concepts I already know?

The Language of Thinking p.2

Proficient thinkers draw inferences

We infer when we use schema and textual information to draw conclusions and form unique interpretations and when we make predictions, confirm them, and test them as we read. Anderson and Pearson, 1984

Aha!!!

Why is this funny?

Drawing Inferences Looks and Sounds Like:

Can I draw a conclusion?

Can I make a prediction?

I’m thinking that…

The Language of Thinking p.2

Proficient thinkers ask questions.

We generate questions BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER reading which helps us focus our attention on important components of the text.

Andre and Anderson, 1979; Brown and Palincsar, 1985

Asking Questions Looks and Sounds Like:

• I am wondering…• Why did that happen?• What is important?• How will my questions

help me understand?

The Language of Thinking p.2

Proficient thinkers determine importance in text

We identify key ideas or themes as we read, distinguish important from unimportant information, and support our ideas with evidence from the text.Afflerbach and Johnston, 1984; Baumann, 1986;

Tierney and Cunningham, 1984; Winograd and Bridge, 1986

I found it!

What is most important?

Determining Importance Looks and Sounds Like:

• What is essential?• I’ll remember…• The big ideas are…

The Language of Thinking p.2

Proficient thinkers synthesize information

As we read, we monitor the overall meaning, important concepts and themes. We are aware of how these elements fit together to create overarching ideas.

Brown and Day, 1983

Synthesizing Looks and Sounds Like:

• First I thought, but now I am thinking….

• Now I understand…

• Like putting a puzzle together, the pieces are…

The Language of Thinking p.2

Proficient thinkers use sensory images and mental models

We use five senses to draw conclusions, create unique interpretations of

the text, clarify and enhance

comprehension, and give depth and dimension to

the reading. Keene and Zimmerman, 1996

Evoking Sensory Images

Tapping into your 5 senses

Imagine the taste, smell, texture, color, and sound of these red cherries. What does it make you think of? turn and talk

Evoking sensory images

Durian

Tapping into your 5 senses

Imagine the taste, smell, texture, color, and sound of durian…turn and talk

DurianRegarded by many people in Southeast Asia as the "king of fruits", the durian is distinctive for its large size, strong odour, and formidable thorn-covered husk. The fruit can grow as large

as 30 centimetres (12 in) long and 15 centimetres (6 in) in diameter, and it typically weighs one to three kilograms (2 to 7 lb). Its shape ranges from oblong to round, the colour of its

husk green to brown, and its flesh pale yellow to red, depending on the species.

The edible flesh emits a distinctive odour that is strong and penetrating even when the husk is intact. Some people regard

the durian as pleasantly fragrant; others find the aroma overpowering and revolting. The smell evokes reactions from deep appreciation to intense disgust, and has been described variously as almonds, rotten onions, turpentine, raw sewage.

Sensory images: Being there

• How do sensory images build understanding or interfere with understanding?

Creating Sensory Images Looks and Sounds Like:

• In my mind, I can see/hear/smell/feel/taste…

• The movie in my head…

• I am experiencing…

The Language of Thinking p.2

Proficient thinkers monitor their comprehension

We know when the text makes sense, when it does not, and what to do when meaning breaks down. We have effective and flexible strategies to repair confusions and revise interpretations.Duffy et al, 1987; Paris, Cross, and Lipson, 1984; Garner, 1987

Monitoring for Understanding Looks and Sounds Like:

• I am confused…

• I understand…

• I don’t get it…• This makes sense…

The Language of Thinking p.2