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Thinktrack Review

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Title: Emie Mpolo Lomba - STW & Headlines with Literature
Team name: Straightouttaclass
Subject: English Language and Literature
Grade Level & Student age: Year 13 (17-18)

Part 1: Planning Ahead

Thinking Dispositions: Thinking about your upcoming week, what dispositions do you hope to emphasize in your instruction? (You will likely touch on several dispositions throughout the week, please select one that you will focus and reflect on for this Thinktrack.)

Questioning & Investigating
Comparing & Connecting
Exploring Viewpoints

Give a detailed response about why you want to emphasize these dispositions. For example, How will they help students learn the concepts, skills, or content you are currently teaching?

I would like students to be able to question their understanding by seeking evidence from the text. They will be able to showcase their reasoning behind their headline and work through a presentation. I would also like students to be able to reflect on the evolution of their textual interpretations and share this knowledge with each other. Students will be able to connect a visual stimulus to a text. Visual analysis skills are an important part of their end of year assessment. This will help them build the necessary skills.

Use of thinking routines: As you plan ahead, consider what routine(s) you might try out this week. In the table below some routines are organized by dispositions to which they have a strong connection. Another resource for planning with routines is the “Thinking Routine Matrix” on page 51 of Making Thinking Visible. The list below does not include all of the routines; select any you plan to use this week and feel free to add any others that are not on the list.

I Used To Think / Now I Think... (Or 3-2-1 Bridge)
Headlines
See / Think / Wonder
Step Inside

Topic Artifacts: What text, objects, images, videos, or models from the curriculum will your students engage with as they use the thinking routines you have in mind?

I will begin by introducing students to the text through a see-think-wonder activity with the picture of a haunted house as a stimulus. This is will set the tone for the atmosphere and ideas in Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher and ease their understanding of the description of events. Once they are done reading the text, they will demonstrate their understanding of the text through a headline activity.

Documentation: How will students, teachers or others document their thinking while using the routines?

They will write headlines that summarize their key take aways and central idea of the text. Additionally, since this is in preparation for their IB exam, I will build on it by asking them to create the front page of a newspaper and find an image that matches their headline/description. They will later present. Students will be able to reflect on their understanding of the text and match them with a review of the components of a newspaper front page by not only writing a headline but also picking a picture and small description that matches the text. My next activity will be like a step inside activity where students will live tweet as characters from the text in order to showcase their understanding of the characters and their relationship with one another.

Part 2: Looking Back

Thinking Dispositions: Reflect on the past week and list the thinking routines you used:

Headlines
See / Think / Wonder

Which of the following thinking dispositions do you think your classroom instruction helped students develop? (Select all that apply.)

Reasoning
Observing & Describing

Please respond in detail about: What went well? How do you know? What might you do differently? What new ideas do you have for using this routine? What questions are lingering?

WHAT WENT WELL: Most students were engaged in the activities and found that they understood more about the text than they originally thought. I know this because they had an insightful and engaging discussion. They focused on many details that did not stand out to me in the beginning. DIFFERENTLY: Next time, I will make sure to use STW more as an introduction to a text or unit. I think it is best suited to encouraging students to start thinking about the topic instead of as a general starter activity. Additionally, my students do not like writing things down. They write key words to guide them in discussions. I should probably put a minimum limit of the points necessary. NEW IDEAS: - It is important to give them examples of headlines to get them started. It cuts down on the time it takes for some students to evaluate whether or not they are "doing the right thing" especially when they feel too shy to state that they do not know what to do. - The way to get my students to engage in these activities was to use technology (they are more comfortable typing than they are writing) and to shift the activity into something more than just writing a headline. I found that asking them to do a simple 20 min front page encouraged them to reflect on the text thoroughly and take the activity seriously. QUESTIONS: I am wondering if it is ok for me to adjust the headline activity to creating a front page. Would that have any negative impact on visible thinking? Would it ask them for too much?
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