Circle of Viewpoints

During the first several weeks of school, students and teachers must "spell out expectations, articulate rules, and establish predictable structures," say the authors of The First Six Weeks of School. Denton and Kriete go on to explain that students are able to participate, focus, ask thoughtful questions, cooperate and collaborate when they know what is expected of them.

Arguably one of the most important expectations to lay out during the first few weeks of school is how students in your classroom will be expected to THINK. They'll be expected to participate, to engage, and to dig deeply into life's big ideas, called key and related concepts in the Primary Years Program (PYP).

Therefore, during the first six weeks, in addition to knowing how to care for materials, to fill out their agendas, and to walk in line, students should also be introduced to the thinking routines that they'll use throughout the year.

One sixth grade teacher has been using various thinking routines since day one as a way to not only introduce her students to the expectations and routines of sixth grade, but also to introduce the particular thinking routines they'll use during the year. In this post, I'll explain how she used the visible thinking routine Circle of Viewpoints (from Making Thinking Visible by Ritchhart, Church, and Morrison) to help her students investigate not only how to walk in line in the hallway, but also why they should walk that way.

First, to introduce the concept of perspective, the teacher invited her students to sit in a circle and take note of what they were able to see. Then, she had the students sit in a different spot and take note of how their viewpoint had changed. As a class, they discussed that when you have a different vantage point, you see things differently and your perspective changes.

Then, as a class, the students identified the different perspectives that could be present in or affected by them walking down the hall in line.

Their original list included:

• 6th graders
• teachers
• kindergartners
• friends
• Mr. Riley/Mr. Bretoi (the building principals)
• other classes
• lunch ladies
• specialist teachers

Then, students choose one of those perspectives to explore further, using the following prompt as a starting place:

"I think ... [describe the topic from your viewpoint. Be an actor - take on the character of your viewpoint]. Because ... [explain your reasoning]"

To begin, the teacher modeled taking on the perspective of a kindergartner seeing a group of sixth graders walking in line. Then, students worked in small groups to investigate the other viewpoints present. Students took turns sharing their newly adopted perspectives with the rest of the class.

Some groups decided to tackle the prompt: "A question/concern I have from this viewpoint is ...," but not all groups did.

The next day, students wanted to further investigate the perspectives of:

• substitutes
• WIN teachers
• parents
• visitors
• janitors
• secretaries
• nurses
• cameras

Here are some students' thoughts that they shared:

“We’re looking at line basics from the viewpoint of the cameras and we think it is going to be Miss Linda watching the cameras. There are cameras everywhere so even if you think you’re hidden and not being in line, you’re still being watched and you could still get in trouble.”

“We’re looking at line basics from the viewpoint of other sixth graders and I think that if the sixth graders are watching the other sixth graders and the line is straight and no one is talking, they can do the same thing.”

“We’re looking at line basics from the viewpoint of friends. If I see one of my friend talking in the hallway, I would want to talk to them, because they’re my friend and I would want to talk to them. The question I have is, ‘Will I get in trouble for talking to them?’”

“We’re looking at line basics from the viewpoint of the custodians. One concern I have is that if kids aren’t in a straight line, they could end up bumping over our cleaning supplies.”

The teacher plans to continually remind her students of the understandings constructed during this thinking routine. Since this lesson that spanned two days, the teacher noted that the students have added the perspective of "art on the wall" to their list.

After reading about how this sixth grade teacher used Circle of Viewpoints within the first few days of school, how could you use visible thinking routines to expose your students to the kinds of THINKING they'll be expected to do throughout the year?

The Explanation Game

During the first few weeks of school, it is important to spell out essential expectations, rules, and predictable structures with students so that they are able to fully participate and engage in learning (The First Six Weeks of School by Denton and Kriete).

To help her students inquire into how to safely use two different kinds of stability balls in her Special Education Setting III classroom, one teacher used the visible thinking routine The Explanation Game (from Making Thinking Visible by Ritchhart, Church, and Morrison). 

Note: Special Education Setting III includes students who spend more than 60% of their day outside of the general classroom. This teacher works with students in kindergarten through third grade who have emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD).

 

During The Explanation Game thinking routine, students were asked to take a close look at the two types of stability balls (pictured above) that they were trying to understand and then:

1. Name it. Name a feature or aspect of the object that you notice.
2. Explain it. What could it be? What role or function might it serve? Why might it be there?
3. Give reasons. What makes you say that? Or why do you think it happened that way?
4. Generate alternatives. What else could it be? And what makes you say that?

The teacher said that the routine worked "SO WELL!" She went on to explain that the ideas the students generated were much higher-level than they have done in the past. Their ideas included "using it for floating in a lake because I can’t swim" and "squeezing it when I’m really upset."

The teacher decided to allow her students to verbally respond instead of having them write anything down, which allowed students to freely share ideas throughout the activity. Then, on their own, the students decided to reach an essential agreement about the stability balls after they had gone through the thinking routine because they had decided the stability balls could be dangerous to themselves or others if used incorrectly.

The teacher also led the students through a similar process to introduce the squeeze machine (pictured below).

Although the teacher already had a rule sheet printed up (pictured below), she gave students the opportunity to independently come up with the rules before she showed it to them.

Allowing students to create the rules themselves gives them a sense of ownership, which may increase the likelihood that they'll follow them in the future.

After reading about how this teacher used the visible thinking routine The Explanation Game with her students in Special Education Setting III, how could you use this thinking routine with your students to look closely at materials they'll be using throughout the year?

Using Generate-Sort-Connect-Elaborate to create Essential Agreements

During the second week of school, the authors of The First Six Weeks of School (Paula Denton and Roxann Kriete) suggest working together with students to formulate and agree upon a set of classroom rules. In the Primary Years Program, this set of rules is referred to as the Essential Agreement.

The collaborative creation of this important classroom document should be preceded by naming and sharing hopes and dreams for the school year. Although this post's focus is creating the Essential Agreement with a Visible Thinking Routine, it is important to note here that the Essential Agreement should only be created once teachers and students have shared what they hope to achieve during the school year.

One first grade teacher led her students through the Visible Thinking Routine Generate-Sort-Connect-Elaborate (from Making Thinking Visible by Ritchhart, Church, and Morrison) to create their classroom's essential agreement.

After discussing with the students what their hopes and dreams were for the summer session, this teacher had each student generate rules on small squares of paper that would help them achieve those hopes and dreams.

Next, the class sorted the rules into meaningful groups, which they labeled in positive terms: be safe, try your best, be respectful.

The teacher emphasized the fact that these three expectations were all connected by drawing thick lines between them.

Then, students elaborated on the groups, adding three new behaviors: do what you're told, help friends, take turns when we want to talk.

Finally, the students all signed the Essential Agreement, agreeing to be safe, to be respectful, and to try their best.

After reading about how this first grade teacher created her classroom's Essential Agreement with her students using the Visible Thinking Routine Generate-Sort-Connect-Elaborate with her students, how have you or could you use this or other Visible Thinking Routines to create this important classroom document with your students?