Windows & Mirrors in Planet Omar: Accidental Trouble Magnet

Windows and Mirrors

In an August post (Organizing a Representative Classroom Library During a Global Pandemic), I wrote about the importance of making sure that the books available for students to read are both windows and mirrors; books in which students can see themselves (mirrors) and also books that help them see the world's different perspectives (windows). This metaphor was originally used by Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop to explain to educators, librarians, parents, and children themselves how we must read books that are self-affirming and books that offer us views that differ from our own.

A display in my classroom library. Credit for the images goes to Grant Snider. 

To make these books available to children certainly is a good first step. But giving students the opportunity to reflect on the ways in which the books they read are both windows and mirrors is a critical part of the reading process.

Global Read Aloud

During the 2020 Global Read Aloud (sadly, its last year), I read Planet Omar: Accidental Trouble Magnet (written by Zanib Mian, illustrated by Nasaya Mafaridik) to my fourth grade students. During the Global Read Aloud, our school's learning model was hybrid, meaning half of my students were always at home when I was reading aloud to my in-school students. A shout-out to the 24 other educators from across the globe who helped record chapters of the book so my at-home students could still keep up with the story!

Theme

After we finished the book, we reflected on the book's themes. By identifying these timeless, abstract, universal and transferrable ideas (aka concepts), students were able to more deeply connect to the text. To help students identify the themes, I ask them, "What do you think Zanib Mian wants us to understand? What is she trying to teach us?" Students respond by using the sentence stem, "The author wants me to understand that ..." During this brainstorming process it is imperative that students give evidence from the text that backs up their theme idea.

Themes students brainstormed are pictured below.

Students' Thinking

Next, I asked my fourth graders to thoughtfully answer these two questions:

• In what ways was Planet Omar a window for you?
• In what ways was Planet Omar a mirror for you?

For those in-class, we quickly made our thinking visible on a t-chart. For those learning at-home, I gave students the option to share their thinking in whatever way they wanted. I intentionally left it open-ended, so students could creatively respond. The following are some examples of responses I received.

"It was a window to me because it gave me a view of what some people experience when they’re different from us or from different places. And that did give me an experience of how some people might feel because they’re bullied because they’re from a different place. Kind of like Omar was bullied from Daniel. But that can all change. Just like how Daniel did. So I’m pretty sure this is more of a window to me."

Other video responses that thought the book was more of a window (I'm including the transcript of the students' responses here, as they recorded themselves and I'd like to protect their privacy)

• Omar is a window for me because he’s from a different culture. In that way, it is pretty interesting to read a book about a different culture from us.
• Planet Omar was a window for me because I don’t celebrate Pakistani traditions or any traditions like that, but I celebrate different traditions like Christmas and Halloween. I’m sure some Pakistanians do celebrate those.
• I’ve never been to London. I’ve never been out of the United States. I’ve never had a bully either.

Video responses that thought the book was more of a mirror (I'm including the transcript of the students' responses here, as they recorded themselves and I'd like to protect their privacy)

• Omar is a mirror for me because he showed me that standing out is not always a bad thing.
• Planet Omar was kind of a mirror for me because I can relate to him having to move to a new place and go to a new school and being kind of worried because I’ve done that a bunch of times.
• Omar’s parents are scientists, my grandpa is a scientist. He studies rocks and stuff.
• When I was in first grade, someone was mean to me and then they were nice to me.

When we expose children to all kinds of books - ones that reflect their experiences and ones that let them live through new situations from perspectives different their their own - we give them the opportunity to learn more about others and more about themselves. Helping students reflect on the ways that the books they read can be both windows and mirrors is an essential part of the reading process that we must lead students through with the books we read to them with the ultimate goal of them independently reflecting with the books they read on their own.

Teaching Conceptually

In the fall of 2012, the Primary Years Program where I work received feedback from an evaluation team that our Program of Inquiry was too knowledge-based, focused on meeting state standards and less on having students develop conceptual understandings. The team recommended that we "revisit the units to ensure that they are conceptual in nature while still hitting the state’s mandated targets."

Since that time, we've learned all about writing concept-based curriculum. (Want to learn what we learned? Here are some worthwhile resources: Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction for the Thinking Classroom by Erickson and Understanding by Design by Wiggins and McTighe)

Slowly, our program of inquiry is being transformed, as teachers diligently, meticulously, and collaboratively revise planners, making sure the written curriculum is clearly focused on students learning concepts and not just isolated knowledge and skills.

Something I'm still confused by though is how we put that plan into place. I understand how the written curriculum can be concept-based, but what about the taught curriculum? To help resolve this tension in my pedagogical understanding, I consulted some important resources. (Want to learn what I've been learning? Here are some worthwhile resources: Making the PYP Happen, Making Thinking Visible by Ritchhart, Church, and Morrison, and Transitioning to Concept-based Curriculum and Instruction by Erickson & Lanning).

Now when I plan a lesson, I make sure to include the five steps below. Note, these steps do not comprise my entire lesson plan and they are not a silver bullet (i.e. complete these steps and your students will understand concepts!) But it has been what I've been doing lately and what I've been noticing is that it helps me and the students focus on conceptual understandings and shift my focus away from only having them learn isolated knowledge and skills.

1. Start with a concept.
2. Pick a specific, concrete example of a person, place, situation, or thing that illustrates that concept.
3. Create an opportunity for students to explore that concrete example. 
4. Check for understanding by having them write a concept statement.
5. Reflect on their thinking and decide next steps.

Below, I describe (at length) how I recently used these steps to teach a lesson to third graders about perspective. Check out the slideshow I used to teach the lesson.

1. Start with a concept.

I wanted the students to understand that when people look at the same thing, there are often different perspectives. No perspective is right or wrong, just different.

I was clear with the students at the onset of the lesson that that big idea was our goal. Some might disagree with me and suggest that the whole point of inquiry is to have students uncover the big idea for themselves. If you find yourself in that camp, ask a provocative question instead that clearly communicates what the focus of the lesson is. In this example, I might have asked, "When there are a lot of different perspectives, how do we know which one is right?"

2. Pick a specific, concrete example of a person, place, situation, or thing that illustrates that concept.

Because the third graders with whom I was working were learning about light and space, I decided to have them read different stories from several cultures about the Big Dipper. I was able to find a multitude of perspectives on those seven bright stars near the North Celestial Pole.

3. Create an opportunity for students to explore that concrete example. 

To explore different perspectives, I had the students make their thinking visible using a bubble map, so they could graphically compare and contrast the different perspectives they were reading about.

Typically, I would advocate for getting out of the students' way - literally. Give students the chance to discover the big idea themselves. Get out from in front of the class, while still being there to ask provocative questions, to give feedback, to remind, and to motivate.

That said (or rather pontificated), of the multiple classes I worked with on this perspective lesson, I had one class who were given more autonomy when reading the different Big Dipper stories. As you can see below, the quantity they were able to read through didn't match the classes who worked through the stories as a whole class.

The following bubble maps  came from classes that worked through this lesson as a whole group.

These student work examples came from the class that had more autonomy. These students worked in pairs. 

4. Check for understanding by having them write a concept statement.

Because my goal in this lesson was for the students to understand a concept, instead of being able to do a skill or know a fact, I needed to check their conceptual understanding. I had students show me what they were thinking by answering the prompt at the end of the lesson: "What can you tell me about perspective?" 

Typically, when I have students write concept statements at the end of a lesson, I have them share them in the whole group and I have the students negotiate together to create a whole-class concept statement that we test to make sure is timeless, abstract, universal, and transferrable. To read about how I've done that whole-class negotiation, check out examples with fourth graders, with third graders, and with fifth graders.

However, because of time restraints, I just had the individual students respond to the prompt and I didn't have them share in the large group.

As you look through the examples, remember that my aim was that I wanted the students to understand that when people look at the same thing, there are often different perspectives. No perspective is right or wrong, just different.

This student didn't correctly respond to the prompt. On a scale of 1-5, with 4 being "meets expectations", I'd give this student a 1.



These students also didn't correctly respond to the prompt, but at least their response reflects knowledge they learned during the lesson. I'd give these students a 2.





These students below all earn a 3, but for different reasons.

This student understands perspective, but gives the concrete example to explain, so I can't be assured that she understands this concept.

These students give me a response that shows they understand the concept of perspective, but I was wanting the students to go past the generic definition of perspective. These students do not.

The following students earn a 4, "meets expectations". They understand that when people look at the same thing, there are often different perspectives. No perspective is right or wrong, just different.

To me, these last two student examples earn a 5, because they go past what was expected of them. They have come to understand that although no perspective is right nor wrong, we can learn from other people's perspectives. This is an important conceptual understanding that went above and beyond the scope of this lesson.

5. Reflect on their thinking and decide on next steps.

You can see by my notes in purple above that I reflected on the students' thinking. I was able to do this with the third grade team, by following an adapted version of the Looking At Students' Thinking (LAST) Protocol (p. 263 of Making Thinking Visible by Ritchhart, Church, and Morrison). 

In that reflection meeting, I asked the teachers to look at the documentation of students' thinking and respond in three ways:

1. Students’ thinking - note specific evidence.
2. Questions.
3. Recommendations for next steps.

As we reflected, we decided that a good next step would be to explore the concept of perspectives again, but in a different concrete context. Teachers decided that looking at the idea of perspectives in relation to poetry (which is a key part of their next unit of inquiry) will be a good next step, especially for those students who had a limited understanding of this concept.

Making students' thinking visible and taking the time to analyze, discuss, and reflect on documentation of students' thinking helps us get closer to "switching the paradigm of teaching from trying to transmit what is in our heads to our students and toward trying to get what is in students' heads into our own so that we can provide responsive instruction that will advance learning," (p. 35 of Making Thinking Visible by Ritchhart, Church, and Morrison).

Above, I've just described what I've been doing lately to help me and the students focus on conceptual understandings and shift my focus away from only having them learn isolated knowledge and skills. What have you been doing lately that has proved successful at getting students to focus on concepts?

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?

Think-Puzzle-Explore

In fifth grade in Minnesota, students need to meet 31 social studies benchmarks. Among those benchmarks are seven history benchmarks that fall within the era of "Revolution and a New Nation: 1754-1800":

• Identify major conflicts between the colonies and England following the Seven Years War; explain how these conflicts led to the American Revolution.
• Describe the development of self-governance in the British colonies and explain the influence of this tradition on the American Revolution.
• Identify the major events of the American Revolution culminating in the creation of a new and independent nation. 
• Compare and contrast the impact of the American Revolution on different groups within the 13 colonies that made up the new United States.
• Describe the purposes of the founding documents and explain the basic principles of democracy that were set forth in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
• Describe the successes and failures of the national government under the Articles of Confederation and why it was ultimately discarded and replaced with the Constitution.
• Describe the major issues that were debated at the Constitutional Convention.

With so many knowledge-based standards, the fifth grade teachers collaboratively decided to focus on the concepts, or big ideas, of causation, change, perspective, and organization so that the students could construct an understanding of the statement that voicing perspectives stimulates change.

In order to examine different perspectives and change during the era of the Revolution and the New Nation, fifth grade teachers planned to have their students inquire into the following events. The whole class would study the French and Indian War and then small groups of students would inquire into the remaining events.

• Imposition of taxes
• Start of the American Revolutionary War
• Declaration of Independence
• Changing sides

Teachers were noticing though, that their students were having a hard time inquiring into these topics, as they had such little background knowledge on this time in our nation's history. So, to help guide their inquiry, the students in one fifth grade classroom used the Visible Thinking Routine: Think-Puzzle-Explore.

Think-Puzzle-Explore is a Visible Thinking Routine from the book Making Thinking Visible by Ritchhart, Morrison, and Church. It is a routine for introducing and exploring ideas. According to the authors, students are able to activate prior knowledge, wonder, and plan their research with this routine. This routine is good to use at the beginning of a unit to direct personal or group inquiry and uncover current understandings as well as misconceptions (p. 51).

Together with the teacher, the students identified what they thought they knew about each event. (It is important to note here that the students understood that what they thought they knew might be wrong; but their thinking was still acknowledged and recorded.) Then, students thought about what they wanted to know, or what puzzled them. Finally, as a class, the students came up with resources they could explore, to help answer their questions.

As students investigate the different perspectives voiced and changes stimulated during this point in American History, they are able to identify misconceptions they had previously believed to be true. Furthermore, as they gain knowledge on the important people (who), events (what), dates (when), places (where), and causes (why), they are able to link their new knowledge with the questions they had posed before.

After reading about how one fifth grade class used the Visible Thinking Routine Think-Puzzle-Explore to activate prior knowledge, wonder, and plan, how can you or have you use this Visible Thinking Routine with your students?

Teaching comprehension strategies to students using engaging and challenging texts

One morning, an elementary teacher casually asked the students if they had heard about an event currently in the news: the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that had gone missing. The students started to share the bits and pieces of information that they had heard from various sources and instinctively, the teacher started to make the students’ thinking visible by writing down on the board what the students were saying, under the heading: “What we think we know”. Sensing that some of the information on their list was faulty, the teacher instructed the students to do a little research on their Chromebooks to either confirm or debunk the ‘facts’ that they had amassed.

The students took to the internet, searching for news stories and articles that would give them the information they needed. Students also wrote down questions that came up as they read further about the current event. Moving around the room of engaged students, the teacher realized that what had started as a ‘mini-inquiry’ (Daniels, H. & Harvey, S. (2009).Comprehension and Collaboration: Inquiry Circles in Action, Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.) could easily be turned into a whole-group mini reading lesson.

Following the scope and sequence of the reading curriculum, students had been learning the comprehension strategy of comparing. Learning this particular strategy allowed students to meet the Minnesota ELA Reading Benchmark: “Compare and contrast texts in different forms ... in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics.” Over a break, the teacher designed a learning experience for the students that would allow them to apply the comprehension strategy of comparing, while still motivating them with their interest in the missing plane.

To support the students’ learning, the teacher identified three different articles about the missing plane: one from CNN, one from Al Jazeera, and one from Fox News. (NOTE: the texts were complex, but the students were capable of reading and understanding the articles selected with appropriate support. To find a general reading level of texts online try these resources: http://read-able.com or https://readability-score.com). The students were to compare the texts, noting important similarities and differences. Through the structure of this purposeful inquiry, the students were able to extract meaning from the texts they read and come to the conceptual understanding that news articles are written from the unique perspective of the journalist (and the journalist’s organization) and it is the responsibility of readers to synthesize what they read and make judgements for themselves.

After reading about teaching comprehension strategies to students using engaging, relevant, challenging, and significant texts, what is:

• An instructional practice you’ll continue to use because of the story.
• An instructional practice you currently use that you’ll reexamine in light of the story.
• An instructional practice you don’t currently use, but will try because of what you read in the story.