I See I Think I Wonder

I See, I Think, I Wonder

Thinking routines are simple, easy to use structures which will help your students become better thinkers, enabling them to think creatively, critically, and deeply. Using thinking routines with your students will get them into the habit of observing, analysing, and questioning.

‘See, Think, Wonder’ is a thinking routine that we’ve used in our object-based learning sessions. It helps make thinking visible by making learners aware of their own thoughts and thought processes and those of the people they are working with.

You can find out more about Visible Thinking here: Visible Thinking | Project Zero (harvard.edu)

Here’s an example of how you might use this thinking routine in your teaching:

Select an historical object (such as this one from Newcastle University Special Collections)

• Ask your students the following questions:
  • What do you see?
  • What do you think it is/ it was used for?
  • What does it make you wonder?

Possible answer to these questions the students come up with could be:

• I see a red piece of fabric with 3 castles and the words Newcastle on Tyne written on it.
• I think it is some sort of flag
• I wonder who it belonged to; I wonder why it has 3 castles on it.

After discussing the student’s ideas, you could tell them a bit about the object and compare this to what they came up with in answer to questions a) and b). You could then try to answer the questions they came up with in response to question c).