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Innovation vs. Invention Tug-of-War Provocation

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Innovation vs. Invention Tug-of-War Provocation

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A Tug of War VTR was used as a provocation to introduce our unit on innovation (How the World Works) by encouraging students to explore different perspectives about change, progress, and the purpose of innovation. Students physically positioned themselves along a continuum between “Leave Things As They Are” and “Innovate & Improve,” while discussing real-world examples, benefits, and challenges connected to invention and innovation.

Throughout the activity, students thought deeply about what it truly means to innovate, why humans innovate, and the impact innovation can have on people, society, and the environment. As students listened to different viewpoints and responded to new tugs, many reconsidered and adjusted their thinking. By the end of the discussion, most students concluded that there should be a balance between preserving important traditions, history, and existing ideas, while also remaining open to meaningful improvements and new possibilities. Students recognized that innovation can help solve problems and improve lives, but that change should happen thoughtfully without dismissing or “ruining” valuable things from the past.

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THINKING ROUTINES TO USE WITH QUESTIONING

Students used the following thinking routine foundations as they worked on their persuasive writing. The task had been designed to have students asking questions as they reached each step of the project, from understanding what the Rahman family is looking for, all the way to thinking about how they can use their knowledge of the world and landforms to make connections that would convince the Rahman family to move to their chosen location.

1. Claim–Evidence–Reasoning

What is your claim?

What evidence supports it?

Why does that matter for the family?

2. “Would This Work?” Filter

Would this place work for the Rahman family?

Why / why not?

3. Perspective Questions

How might a child feel living here?

How might a parent feel?

Would everyone in the family agree?

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This picture shows students engaging in a visual thinking routine by making their thinking visible through written questions about landforms. The chart is organized into categories:

- Wonder (about landforms)

- Connection (to community)

- Care (for the future).

These guide students to think in different ways about the topic. By placing their questions in these sections, students can see how questions can move from simple factual inquiries (e.g., “How does a cave form?”) to deeper, more complex thinking (e.g., “What does plate movement affect in our lives?” or “How can we make sure oceans don’t get polluted?”).

This structure helps students understand that strong questions often connect ideas, consider impact, or explore cause and effect. As an introductory lesson to landforms, it encourages curiosity, builds background knowledge, and models how thoughtful questioning can deepen learning from the very beginning of a unit.

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The G3s have been exploring a new VTR called the 3 Whys; we have been using this again and again this unit to explore how each of the ancient civilizations we looked has has impacted us, positiely and potentially negatively too (i.e. wars). To gain a holistic understanding and reflect visually, we use our unit wall and build on it each week, looking at the impact on people today, on us specifically, and on future growth/development too. The students have found it engaging to watch as they build their ideas on the unit wall, reflecting more on the impact as we come back with each round (mostly to try to will up the wall, but we will take our engagement wins!).

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In my PD session, I explained how I have redesigned student goal-setting and reflection by drawing on the principles of Project Zero’s Visual Thinking Routines. I discussed my thinking around breaking goal-setting into clear, systematic steps to explicitly teach students how to think during reflection and set (and understand) good goals, rather than simply asking them to set goals with a lot of autonomy. I also shared how the idea of “making thinking visible” and the use of different VTRs for different purposes influenced my practice. Using a real classroom example, I demonstrated how we apply this approach to class behaviour goals through the See–Think–Wonder routine: first looking closely at what is happening in the classroom, then thinking about why certain behaviours are a problem, and finally wondering how we can set effective, actionable next steps. This year, I found that students want to focus more on the wonder section, and reflect on whether the actions they chose are working or not, and make new suggestions for improvement as well. During the sessions, we had some rich discussions that discussed the ideas of keeping actions very focused (1 only for a category), adjusting the VTR to expand or shorten based on the age of students, as well as the context, and focusing on the idea of showing thinking visually as a core way to guide structured routines. Thank you for all the rich discussions!

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In this lesson, students used the Visible Thinking Routine Generate–Sort–Connect–Elaborate, which comes from the Sorting and Organizing Ideas category. This routine helped them move from a big brainstorm of general healthy habits into more focused, meaningful thinking. As they generated different habits and sorted their ideas into categories of habits like movement, nutrition, rest, and mental health/well-being, they began to realize that living a healthy life isn’t about just one choice, but rather a mix of connected habits that support each other.

When students started connecting and elaborating on their ideas, the conversations became much deeper. They just finished an activity where they could see how one system affects another, and so they could start reflecting on how habits affect them in the same way, and what mattered most to them personally. By the end, they weren’t just listing habits, they were choosing one that felt important in their own lives and forming questions to guide their research. This routine really helped them sift through all their ideas and take ownership of their learning in a thoughtful, purposeful way.

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We did the classic Band-Aids community circle lesson, where everyone wrote their problems, and for each solution, the students all received a Band-Aid. Rather than just a regular discussion, I thought it might be good for students to build thinking skills with the idea of problem-solving. At first, I asked them if my solutions to their problems were fair, and the picture above was their response. As we talked about what it means to be fair, tugs were given (i.e., everyone's problem was heard, no matter what, everyone got the same solution). After hearing this, the students changed their position to the picture below. This opened up a student-led discussion on how even though I was objectively fair, I didn't help solve the problems, so it's still unjust.

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While wondering about how VTR can be further incorporated into classroom routines, I found that we were doing a variation of See-Think-Wonder when goal setting. To make the learning clearer, adding clear labels and using this vocabulary with the students helps us to see our thinking skills, as the questioning and sequence of our goal-setting routine is set up in a way to break down thinking into appropriate steps. Now students can explicitly see how they think about their days at school.

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Celebrate → You are all integrating thinking skills in your teaching daily. You do not have to wait until our next PD session. Add wins big or small in this column!

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Hi Team! This space is designed to be a living hub for our professional learning journey.
Here you will find resources, be able to share your own experiences, and celebrate the growth we are making together. Let's keep unboxing ideas together!

Collaboration Norms:

Keep posts respectful and professional.

Share student work without names for privacy.

Keep posts short and simple — don’t worry about being “perfect.”

Support each other with comments, likes, or resources.

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Upload evidence of learning to this column (student work, displays, samples, charts, photos — please make sure names are removed).

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Explore → This column will be used for sharing PD slides, readings, and tools.

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Reflect → Use this column to respond to prompts, ask questions, or note “aha” moments.

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In K1, Venessa and Clare introduced the Tug of War and See, Think, Wonder thinking routines to guide students in exploring the concept of responsibility. Through Tug of War, children considered different perspectives and began to understand how actions can affect others. Using See, Think, Wonder, they observed classroom scenarios and generated thoughtful ideas about what responsible behavior looks like. Together, these routines supported students in co-creating their essential agreements, giving them ownership and voice in shaping their classroom community

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In Grade 2, we're exploring fictional narratives and perspective-taking through multiple versions of The Three Billy Goats Gruff. Each retelling offers different character motives and viewpoints. After reading, students engaged in the "Tug o’ War" Visual Thinking Routine—placing their named stickies to show support for one side or even positioning them on the fence. It was powerful to see them wrestle with complex motivations and realize how perspective shapes understanding.

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Building a Culture of Thinking PD 2025-2026

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Canva has so many VTR templates now! Attached is only one example but if you search Visual Thinking Templates you can find more, and you can edit them as you wish!

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Thinking Pathways - Educational Resources 

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Thinking Pathways - Educational Resources 

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Go to Educational resources. You can find several core VTRs with instructions (including when the strategy would be useful, how to launch) templates, assessment strategies, and more!

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Exploring a range of Thinking Pathways allows teachers and students to move beyond surface learning that focuses on the memorisation of knowledge and facts, to more deep and reflective learning that is focused on developing understanding through more

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Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS): Critical Thinking and Inclusive Discussion

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VTS is an education nonprofit providing schools and museums with curriculum, professional development, and training in critical thinking skills.

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In Grade 3, we explored the idea of a “tug of war” by having students line up in the center of the classroom, with one side representing interests and the other culture. We read statements such as, “I dress in traditional clothes” or “I wear clothes that I like,” and students stepped toward the side that matched their response. After several rounds, they placed their picture on the wall to show where they felt they belonged—closer to interests, closer to culture, or somewhere in between. This was a powerful activity because it gave students a physical and visual way to reflect on their identity, recognizing that it can shift depending on context. The wall serves as a living display, and after each TDI class, students can choose to move their picture based how the feel. This reinforces the idea that identity is not fixed but continues to grow and change.

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Julian used the Tug of War as a replacement for one of my usual ice breaker games. He found it extremely useful, especially when exploring the concept of "I like PE". Students placed themselves along the line based on how they felt about their PE experiences and had some great discussions. Most put themselves at the higher end, but in each class at least a few found themselves closer to the bottom. We reflected as a class about how to help people have better PE experiences (inclusion in games, following rules, varying roles and responsibilities, etc.) and it has had a great knock-on effect in class. Now he is seeing more capable students regularly helping less capable students and really trying to get everyone involved in games. Hopefully he will be able to do this again later in the year and see if anyone has changed their opinion for the better.

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Not sure where to start? This Matrix gives a brief overview of some of the most commonly used Thinking Routines and suggests when to use them.

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Thinking Routine Matrix - Quick Overview

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"Would you rather" Enivronmental Scenarios

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"Would you rather" Enivronmental Scenarios

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In our Grade 5A we used “Would You Rather” prompts as part of our Tug of War thinking routine. Students physically positioned themselves on one of two sides of the room based on their choice, which sparked lively discussions about environmental and social issues. Prompts such as “Would you rather live in a world with no pollution but limited technology, or a world with advanced technology but high levels of pollution?” encouraged students to think critically about trade-offs.

One challenge we noticed was that students became very excited and sometimes got caught up in “fighting” for their side, rather than debating thoughtfully. By re-centering, using sentence stems, and having a pre-discussion about why we are exploring these make-believe scenarios, students were able to engage meaningfully, listen to different perspectives, and articulate their reasoning clearly.

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We have been using See Think Wonder a lot to gather student voices and answer some questions about our collaborative unit with G1 about exploring the past. I have been finding videos and information to add more to what they are interested in and to answer some of their questions (like where did people poop a long time ago!)

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This shows how we arrived at one of our featured artists for this unit, Keith Haring, and shows records of the student voice along the way.

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In K2A during circle time once the month had changed to September, the student chosen to help determine which season it was selected Autumn. Some of the other children began to grumble, so I asked them to vote. Whoever thought it wasn't Autumn was asked to stand up and explain why they thought it wasn't yet Autumn. They came up with explanations such as "the leaves aren't falling down", "it's very hot outside", "all the leaves are green". In the end, our helper changed his mind and decided it was still summer.

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Here, G1 students are using the Tug of War strategy to consider whether it was okay for Martha, a character in a story, to take her time before apologizing. Most students said it was okay that she delayed her apology because it made it more sincere and calm. However, some students disagreed, saying it was disrespectful to the others. The children who stood between ‘yes’ and ‘no’ helped us think about factors that could influence the answer, for example, age (the younger you are, the more time you might need).

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In K3, we used tug of war last week to discuss and decide whether we should clean our classroom. The children each answered by yes or no, and has to give an answer to explain their opinion. It was also interesting that when a friend said "no we shouldn'd clean our classroom. Because I do not want to.", his peers tried to find more reasons to convince him! It was quite an easy topic, but the goal was to help the children articulate their thoughts in English, and justify their opinion.

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UOI-I Used to Think...Now I Think...

being used as a tool for reflective thinking during the sorting out phase in the inquiry cycle.

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Community Circle-Exploring the LP Principled via Step Inside strategy.

G1 students stepped inside Reubin, a character in a story who really wants a bike like his friend Sergio’s, but cannot have one because his family is poor. Then, one day, he finds and keeps a 100-dollar bill.

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G4 Art- "The Explanation Game" for better understanding of Color

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G4 Art- "The Explanation Game" for better understanding of Color

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The Grade 4 students are learning about how light changes color and how they can use that knowledge in painting. To begin this Unit, the students looked at pictures showing colors with light and shadow. They made observations and tried to explain why some colors look different depending on context. This had sparked a lot of curiosity and interest.

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In preparation for our upcoming field trip to Mother Farm, I introduced the Compass Points Visible Thinking Routine (VTR) as a way to gather students’ thoughts, questions, and feelings. This simple but powerful strategy gave every student a chance to share their perspective as a stakeholder in the trip.

The responses were eye-opening. Students expressed everything from excitement about hands-on activities to concerns about timing, meals, and staying with friends. Their “Need to Knows” highlighted the practical details they were still curious about, while their “Suggestions” gave us great ideas for teamwork and responsibility.

We then brought these points into our Community Circle, where we addressed concerns, clarified logistics, and reassured students about their worries. This helped create a sense of shared ownership and responsibility for the trip.

The Compass Points routine proved to be a really useful tool for student voice, allowing us to surface both the excitement and the anxieties around the experience. By naming these ahead of time, we could move forward as a group feeling prepared, supported, and ready to enjoy the learning opportunity.

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G1 using I Used to Think... Now I Think... during a Community Circle lesson. To start, students were asked to write the difference between equal and fair. Then, we did three role play scenarios. Each role play was done twice: once with a teacher being fair, and once with a teacher being equal. After the scenarios and a brief discussion, students wrote how their thinking had changed. We wanted to move away from things being different as being labeled as "unfair" and towards understanding that we all have different needs.

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During my weekly Friday recess duty, two K3A students brought a rock to me. It was shiny, and glittery. The students wondered what kind of rock it was and if there was a crystal inside. So I asked them to leave it with me for now so I can help them with their independent inquiry. There are a few possibilities about what it could be, but if I can find some time, I would like to show the students how they can research this for themselves (library etc.) My knowledge of rocks and minerals is limited but we would welcome someone that can help us with our inquiry!

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I used "think pair share" during my reading comprehension lesson. I read a book and asked "how are the 2 teddy bears the same/different" (objective: comparing 2 or more characters). I play a music to let the children move while thinking. When the music stopped, I asked the children to pair themselves and share their answer with their partner. I repeated the process with a few more questions, leading to "how is the main character and why do you think that". After verbalizing their thoughts, I asked the children to put them in writing. Picture shows a piece of writing.

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I used to think... Now I think...

I show the students the first image of a fire in Paris. I then show them both photos together and point out that these are both unedited photos of the same fire taken at the same time. I then ask students the "I used to think ... How I think...." prompt.

I got a lot of interesting observations about the meaning of the images, such as "I thought the fire was larger than the people, but now I see the fire is quite small."

More excitingly, I got a lot of interesting media literacy observations and questions from students. Some highlights are "A photo can be "real" (unedited) but still be "fake" (misleading). " "how do we know if information is "real" if we can't tell by looking?"

I'm interested if any of the thinking routines can be applied to a fact checking routine. Most are about discussing opinions and viewpoints, but not about specifically evaluating information.

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To wrap up our storytelling unit, students are working in groups to retell a familiar fable from the perspective of a different, often misunderstood, character. To build empathy and deeper thinking, we used the Step Inside strategy.

As a class, we first modelled this with Arty the Troll from a version of The Three Billy Goats Gruff that we read, retold from the troll’s perspective. Together, we discussed what he saw, heard, smelled, felt, and touched; what he was thinking; how he was feeling; and what he did in the story.

In groups, students then applied the same task to their chosen fable and character, brainstorming to shift their viewpoint and explore their character’s experiences in their new stories.

Students were highly engaged and began to see their characters as complex individuals with feelings, motivations, and unique perspectives. These brainstorms will guide them as they begin drafting their retellings, helping them stay true to their character’s perspective and voice..

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New month, continued growth.

As we step into a new month, let’s continue building our practice with Visible Thinking Routines.

What did you notice about your students’ thinking when you used Tug of War (or other VTR), and how might this shape your next steps in incorporating Visible Thinking Routines?

Please take a moment to add your reflection here—whether it’s a sentence, a story, or even a photo of student work. Every contribution helps us learn from each other and celebrate the deep thinking happening across our school.

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In K2A we used the Chalk Talk visible thinking routine to explore what our bodies need. One of the teachers drew an outline of a body, and after snack time the children added drawings inside to show what helps the body stay healthy and strong. As they shared, I scribed their words onto the chart. This routine highlighted what the children already know and what they have learned in our unit about body parts and organs, giving everyone a voice and making our thinking visible in a collective way.

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The G3 students have finished making some black and white silhouette cut-outs. To prepare them for using multiple colors, we did a Think, Puzzle, Explore activity. First, we discussed the creative challenges and limitations they faced in only using black and white. Next, they did a group activity in assembling colored shapes until the picture made sense. After that they had to explain why they assembled the picture the way they did. Then we talked about how we can use colors and multiple layers to make our next Artwork.

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Across different grade levels, I've noticed several students reflect on the quality of their work and asked me if they could start over. This has lead to them creating something that was far better than their original work.

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After spending a whole unit exploring ourselves and our identity, the Grade 3s ended their unit with a VTR that allowed them to reflect introspectively. We used think-puzzle-explore to organize our thoughts on how we think about ourselves now, what we still wonder about ourselves, and how we can take independent action to develop our identity-related goals. Students found this quite interesting because they found themselves wondering simple questions such as "why do I care about (insert hobby) so much", or even went deeper into questions such as "Is my personality really who I am", and wondered if these were valid thoughts to have. In some cases, it got them excited about their current interests too, as it reminded them why they enjoyed them in the first place. Engaging with this VTR made me build connections with the fact that VTR is something that could benefit adults even now, with our current processes, so it was cool to see students physically see their own thoughts.

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As I was looking through the different VTRs, it made me wonder if VTR could help us as teachers plan for the units, too. With the nature of an IB curriculum, I think we combine these processes anyway, but with discussions on UDL and with changes to the unit processes, it made me realize that I have been using VTR processes to generate ideas on the flow of units.

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We used the Claim–Support–Question routine over two lessons to prepare for student TEDx speeches (deconstructing speeches + considering how they could apply similar techniques to their own speeches).

Lesson 1: Focused on Lauren Singer’s Why I Live a Zero Waste Life. Students worked in groups, each with a lens (purpose & audience, structure & style, evidence & persuasion, values & assumptions, or impact & action). They produced posters with their claim (e.g. “Lauren shows purpose and audience really well”), their support (specific evidence such as the “trash jar” or her fridge story), and then crafted a prompting question designed to help peers apply her techniques to their own speeches (e.g. “How could you use humor in your speech to connect with the audience?”).

Lesson 2: shifted from group to individual analysis using Greta Thunberg’s speech. Students repeated the Claim–Support–Question process independently, but this time their questions were tailored to transfer Greta’s techniques into their own speech prep. For example: Claim: Greta’s speech is powerful because she uses short, urgent phrases. Support: She repeats “How dare you” to emphasize her anger. Question: “How could you use repetition to add urgency to your own OREO speech?”

We chose the Claim–Support–Question routine because it pushes students beyond opinion into evidence-based reasoning. It slowed them down to make a clear claim about how a speech works, support it with specific examples. This helped students move from simply saying they liked the two speeches to understanding why they were effective.

By adapting the question element into a “prompting question” for peers, the routine also bridged analysis with action, guiding students to apply the techniques directly to their own TEDx speeches. While the written responses were not yet in great detail, this was an important early step in a year-long process of building G5A’s analytical skills.

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This TES feature by Dr Kate Erricker highlights how metacognition and thinking routines—central to our research with Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education—equip learners with the skills they’ll need to thrive in an unpredictable world.

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Why we’ve created 17 thinking routines to guide student learning

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Nord Anglia’s Dr Kate Erricker explains how its teachers are being given guidance on new teaching routines designed to equip students with the skills for a fast-changing world

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To bridge our Who We Are unit, exploring people who help us and responsibility, to our How We Organize Ourselves unit on transportation, students participated in a Think-Feel-Care activity. They looked at various community helpers in action and we reflected on questions such as:

Think: “What is this person doing?”

Feel: “How do you think they feel when they do their job?”

Care: “What can we do to take care of them or say thank you?”

Students also explored how helpers reach people in need, the vehicles they use in emergencies, where they go to provide support, and how they help during trouble. This activity helped them connect the concepts of responsibility, care, and community support with the role of transportation in our society.

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HWOO Provocation  How Can We Get There?  Think-Pair-Share

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HWOO Provocation  How Can We Get There?  Think-Pair-Share

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For our How We Organize Ourselves provocation, we set up a blue tarp to represent the ocean between Japan and the Philippines. The children were first asked what the blue color might mean to them. Some said the tarp looked like water, one said it was a cloud, and another thought it was a picnic mat. After that, we looked at a world map on the screen and talked about Japan, the Philippines, and other countries. The children shared their ideas about the blue areas surrounding the land. Using the Think–Pair–Share routine, the children paired up and discussed how they could travel from Japan to the Philippines—some said by boat, swimming, or even walking. They then shared their ideas with the class, acted them out, and finally drew how they would make the journey.

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How We Organize Ourselves-communities-After learning a little about needs and wants the class did a sorting activity. After that, we had a tug of war session to see how we viewed cake. Is it a need or a want? A lot of good reasons were shared and critical thinking was displayed! (Need if no grocery stores are around, fruit is good, fats good, sugar is bad, on special days it’s a need! Etc.)

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During a recent Unit of Inquiry lesson, our Grade 1 students explored the difference between “needs” and “wants.” We began by placing stickers on posters around the room to show whether we thought certain items were needs or wants. After sharing our opinions, we created a cast of characters who each had their own perspectives.

To help get started, I modeled a sentence such as, “I am thinking of going to the beach as a fisher.” Then students used sentence starters like “I think…” and “A question I have is…” to decide whether that character would view going to the beach as a need or a want.

It sparked a wonderful discussion and even encouraged some students to raise their hands who don’t always feel confident sharing in front of the whole class!

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The stoplight is a classic tool for evaluating sources. Students are generally able to come up with red light indicators that a website might not be a reliable source. Interestingly, they find it difficult to identify indicators of reliable sources. This is the motivation behind the list of teacher approved sources that I share with teachers, and post to schoology for students to access.

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In Grade 2, we have begun exploring role models for our Who We Are unit. To spark deeper thinking, students used the Know, Don’t Know, Wonder routine to reflect on Shohei Ohtani, not just as an athlete, but as an individual with admirable traits and skills. Students’ questions showed curiosity, and their comments reflected a growing depth of thought about the motivations and influences of inspiring individuals like Ohtani. This VTR helped shift our lens from simple wonder to deeper reflection, encouraging students to think critically about what makes someone exemplary.

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As part of our Where We Are in Place and Time unit, the Grade 4 students deepened their understanding of the Central Idea: “Exploration leads to discovery and new understandings.” Through the key concept of perspective, students explored the different consequences that discoveries can bring.

Using the Visual Thinking Strategy Tug of War, we discussed the question, “Is space exploration worth the cost and risk?” Students physically positioned themselves in the classroom according to how strongly they felt about the statement, then shared and justified their perspectives. I introduced additional “tugs” to present alternative viewpoints, encouraging students to listen, reflect, and reconsider their stance.

By the end of the activity, many students maintained their original position, while a few shifted after hearing new perspectives. This experience helped students understand that exploration often involves complex and diverse viewpoints, deepening their appreciation for the concept of perspective.

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After taking part in a roleplay in which students acted out different classes in a monarchy as a provocation for our unit related to government systems, students discussed perspectives that were present in the roleplay (monarchs, nobility, and peasants) and discussed their stakes in maintaining a monarchy and their experiences under one.

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Students examined different pictures depicting various functions of the Japanese government. Students described the pictures with what they could glean or "see," before explaining what they thought about the government performing that function, including why it might be necessary, how it might impact lives, connections from their own everyday lives, etc. Finally, students wrote wonder questions which would help to guide their research as we continued through the "Finding Out" portion of the inquiry cycle for this unit.

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As we move into November, I’ve noticed how consistently using Visible Thinking Routines has started to shift both student engagement and the quality of classroom dialogue. In many contexts, the routines are no longer just tools for eliciting responses — they’re becoming part of how students approach and process learning.

In particular, integrating these routines have helped students slow down their thinking, look beneath surface details, and build connections across subjects. I’m seeing more evidence of transfer — students drawing on thinking language from previous units and applying it to new contexts.

This month, my focus is on:

Depth over variety: Selecting one or two routines and using them repeatedly so students can internalize the moves.

Connecting past and future learning: Encouraging students to identify “seeds for new thinking” — ideas or questions that link to prior units or spark curiosity for what’s ahead.

Moving forward, I want to find effective ways to assess the thinking as learning.

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Here is a bank of related graphic organizers.

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Teach Britannica: Learning Materials for All Grades & Subjects

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Empowers teachers with fully customizable, evidence-based learning materials including lessons, worksheets, instructional strategies, & graphic organizers.

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We read the book "The Invisible Boy". We talked about the title (What did they think it meant to be an "invisible boy"), then we read a few pages, stopping at the scene where everyone is picked in a team, except for "the invisible boy". I used this scene to do a "see, think, wonder". This led to discussions about why others were not seeing the boy. After finishing the book, students were teamed in smaller groups, where they could all share moments they felt invisible. As we shared, we thought about ways to make sure nobody was left out in K3A (paying attention to those who are alone on the playground, asking if they want to play, stop walking away when someone talks to us...)

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Digging for Gems- Exploring Role Models Through Layers of Understanding

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Digging for Gems- Exploring Role Models Through Layers of Understanding

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For this lesson, we adapted the "Peel the Fruit Visible" Thinking Routine into a “Digging for Gems” model, where students imagined digging deeper with each step. Each group began at the surface with a given profession, then moved through traits, values, skills, and strategies, selecting and justifying words at each layer. This process helped them see how each layer of understanding builds toward something more meaningful. At the deepest point, students uncovered the “gem” of motivation. They recognised that exceptional skill brings freedom, options, voice, creativity, and influence. By visualising their inquiry as a journey underground, students understood that the most valuable insights lie beneath the surface. This routine not only scaffolded their thinking but also made abstract ideas tangible, showing how role models inspire others through the motivations that drive their hard work and impact.

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CSQ - Social Characteristics of a Community

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CSQ - Social Characteristics of a Community

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In Grade 1, we are currently exploring the Transdisciplinary Theme “How We Organize Ourselves.” Our Central Idea is that communities provide services to meet people’s needs, and we have been unpacking our third Line of Inquiry: characteristics of a community. To deepen our understanding of the social characteristics of a community, we focused on how our own actions can support or disrupt the community around us.

We began by reading The Good Egg and discussing how the characters work together and share space respectfully. Students were then introduced to the thinking routine Claim, Support, Question. Using scenarios that showed people making poor choices in public spaces, students first made a claim about what the person should do instead. Next, they supported their idea with reasons that explained why this behavior is important in a community. Finally, they generated questions that might arise from the situation.

This routine encouraged students not only to identify safe and respectful choices, but also to explain why those choices matter to others. It helped them connect their thinking to the bigger idea of how communities stay safe, supportive, and organized when everyone contributes in positive ways.

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G1 students used the CSQ thinking routine to explore the idea of whether sleep is a need. Each child made a claim (sleep is a need or sleep is not a need), then added support by explaining their reasoning with examples or evidence. Afterward, they wrote down questions they still wondered about, such as how sleep helps the body or what happens if someone doesn’t sleep enough.

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Integrated with the communities unit we have been discussing human perception of colors and shapes. We have looked at the use of pictograms and colors in society and nature, and how they are important, as well as how colors and shapes can be used in art to express ideas. G1 students designed communities based on their ideas in the homeroom and one of the requirements is that they add signs to their buildings. They have to consider the most appropriate shapes and colors, to ensure that others can easily understand the nature\purpose of the building through a minimal amount of information.

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Students used the thinking routine Name, Describe, Act to build observation and creative thinking skills. After taking a walk around the school, they listed objects that caught their attention (Name). Back in the classroom, they brainstormed adjectives to describe each object from memory (Describe).

The final step, Act, was the most challenging. Students generated verbs to show how the objects might “act,” even though many were inanimate. This required critical and creative thinking, as they explored movement, function, and personification.

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During our “Three Spoons” heat conduction experiment, students used the visible thinking routine Claim–Evidence–Reasoning (CER) to structure their scientific thinking. First, they made a claim about which material was the best conductor of heat. Next, they provided evidence by describing specific observations, such as which butter melted first and the order in which changes occurred. Finally, they explained their reasoning by connecting their observations to scientific ideas about how heat transfers differently through materials. This routine helped students move beyond simply describing what happened and begin thinking like scientists by justifying their conclusions with proof and explanation.

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World Class - Canva

Canva has some new whiteboard templates that can be useful for making thinking visible.