Professional Learning Plan:

Book Study: Making Thinking Visible by Ron Richart, Mark Church, Karin Morrison
Brittany Bisese, Lauren Valentino, Alura Soles, Carissa Davis, Kari Polio

Date: April 22, 2015
Time: 12:00-1:00
Type of meeting: Face-to-face
Topics discussed: Chapters 1-3
Why is thinking about thinking a good thing? It is good for students to think
of what type of strategy they are using.
What did you like about what you read? We liked how they asked kids to
make concept maps of what they thought about thinking. Becoming aware of
this allows kids to know what you are asking them to do. We also liked how
they called it meta-learning.
Why is it important for teachers to model thinking? It is important to model
thinking and think out loud so students know how to organize it in their
mind. It teaches students to build a habit of how to solve questions
themselves. It is also important for teachers to document what students are
saying.
How did we relate to what we read? What we read reminded us of Project
Zero: creating a thinking routine instead of thinking strategy; it is continually
used. Thinking strategies are instructional strategies used once or not so
often.
Have we ever seen our teacher teach students about thinking? Kari and
Brittany have had teachers that ask students to clarify thinking, but not
explicitly explain thinking strategies to kids or explain the importance of
thinking. Lauren has been in Kindergarten and has not seen this used. Alura
and Carissa have not seen this used either.
Why is it important to teach kids about thinking? So they know how to
structure their answer and know what strategies to use to answer questions
and to be able to defend their position.

Date: April 23, 2015
Time: 4:00-5:00
Type of meeting: Virtual
Topics discussed: Chapter 4
How would you incorporate the 3-2-1 Bridge in your classroom? (3 words, 2
questions, 1 metaphor/simile) I would have them individually write down
three thoughts, two questions, and one analogy on their own paper. Then
after we have a lesson I would have them do it again. This way they make
connections and you can see their growth. Also, they should discuss what
they wrote both times with their peers (either small groups or whole group).
Brittany thought the 3-2-1 bridge would be an excellent way to assess

students' learning from the beginning of the lesson to the end of the lesson. It
reminds me of an anticipation guide where students are asked the same
questions at the beginning and end of the lesson. Kari thought the strategy of
doing a 3 2 1 in the beginning and end of a lesson was a good idea! I think I
would do something similar in the classroom! Its a great way to assess
students and see what they learned in that lesson
Which of the strategies in chapter 4 could you see yourself using in your
classroom? Carissa said she would to use the think-puzzle-explore. I think
that looking at the questions, or things that puzzle students, and seeing how
they could explore what puzzles them could help them enjoy learning more
since they would be able to solve their misunderstandings. Kari said she
really liked the 321 and i also liked the Think Puzzle explore strategy, its
similar to a KWL but it is better because it asks students what they think they
know instead of having them think about what they know so they do not
write anything under the "what do you know column" I thought that was a
good strategy! Lauren said she liked the puzzle strategy as well and that she
had never heard of that strategy before reading.
Do you see your teachers using any of these strategies? Or similar
strategies? Lauren said that was my question as well, Kari. Because I'm in
kindergarten, I didn't really see any of this. So I was curious about what y'all
saw in your clinicals. Brittany said that she has seen my 1st grade teacher use
the chalk talk strategy where she writes down people's ideas and the
students have to respond to their friends' ideas. Also I feel like our professors
do this with us where we shout out ideas and are responding to others' ideas.
Kari said she has seen my teacher using a KWL chart before reading a book
about space. It was interesting and the students enjoyed it She had them
write on a post it and then stick it on the chart and then she read them all to
the class. I haven't seen any of the other strategies but I think they are good
variations on the KWL charts. Lauren said agree- I have seen our professors
do this but I have not seen it in the elem. school. Carissa said I did not really
see this used at Trace or Oliver. I was with 1st grade at Trace and since we
were there during the morning, I typically just saw reading and writing
workshops, recess, and lunch. At Oliver, my teacher didn't do much of
anything but give her students a worksheet or write a problem on the board
and tell them to solve it themselves. Then Lauren said her teacher kind of
assessed KWL but not with a chart. Just verbally. More so assessing prior
knowledge and then reviewing.
Kari asked, Brittany how did the chalk talk work? Was it effective? Im just
wondering! I thought that one was cool! Lauren said why do we think these
strategies are important as opposed to worksheets like what Carissa's
teacher used? Kari said: Thats true, worksheets are not really effective
because it is a lot of independent work and it can be hard to model and help
the students without just giving them the answer. Also when they work on
worksheets they don't learn how to work with others. My class at Oliver had
problems when they had to work together. However at trace they worked in

groups all the time so it was easier for them to get along with their
classmates and collaborate.
Brittany said she thought the compass points strategy reminded me of the
gots and needs activity that Dr. Bluiett does with us sometimes! Lauren
agreed.
Alura asked "Are these strategies adaptable for students with disabilities?
What if they can't write or have trouble speaking to do chalk talk? What
could be an alternative?" Lauren said the teacher could have the struggling
student explain their answer to her and then she can write it for
him/her. Brittany said, That is sad Carissa. I think the visual nature of the
strategies would be beneficial for most students with disabilities, especially
students with hearing difficulties or attention deficit disorders. However for
students with speech problems, the strategies could be used in small groups
so that the child is not as embarrassed to share. The student still needs to
practice speech (if the problem is minor). If the student cannot speak at all,
the student may be able to write responses or choose from pictorial options
while in whole group time. (It would depend on the disability)
Biggest takeaway: Kari said small groups are good, and the activities are
good to use with all different types of learners and they can easily be used or
adapted for all students! I like how involved the students are in the lesson
and the interactive learning. Brittany said there are a variety of strategies
that can be incorporated into the classroom that benefit student learning by
making thinking visible and helping students make connections between
their own thinking and that of others! Carissa said she realized how
strategies can be used in so many ways across all subjects. Strategies can
help students summarize and remember more efficiently and thinking about
the strategies their using is meta-learning. Lauren said something that is
touched in the beginning of the chapter that we haven't discussed is
important. It's something we all known but haven't put words to. And that is
the idea that wondering leads to learning. It's crucial for teachers to give
students strategies to think and wonder in order to ultimately lead to
understanding. Kari also said she think I learned that using these strategies
can help students understand how to approach different problems and be
able to look at information and find ways to break that information down
into things they understand and how to put meaning to the information. I
think this is an interesting book!

Date: April 27, 2015
Time: 2:30-3:30
Type of meeting: Face-to-face with teacher
Topics discussed: Chapters 5-6
Red light/yellow light: ask kids while they are listening or reading to identify
red light and yellow lights. Red lights are things that stop them because they

doubt they are true. Yellow lights make them slow down because they
confuse the student
Headlines: summarizing strategy; contributes to increase learning; 10 or 20
words to summarize, could be formative assessment
Circle of viewpoints: think of perspectives, write journal entry of
perspectives, writing from different viewpoints, gives students a lens to look
through history, any time there is a difference you can look at different
viewpoints
Tug of War: display a rope on different point of views and talk about different
point of views and see if one is better than another, do it with something they
will have a viewpoint on, good practice and closure
Poster and titled it the parking lot, put questions on sticky notes and put it on
the poster to clarify before moving further
Tent cars, red yellow and green on top of stand, used in classroom, put on
yellow if they had a question so they dont have to raise hand, if they dont
understand something they turn it to read, doesnt put all attention on a
student, keep on green unless there was a question
As you leave for the day or go to PE, put a sticky note on one thing you
learned or one question you still have: good exit ticket

Date: April 28, 2015
Time: 4:00-5:00
Type of meeting: Virtual
Topics discussed: Chapters 7 & 8

We discussed how thinking and learning are usually done better in groups.
Very rarely are we asked to work alone outside of class in the real world.
We discussed how teaching thinking can better benefit students futures by
teaching them how to think well and function in situations effectively as they
get older. This translates in the classroom as well as out in the world.
We discussed the importance of setting high expectations. Rather than
playing school students need to be pushed to actually think and know
about what theyre doing. Students dont just need to know the correct
answer but instead know why/how they know the correct answer. This
occurs through teacher modeling thinking out loud for the students.
We all agree the constructivist philosophy is the best one for us to be
learning because it allows us to push students to think and explore deeper.
It is important for teachers, particularly of younger grades, to focus more on
student understanding rather than producing a high grade. Good grades
dont always indicate understanding.
We think that teachers today dont do the best job with focusing more on
understanding and less on producing particular grades.
We want to incorporate everything we have learned from this book to
cultivate a future generation of deep thinkers!

Reflection:

Through this experience, I learned how beneficial it is to be apart of a

professional learning community . As a group were able to lead discussions with one
another and ask deeper questions to promote quality discussion. This helped me to
retain the quality strategies that were in the book. Other group mates of mine made
interesting connections that I would not have been able to come up with on my own.
Thus I was able to learn from their understandings and unique perspectives.
I enjoyed the book and thought it offered high quality and easy to implement
strategies in the classroom so that student can see their own thinking. Some of these
strategies I took to use in my unit such as writing headlines, and the stretch it
activities. I also would like to implement the clothesline review strategy and the tug
of war perspective taking activity.