The Power of Art and Thinking Routines in Early Childhood Learning
I’m just ending my third week of remote/crisis learning. It’s a strange time. This new way of learning and teaching is starting to feel normal... and yet it also still feels brand new. At my school, I’m faced with the reality of ending this school year physically distant from our classroom and young learners. That reality forces a reflection on what I value most and how best to bring that to our virtual classroom.
We don’t shift what we value, we shift what it looks like, sounds like, and feels like for our learners and their families or caregivers
When I think of my priorities, the things that I prioritize above all else, I come to the thinking. David Perkins said that “learning is a consequence of thinking.” That has been my priority in my practice, and it should remain so, despite the change in location, or maybe even more so with the change in location. Those ideas or beliefs that serve as the foundation for our in-person class culture remain in place. We don’t shift what we value, we shift what it looks like, sounds like, and feels like for our learners and their families or caregivers.
We are now not just teaching our students, we are teaching our students’ parents and caregivers. They are having the conversations, asking the questions, and sharing their own thought processes with their children. The need for them to make the thinking visible for their children is more important than ever. And won’t that be a powerful place to begin next year? With a larger community who are part of our classroom and school culture around thinking!
Art is such a wonderful place to start - it offers a safe container for thinking and connecting around some large ideas. In my kindergarten class we began by looking at Ferry Boat Trip by William Johnson which we had planned on looking closely at prior to school closures.
I sent a familiar thinking routine to frame the conversation that the students would have with their caregivers. See Think Wonder
Teacher (via internet):
What do you see?
What does it make you think?
What might be happening?
What questions do you have? What do you wonder?
I wonder if you could act out the story in this painting?
Here are some of their responses.
Susie: I see a boat and a city. I wonder what if I took a boat every day? I think they are getting ready to go somewhere safe. Maybe going to school.
Caregiver: Do you have any questions?
Susie: Is that NYC or Japan? Why is the sky yellow, the sun red and the ocean white?
Are they siblings or friends? Do they worry about their toys falling in the water?
Annie: I see somebody on a boat having a party. It makes me think of somebody having a party on a boat like a birthday party.
Caregiver: Is that what you think or what you wonder?
Annie: No I think that this was painted by somebody happy and trying to tell happiness to us. That’s my thinking. My wonders are why is there an American flag? Is that New York City? Why is it very close to New York City?
Caregiver: Is that all?
Annie: I love going on boats, except getting seasick. And getting sick sick.
Sarah: I see people waiting on a boat to get to New York City. I wonder why they took the boat to here? I wonder if they feel safer? It’s like my roots.
Caregiver: How is it like your roots?
Sarah: You know! Oh, well, it’s like you told me that someone came to a different place to be safe. Like maybe it was dangerous and there were battles. And it reminds me of this picture of people on a boat. Do they think it’s going to be safer?
I can see a great deal of growth in my young students' thinking. I noticed that there were so many questions or wonders. For young children, that’s such a powerful practice - to wonder about something and let that wonder drive you to learn more. There might also be some unsteadiness about what’s happening in their community/world popping up.
Another example, this time with Paradise Found: America Returns to the Garden by Renee Klein
Teacher (via internet): Look carefully at this painting. Make sure you spend some time to really look carefully.
What do you see?
What does it make you think?
What questions do you have? What do you wonder?
Caregiver: What do you want to share?
Teddy: I see a gardener who looks kind. Like a helper kind of kind person. I wonder why they made the strawberries yellow. Look at that! (points to something and looks up at caregiver) It really shouldn’t be yellow!
Caregiver: What questions do you have?
Teddy: I forgot to say that this makes me think about planting things with grandma. Remember when we did that?
Sam: I see flowers, trees, garden, and something to protect the plants. It really makes me think of gardening myself. I’m thinking about Ms. S (science teacher) and all the tasty vegetables we grew with her before we left. I wonder is the gardener there to just check on his plants, or to do the work, or was he there to eat something? And you know if we grew more food it wouldn’t matter if it was safe for Momma to go to the store.
This example reveals a worry and also a connection to happier times at school. It was a wonderful way for Sam’s mother to talk about what’s going on in his family without it becoming too big or too scary for Sam.
While much of the impact and success of these thinking conversations relies on my students' familiarity with this thinking routine, I do feel that there is a place for beginning now. In fact, I think young learners would be well served by some simple routines. It’s a matter of making them doable for caregivers. If you’re new to thinking routines, I would suggest you provide a couple of tools to employ immediately.
These are my choices from Making Thinking Visible:
Can you say more about that?’
I notice… I see… (rather than I like…)
See Think Wonder routine:
What do you see?
What does it remind you of?
What do you think is happening here?
What questions do you have?
Given the opportunity, caregivers might start to shift their own use of language around thinking.
Start simply. Pick one or two and see how it goes. Adjust and build from there.
Given the opportunity, caregivers might start to shift their own use of language around thinking. When a young child shares their ideas, asking them “what makes you say that?” or “can you tell me a little more about that?” unlocks complexity and nuance in thinking. It invites explanation, articulation, detail. It changes the conversation and the relationship. It empowers a young child to be asked to share their thinking or provide added detail/evidence. It launches the learning rather than wrapping it up.
Simple routines become automatic for young children very quickly. They begin to use the language without prompting. They begin to look at something unfamiliar and notice and wonder about it. They make their thinking visible which makes it available for exploration, reflection and growth. After all, learning is a consequence of thinking.