The Thoughtful School or Sharpening the Thinking Lynne

The Thoughtful School or Sharpening the Thinking Lynne Hinton

Seeking understanding and meaning The discussion Procedural skills Exploring concepts Intellectual process • Inquiry skills

The intellectual skills listening summarising giving reasons paraphrasing seeking alternatives metaphor & analogy questioning uncovering assumptions building on the ideas of others identifying faulty reasoning examples & counterexamples hypothesising making distinctions inferring seeking & giving clarification reflecting

teaching sequence for inquiry skills Prep listening questions/statements reasons hypothetical reasoning reflecting (reporting) Year One giving examples building on ideas of others open/closed questions listing criteria exploring disagreement summarizing Reflection (responding) Year Two grouping questions question quadrant seeking and giving clarification making connections similarities and differences quality of reasons reflecting (relating) Year Three different points of view definitions counter-examples drawing conclusions reflecting (relating) Year Four alternative possibilities distinctions analogies inferences assumptions reflecting (reasoning) Year Five identifying faulty reasoning testing analogies testing counterexamples relevance reflection (reasoning) Year Six and Seven evaluating progress of discussion formal deductive reasoning generalisations hypotheses plausibility of evidence Inferences testing hypothetical claims reasoning diagrams reflection (reconstruction) It is expected that these skills will be explicitly and comprehensively taught at the year level indicated. They would then be revisited each successive year.

Reason giving (justification) Yr 1/2 I prefer … …box because you can sit on it. …box because you can put apples in it. …box because it can be a foot rest or a bus for toys. …basket because it is bigger and it can fit more stuff. …basket because it has a handle.

Prep listening questions/statements reasons hypothetical reasoning reflecting (reporting) Year One giving examples building on ideas of others open/closed questions listing criteria exploring disagreement summarizing reflecting (responding) Year Two grouping questions question quadrant seeking and giving clarification making connections similarities and differences quality of reasons reflecting (relating) Year Three different points of view definitions counter-examples drawing conclusions reflecting (relating) teaching sequence for inquiry skills Buranda State School Year Four alternative possibilities distinctions analogies inferences assumptions reflecting (reasoning) Year Five identifying faulty reasoning testing analogies testing counterexamples relevance reflecting (reasoning) Year Six and Seven evaluating progress of discussion formal deductive reasoning generalizations hypotheses plausibility of evidence Inferences testing hypothetical claims reasoning diagrams reflecting (reconstruction) It is expected that these skills will be explicitly and comprehensively taught at the year level indicated. They would then be revisited each successive year.

Inquiry skills… making distinctions

Inquiry skills… making distinctions In which ways are the following pairs the same and in which ways are they different? • an apple and a pear • me now and me in 10 years • a fort and a prison • a reason and an excuse • a caterpillar and a butterfly • imagination and thoughts • watermelon and salami • imagination and knowing • sunrise and sunset • imagination and believing

Inquiry skills… making distinctions Yr 6/7 Wisdom is distinct from knowledge because… knowledge is gained from learning and wisdom is gained through experiences knowledge is knowing something but wisdom is how to use that knowledge correctly knowledge is the core and wisdom is the dispenser wisdom comes with age but you always have knowledge not everyone has wisdom but everyone has knowledge you can’t have wisdom and no knowledge but you can have knowledge but no wisdom.

Prep listening questions/statements reasons hypothetical reasoning reflecting (reporting) Year One giving examples building on ideas of others open/closed questions listing criteria exploring disagreement summarizing reflecting (responding) Year Two grouping questions question quadrant seeking and giving clarification making connections similarities and differences quality of reasons reflecting (relating) Year Three different points of view definitions counter-examples drawing conclusions reflecting (relating) teaching sequence for inquiry skills Buranda State School Year Four alternative possibilities distinctions analogies inferences assumptions reflecting (reasoning) Year Five identifying faulty reasoning testing analogies testing counterexamples relevance reflecting (reasoning) Year Six and Seven evaluating progress of discussion formal deductive reasoning generalizations hypotheses plausibility of evidence Inferences testing hypothetical claims reasoning diagrams reflecting (reconstruction) It is expected that these skills will be explicitly and comprehensively taught at the year level indicated. They would then be revisited each successive year.

Good reasoning Hypothetical reasoning Prep class If… ears as feet as big as as an doors ox … I had four legs instead of two then… … wouldlook have tomy walk like a caterpillar (Gabriel)shiver (Grace) stomp and make the ground …IIwould like anfeet elephant (Grace) … I could climb better (Noah )

Good reasoning Drawing conclusions Yr 3/4 Does this follow? No friendly dogs cananimals fly chew like bite birds All dogs like to Arthur Some is dog Arthurbig is a adogs dog are friendly So…Arthur So some bigcannot dogstodo fly not likebite a bird So…Arthur likes chew

Good reasoning Yr 5/6 To test… If you eat all the time, then you’ll become overweight. … search for counterexamples … My sister, who’s an elite swimmer, eats all the time and she’s not overweight!

Analogous reasoning Year 2/3 Developing analogies Loneliness Yourmindisislikeaa Your cloud because… crab because they computer because… both move quickly. hide the …they have words sun. in them. are both away …they both tell you from the world. information. makeenergy. you …they both have feel a long way away. …they can both be dark and frightening.

Analogous reasoning Year 4 The truth is like the air you can’t always see it but it is always there (Isabelle) A lie is like a bottomless sea you have to keep lying and lying until it crushes you and you tell the truth (Rosie)

Prep listening questions/statements reasons hypothetical reasoning reflecting (reporting) Year One giving examples building on ideas of others open/closed questions listing criteria exploring disagreement summarizing reflecting (responding) Year Two grouping questions question quadrant seeking and giving clarification making connections similarities and differences quality of reasons reflecting (relating) Year Three different points of view definitions counter-examples drawing conclusions reflecting (relating) teaching sequence for inquiry skills Buranda State School Year Four alternative possibilities distinctions analogies inferences assumptions reflecting (reasoning) Year Five identifying faulty reasoning testing analogies testing counterexamples relevance reflecting (reasoning) Year Six and Seven evaluating progress of discussion formal deductive reasoning generalizations hypotheses plausibility of evidence Inferences testing hypothetical claims reasoning diagrams reflecting (reconstruction) It is expected that these skills will be explicitly and comprehensively taught at the year level indicated. They would then be revisited each successive year.

Reflection Reporting - saying what happened Responding - saying something about what happened Relating - saying how this relates to your experience Reasoning - developing a reasoning process to show learning about a topic Reconstructing - showing how that reasoning process has helped you to change your mind, uncover an assumption or self-correct a misconception so you can reconstruct the way you perceive a topic, issue, situation or yourself

Activities to develop inquiry skills: see index pp 101, 102 Australian Curriculum Studies Association 2007