Tools to Enhance Young Children's Thinking

• Published in: YC young children 2010-09, Vol.65 (5), p.26-31
• Main Author: Salmon, Angela K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Art teachers; Buildings; Children; Children & youth; Childrens Art; Creative Thinking; Critical thinking; Curiosity; Engaging Learners Using Traditional and Innovative Tools; Gravity; Learning; Photography; Preschool Children; Reasoning; Tall buildings; Teacher Effectiveness; Teacher Role; Teachers; Teaching Methods; Thinking Skills; Towers; Wind; Yarns
• ISSN: 1538-6619; 1941-2002

During a neighborhood walk, preschool children from Ms. Silvia's class took pictures of buildings, businesses, and people. Back in the classroom, Ms. Silvia displayed their pictures on a large screen and used the "See/Think/Wonder" thinking routine to help the children think and talk about their experiences on the walk. Thinking routines are short, goal-oriented, easy-to-learn, and child-centered classroom strategies that extend and deepen children's thinking. They can become part of the structure of everyday classroom life. When thinking is part of children's routine, they become alert to situations that call for thinking. As a result, they develop positive attitudes toward thinking and learning. Effective teachers are powerful mediators of children's thinking and learning. They design learning environments that stimulate children's curiosity. As this example illustrates, teachers can also engage children in thinking routines throughout the curriculum to provoke thinking and promote metacognitive activities.