C49: ATL Thinking Skills (1-6)

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​Hello to my friends who work with students in grades 1-6.  If you don’t teach these grades, please refer to episode 48 for grades PK-K and episode 50 for specialist and supporting teachers. 

Welcome to this episode my friends who teach primary/elementary aged students.  We are going to take a deep dive today into the thinking skills to help you broaden your understanding and help to unpack one completely.  My aim is to get you to start thinking differently about the ATLs; not as an add-on to the program. 

In this episode, we are going to examine the ATL thinking skills from your viewpoint.  We will refer to PYP From Principles into Practice:  Learning and Teaching from pages 26-38.

As we previously discussed, the teacher sets the tone for everything in the classroom from agency, inquiry, and the ATLs.  They must consider their role in making the ATLs come to life in their classrooms.  

What teachers do to set the stage for thinking skills to thrive

• Model the language of thinking and reinforce the processes of thinking.
• Ask open-ended questions.
• Provide sufficient thinking time.
• Implement and model a range of “visible thinking” techniques.
• Explicitly ask students to discuss and reflect on the value and limitations of the resources used through their inquiries.
• Provide time for reflection at all stages of learning—before, during and after inquiries.
• Promote a range of tools for reflection and ensure that reflection activities are responsive and varied.
• Reflect on existing competencies, co-create learning goals.

When I look at this list, I can get overwhelmed by all of the requirements placed on me while getting learners to understand their role in developing thinking skills.  Then, I take a step back and think about the PYP structure in our units of inquiry.  We are always encouraged to only pick 2-3 to focus on with our learners for the length of our unit.  Since we do this with our learners, why are we not doing it for ourselves?  This list is a success criteria for us to strive to make goals to better our practice. Are you breathing easier now? 

When I do look at this list, my main goal is to explicitly ask learners to discuss and reflect on the value and limitations of the resources used through their inquiries.  This makes me take a step back, because it’s quite deep.  If I’m interpreting it correctly, I think we need to get our students to reflect regularly on the steps/things that are slowing down their inquiry process.  It may be technology, access to reading materials, access to experts, group dynamics, and so forth.  If they are regularly reflecting, they can better identify the issue and make a correction. I still need to work on this definition, but this is a doable starting point for me.  It might still be quite overwhelming for you, so begin with something else.  Remember a goal is to stretch you, not kill you. 

The thinking skills that students will demonstrate come under the sub-skill of critical and creative thinking. 

Critical thinking has the following sub-skill criteria:

• Analyzing 
• Evaluating
• Forming decisions

Creative thinking has the following sub-skill criteria:

• Generating novel ideas
• Considering new perspectives
• Information transfer
• Reflection and metacognition

Now, we’re going to take a deeper look at one of the sub-skills and how we might approach teaching it to our learners. I chose this same ATL sub-skill for early years and specialist and supporting teachers, because it allows coordinators to see how they can be applied in different ways. 

As students get older, they want to become more a part of the designing process.  Consider unpacking these ATLs at the beginning of the unit after you’ve introduced the topic.  Ask students to help you choose which ATLs should be used in the unit.  Then, they are using them as success criteria and creating goals. Once again, we are not covering all of them, but rather using them as a choice menu. Hmm...I really like this idea.

Considering new perspectives

Ask “what if” questions and generate testable hypotheses

• If we get learners to begin “What if”, it naturally sets the stage for more agency and inquiry in our classrooms.  Students will soon be pairing two unlikely things together and testing out their hypotheses. 

For example:  I taught my fourth graders about mixtures and solutions.  To test their understanding, I gave them a random box of materials to show their thinking.  By the end, students were wearing sleeping masks to better understand the difference between a mixture and solution. This all came from asking “What if” questions.

Apply existing knowledge to design new products processes, media and technologies

• We want students to recognize that technology and processes have changed over time due to new information and advancements in science/technology.  This process can be replicated by allowing your learners to innovate better ways to use existing products, processes, media, and technologies.  This could drive all of your units, not just How the World Works and Sharing the Planet. I can see connections between products and processes during the industrial revolution to now in Where We are in Place and Time.  The various ways to create art and how art has evolved through How We Express Ourselves. 

Consider multiple alternatives, including those that might be unlikely or impossible

• Ooh...this gets me thinking about concepts.  Can you imagine how magical learning would be if we had learners connect what they were doing to concepts all day long?  They would have multiple iterations of what patterns look like:  natural cycles, place value, poetry structure,  and so much more. 

We want our learners to think beyond the superficial connections that exist, because this is where learning is hardwired to long-term memory.  They will be able to look at any two isolated ideas and be able to make a connection between them.  This is a skill that is developed over many years with repeated practice. 

Practice flexible thinking—develop multiple opposing, contradictory and complementary arguments

• Learners hunger to talk things out.  What a better way to get them thinking by posing contradictory and complementary arguments.  This means you pose a situation and learners but either defend or oppose it.  This can be simple:  “Which one is better: white or chocolate milk at lunch?”  By getting learners to practice flexible thinking, they become more open-minded to the thoughts of others. 

Practice “visible thinking” strategies and techniques

• Muscle memory comes to mind when I think of Harvard’s Project Zero visible thinking routines, Muscle memory is the process of conditioning the brain through regular repetition and hands-on learning that ideas get hardwired to the brain.  They call them routines, because the practice should be used daily, so learners can eventually self-select tool that is best fit for their task outcome.  Our goal is independence and the VTRs help get us there. 

Generate metaphors and analogies
If you’re like me, I get metaphors, similes, and analogies mixed up.  I think this example will help to clarify it in your mind. 

• Metaphor: My puppy is a hug
• Simile: My puppy is like a comforting hug
• Analogy: My puppy’s love for me is the same as a comforting hug from your best friend

We use this figurative language to get learners to make unlikely connections between objects and to be able to explain their thinking in a different way.