S harpening the Thinking

1. Sharpening the Thinking The Thoughtful School or Lynne Hinton

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

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

4. Prep listening questions/statements reasons hypothetical reasoning reflecting (reporting) Year Four alternative possibilities distinctions analogies inferences assumptions reflecting (reasoning) Year One giving examples building on ideas of others open/closed questions listing criteria exploring disagreement summarizing Reflection (responding) 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) Year Two grouping questions question quadrant seeking and giving clarification making connections similarities and differences quality of reasons reflecting (relating) t e a c h i n g s e q u e n c e f o r i n q u i r y s k i l l s t e a c h i n g s e q u e n c e f o r i n q u i r y s k i l l s Year Three different points of view definitions counter-examples drawing conclusions reflecting (relating) 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.

5. 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.

6. Buranda State School Prep listening questions/statements reasons hypothetical reasoning reflecting (reporting) Year Four alternative possibilities distinctions analogies inferences assumptions reflecting (reasoning) Year One giving examples building on ideas of others open/closed questions listing criteria exploring disagreement summarizing reflecting (responding) 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) Year Two grouping questions question quadrant seeking and giving clarification making connections similarities and differences quality of reasons reflecting (relating) t e a c h i n g s e q u e n c e f o r i n q u i r y s k i l l s t e a c h i n g s e q u e n c e f o r i n q u i r y s k i l l s Year Three different points of view definitions counter-examples drawing conclusions reflecting (relating) 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.

7. Inquiry skills… making distinctions

8. 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 • a fort and a prison • a caterpillar and a butterfly • watermelon and salami • sunrise and sunset • me now and me in 10 years • a reason and an excuse • imagination and thoughts • imagination and knowing • imagination and believing

9. 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.

10. Buranda State School Prep listening questions/statements reasons hypothetical reasoning reflecting (reporting) Year Four alternative possibilities distinctions analogies inferences assumptions reflecting (reasoning) Year One giving examples building on ideas of others open/closed questions listing criteria exploring disagreement summarizing reflecting (responding) 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) Year Two grouping questions question quadrant seeking and giving clarification making connections similarities and differences quality of reasons reflecting (relating) t e a c h i n g s e q u e n c e f o r i n q u i r y s k i l l s t e a c h i n g s e q u e n c e f o r i n q u i r y s k i l l s Year Three different points of view definitions counter-examples drawing conclusions reflecting (relating) 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.

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

12. Good reasoning Drawing conclusions Yr 3/4 Does this follow? No friendly animals bite Some big dogs are friendly So some big dogs do not bite No dogs can fly like birds Arthur is a dog So…Arthur cannot fly like a bird All dogs like to chew Arthur is a dog So…Arthur likes to chew

13. 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!

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

15. 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)

16. Buranda State School Prep listening questions/statements reasons hypothetical reasoning reflecting (reporting) Year Four alternative possibilities distinctions analogies inferences assumptions reflecting (reasoning) Year One giving examples building on ideas of others open/closed questions listing criteria exploring disagreement summarizing reflecting (responding) 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) Year Two grouping questions question quadrant seeking and giving clarification making connections similarities and differences quality of reasons reflecting (relating) t e a c h i n g s e q u e n c e f o r i n q u i r y s k i l l s t e a c h i n g s e q u e n c e f o r i n q u i r y s k i l l s Year Three different points of view definitions counter-examples drawing conclusions reflecting (relating) 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.

17. 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

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