This activity involved Big grade 6/7 Buddies working with Little grade 1/2 Buddies.

Their Vision: To make thinking visible for our students so that a variety of "Thinking Routines" become a regular part of our day to day learning.

Action Taken:  

1) Using Key Visuals:

As a first step to make thinking more visible for all learners, we are using visuals in the classroom.  Two examples of these visuals in the Primary Grades are Core Competency symbols and Thinking Bubbles.  We use the Core Competency visuals on the "Shape of the Day" to illustrate when we are explicitly using our thinking skills throughout the day.  The Thinking Bubble visual is used to concretely share, model and communicate aloud our own "thinking".

2) Guided Practice:

Buddy time is a great way for all students to practice using thinking routines, At our first meeting, each Little Buddy/Big Buddy pairing took a photo of each other, and were engaged in a think aloud, completing a SEE-THINK-WONDER picCollage.  During this activity, the students learned more about each other while making their thinking clearly visible.

Next Step:

Our goal is to continue to introduce and use thinking routines to grow, learn and think together.

Benefits to Students:

The thinking and wondering during this guided practice opened up a whole new area of exploration, initiated by the students themselves!