Nothing shuts down a conversation like an “I don’t know” followed by a full stop. Today’s small tweak looks at how we can guide students to use more precise vocabulary to help them pinpoint what’s going on when they say ‘I don’t know’. In this way, we can use phrases that are more helpful to the learning process and make the shift from ‘shutting down’ to ‘opening up’ lines of inquiry.

This small tweak looks at the difference between ‘accessing’ prior knowledge and ‘activating’ it. One provides an opportunity to think about what they already know before new learning occurs, while one makes prior knowledge ‘operative’ as it sets into motion new learning. While accessing prior knowledge gives students a way to enter or approach new knowledge, activating takes their prior knowledge along with them and becomes part of their new learning.

Some of the best questions aim to open up discussion and invite new perspectives, and create jumping-off points into deeper learning opportunities. One small shift to help achieve this is to be mindful of how we frame our questions when we invite students to share their thinking.

One small tweak that can help students develop a rich understanding of word meanings while encouraging more judicious use of particular words, is to invite learners to compare examples of accurate definitions or word usage with what we call ‘almost there’ non-examples —words, definitions or sentences that are closely associated with the target word but are ‘not quite right.’ Students can then be invited to justify why some examples are more accurate or precise than others. 

A think aloud might seem as straightforward as sharing the metacognitive strategies we are using as we are reading, but it can be challenging to reflect how a reader actually thinks. Ideally we want to find a sweet spot between ‘natural reading’ and purposeful instruction in a way that makes ‘invisible’ reading processes visible.

An effective think aloud takes one small tweak: making sure we are modelling what a reader does as they read, rather than explaining what we’ve done after we’ve read.