How to Support Sustained Shared Thinking: Ideas for Math and Reading
Sustained shared thinking is strongly associated with high-quality teaching and learning. Students who
engage in sustained conversations are more likely to learn new vocabulary, engage in problem solving,
learn ways to clarify their thinking and engage in dialogue and debate.
The following are some strategies that can be used to keep the conversation going.
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Tune in: listen carefully to what is being said, observe body language, and non-verbal cues. Use
a tape recorder to capture the conversation and play it back so students learn how they sound
to others.
Show genuine interest: give your whole attention to the student(s) providing eye contact,
affirming by smiling and nodding.
Respect their interest, decisions and choices by asking them to elaborate: I really want to know
more…. How did you learn about this…what surprised you about ….
Re-cap: So you think that….ask another student to re-cap what was said.
Clarify the ideas: I hear you saying…is that right?
Use encouragement to further thinking: You have really thought this through…you’ve been
working hard at this…
Offer an alternative viewpoint: How do you think the wolf feels about how he is being
portrayed in the story? Do you think he has his own version of what happened? Does anyone
have another idea?
Ask open ended questions: How did you…. What does this mean….What do you think will
happen next…I wonder what will happen if…. What do you think we should do…..
Model thinking out loud: I am thinking that if I do XXX this will happen. Can you help me think
through the problem?
Adapted from Professor Iram Siraj-Blatchford’s presentation on Quality Interactions in the Early Years,
2005.
Ways to Support Thinking: ideas for Math and Reading
Critical thinking is the application of different levels of thinking that allow for multiple responses, various
perspectives, open-ended questions, and different interpretations. Activities that lend themselves to
critical thinking are:
 in-depth discussions of text, movies, topics that often lend themselves to debate;
 requiring students to share how they arrived at a solution to a problem or to explain their
theory about why something works or does not work;
 requiring students to evaluate their own work;
 engage in projects that call for analysis, synthesis and evaluation;
 requiring students to listen to the opinions of others and justify their own beliefs.
Blooms Cognitive Taxonomy provides a tool to help educators, parents and students identify the “level”
of thinking required of an activity. It may be useful as you think about questions, problems or projects
for summer learning.
Competence
Description
Questions/Prompts
Knowledge
dates, events,
formulas, facts
Comprehension
recognize the meaning
sequence, interpret
Information, compare
ideas, make inferences
When did the U.S.
become an
independent country
from England?
What is the author’s
purpose?
How are these numbers
related?
Application
use of information and
concepts to solve problems
using your knowledge
of calories and your
physical makeup,
calculate how much
energy you must exert
to lose three pounds
per month.
Analysis
recognize patterns, parts
components
Considering the stock
market, examine which
Investments were the
most lucrative this
quarter.
Organize these games
by level of difficulty.
Syntheses
use of information to create
a new system, generalize or
draw conclusions
Based on your
understanding of the
text, what were the key
factors in decision to go
to war?
Evaluation
assess concepts, weigh opinions
for subjectivity, select items,
Which type of dog
would be suited for
your family given your
lifestyle and housing?
Adapted from Enhancing Critical-Thinking Skills in Children: Tips for Parents at:
http://www.tip.duke.edu/node/822