Visible Thinking

Determining importance is a vital reading strategy for scholarly readers. Before reading today, we walked our way through the story mountain (plot diagram) Chu Ju has traveled so far, identifying key events in the text. As we reflected on each one, we considered how each event impacted Chu Ju. Some events were more significant than others in terms of affecting Chu Ju’s development as a person and problem solver.

As we read our self-selected texts or reflect on our own lives, it is valuable to think about how events touch or transform. Some events are just everyday happenings that don’t really impact or influence us or our characters, other events, though, can be both impactful and influential. Often, taking time to think about this can enable us to predict how we or characters we encounter might behave moving forward and inspire action.

Continuing our inquiry into multiplication, we looked at classifying numbers as either prime or composite. Using multiple sources in the room and our understanding of factors, we were able to create a comprehensive list of prime and composite numbers and justify our classifications with evidence.

Try it: Math is Fun

Mid-morning, we paused our work with prime numbers to pose for pictures. Secret agents, in number order, filed quickly in front of the camera and sat with a smile. Those behind the lens were both polite and patient, making it easy for our guest photographer to capture each image. While we had an hour-long slot on the schedule, we set a goal of getting through everyone in 30 minutes, so we could get to recess on time. We managed to beat our goal with 10 minutes to spare. Being patient and principled allowed us to complete out pictures in record time! Impressive!

After art, we spent more time this afternoon tuning in to our topics. As was true with our inquiry into our text this morning, we examined (see) the images and determined importance, identifying details that caused us to think and wonder how they are connected to our central idea of movement as a change agent. Students had the choice to capture their thinking in a variety of visual ways, including an illustration or a web.

Multiple Sources

• Kite Flying in Japan
• Japanese Lantern Festivals
• Kabuki
  • Important quote: “arguably most importantly, the exaggerated actions performed by actors. The highly-stylized movements serve to convey meaning to the audience.”
• Bowing
• Calligraphy
• Traditional Dance
• Fans
• Shinkansen: high-speed trains
• Kamishibai
• Ring of Fire

Weathering, Erosion, Deposition & Plate Tectonics

• Fast & Slow Processes
• *The Rock Cycle Processes
  • The Rock Cycle: Mount Fuji
• Flocabulary: Types of Rocks
• Bill Nye: Erosion
• Tectonics and Volcanoes of Japan
• Plate Tectonics and Earthquake in Japan

Mrs. Rupp’s Inquiry

Image Inspiration

Tuning In

In order to tune in to the images of the Japanese potters hung in the classroom, I did a see, think, wonder visible thinking routine.

• See:
  • a cylindrical shape
  • a man placing his hands inside and outside of a vessel/pot
  • a bucket with water
  • a round/circular base/wheel
  • a grey material
• Think
  • the base / wheel is spinning
  • the man is moving his hands to change the shape
  • the man is very skilled and patient
  • pottery requires special movement of the hands and body
• Wonder:
  • How is clay made?
  • Where does the clay come from?
  • What kinds of movements affect the shape of the pot?
  • How does water affect the process of making pottery?
  • What happens when the pot is finished?

Finding Out

In order to find out more about movement as a change agent, I am going to use the following resources to gather information.

Multiple Sources

• Encyclopedia Britannica: Japanese Pottery
• Britannica School: Japanese Pottery
• Encyclopedia Britannica: Porcelain
• Encyclopedia Britannica: Clay
• Encyclopedia Britannica: Mud
• Izumiyama Quarry
• Arita and Imari Porcelain
• How to Make Clay from Indigenous Soil
• Wikipedia: Clay
• Clay

During today’s read aloud, scholars were challenged to think back on the characters met in Chu Ju’s House. After generating a long list, students employed another strategy scholarly readers use to understanding characters more deeply, particularly their motivation. Why someone does something reveals a lot about his or her character.

As we were reading, students were encouraged to ask: What do the characters’ actions reveal about who they are on the inside?

• Identify character traits that describe each character.
• Provide evidence from the text.

This process is very similar to what we have been doing with the main character, Chu Ju, and is a wonderful strategy students can use when reading independently.

Below is a picture of some text evidence we found to think more deeply bout Chu Ju and Quan.

As an extension or application of yesterday’s work with factor pairs, today we explored how factors, which can represent the dimensions of a quadrilateral, can be used not only to find the area, but also to find the perimeter. Working was various arrays (rectangles), we inquired into efficient ways to calculate the perimeter. As students calculated the perimeter of shapes, we came up with several formulas that could be used effectively and efficiently.

P = (W + W) + (L + L)

P = 2W + 2L

P = W + L + W + L

P = 2(W + L)

Multiple Sources:

• Math is Fun

Challenge: How can knowing the attributes and formula for a rectangle help you figure out the formula for a triangle?

We also looked at the connection between factors and multiples, which are often confused. As we inquired, we realized a number is always a factor and a multiple of itself.

• Math is Fun

The follow is a video for teachers, but it might be helpful.

We continued tuning in to our new country of focus and central idea by examining the images we sorted yesterday a bit more closely using the Think. Puzzle. Explore. visible thinking routine.

• THINK: What do you THINK you know about the the images?
• PUZZLE: What questions or PUZZLES do you have?
• EXPLORE: What do the images make you want to EXPLORE?

We then dove into some multiple sources to pique our curiosity. Using the text and graphic clues in the various nonfiction texts, we were able to pose purposeful and powerful questions about which to ponder. This process will help us focus our thinking as we prepare to inquire. Through the review of images and information text, students interests will be activated, so that they might then be intrinsically motivated to pursue information independently – agency.

Today offered opportunities to observe on a number of occasions.

First, as we continued following Chu Ju on her journey, we tried to see, think, and wonder about her emotions.

According to Jennifer Serravallo in The Reading Strategies Book,

Attentive readers “notice what happens to the character throughout the book and how what happens causes feelings to change. Think about how the character is feeling at one point of the story. Think, is the feeling a positive one or a negative one? Use a word or sketch to describe it.”

This is a powerful strategy for growing inferring and determining importance skills.

Below is an example of a feelings timeline created by students in Australia about Chrysanthemum, a book we read earlier in the year.

Credit

Challenge: How might a timeline of Chu Ju’s feelings look? How are these feelings connected to her journey as a problem solver.

Later in the day, we took time to see, think, and wonder about the idea of rights and responsibilities. Fifth grade students guided us through the visible thinking routine, exposing us to some powerful issues and ideas. Once again, our central idea related to problem solvers and problem solving surfaced.

As problem solvers, we continued our pursuit of knowledge by examining products and their factors. Today’s challenge was to find all the factor pairs of a number. Once again, students inquired into this concept by manipulating centimeter cubes (concrete), recording thinking using arrays (pictorial), and representing findings using equations (abstract).

Multiple Sources

To close out the day, we launched into our next unit of inquiry by conducting an image sort. Standing on the perimeter of the carpet, students SILENTLY examined the images. One voice at a time, a student described the image he or she wished to connect with another. Using only words, the speaker directed another to relocate the image. Once complete, students analyzed the groups of images to identify connections and possible labels or categories.