RPI Day 7 - Thinking

Dorothy reminded us about the importance of critical thinking in today’s world!! Now we can’t even trust the spoken word with so much video content being AI generated. We need to explicitly teach students to be critical about the content they receive from all media and to do their own fact checking. This is a new reality that really matters now. Some AI tools like Gemini and NotebookLM focus on privacy and offer great opportunities for our teachers and learners to get familiar and confident with using AI tools and to make smart choices when selecting safe (or relatively safe) options.

When we’re reading at a literal level (= reading on the lines), we’re looking for information that’s stated directly in the text. It’s usually easy to find, sometimes in one place and sometimes spread across the text.

Interpretive reading (= reading between the lines) is a bit deeper. Here readers have to think, reason and use clues from the text to figure out what the author is suggesting rather than saying outright. Because this involves some interpretation, it's important we try to understand what the author was really trying to say and back up our ideas with what’s actually in the text.

Then there’s evaluative reading (= reading beyond the lines). This is where we start forming our own opinions, asking big questions and thinking about what the text means in a bigger picture. We might connect it to real-world issues or reflect on how it relates to our own lives and what we believe.

Teaching thinking for deeper reading

If we want students to really get into a text, we need to go beyond just what’s written on the page. It’s about exploring what’s underneath and between the lines.

• Teachers should MODEL - not just read aloud but think aloud. Wonder about word choices, ask questions and make students hear how a reader thinks.
• We need to focus on creative responses by teaching students to write from a different perspective, create a new ending or design something visual to show what they’ve understood.
• We are always aiming for extended discussions as we want our students to share their opinions, challenge ideas and connect the text to real life. 

Teachers design tasks for students, and I’ve found that sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between interpreting and evaluative questions… but what really matters is designing questions that get students thinking deeply, not just ticking a box for each type. And of course, we need to know our learners to plan effective lessons and activities!

Loved the video on Bloom’s Taxometry: https://youtu.be/ayefSTAnCR8?si=vKioBKXO1z3RgVwU

Students need to work with the text to analyse it, and RPI provided a great collection of digital activities to support that.

My text I chose to work on today - The Way to Play
Theme - diversity, inclusion and acceptance
Big idea is compromise and valuing different points of view

How we analyse language - we’re looking for figurative language. The text I chose didn’t have much, so I decided to begin some deliberate teaching using my own example of a related metaphor. Here is my planning for this teaching piece:

Figurative language is a great way to help students tune into feelings, emotions and opinions in a text. Once they learn to spot things like metaphors, exaggeration, etc, they start to realise that writers often show emotions without saying them outright. This helps kids learn to read between the lines, connect with the characters and understand the message on a deeper level.

I love provocations and use them a lot in my teaching, and not just in reading but in maths too:) Provocations make people think and more importantly -  think critically:)! I really enjoyed the role group discussion activity around this provocation. There is no such thing as a neutral text, as it’s always written from the author’s perspective or position in life. The provocations for my text: It’s better to fit in than to stand out. OR You can’t be kind and honest at the same time. Today’s learning really reminded me how important it is to engage deeply with a text, offering students different layers and opportunities to think critically about vocabulary and figurative language, discuss provocations, and definitely include critical literacy texts in the programme across all year levels. If I had my own class, I’d be focusing on planning more collaborative follow-up work where students respond creatively to the text. The goal would be to give them space to explore multiple perspectives (both with the teacher and independently), challenge each other’s thinking and build those higher order thinking habits in a meaningful way. Another great day at RPI filled with so many practical ideas and resources, thanks team!