Have you asked a question in class before that you know your students know the answer to but only a few hands go up?

Is it disengagement, laziness, lack of willingness to participate or do they genuinely not know the answer?

It is obvious to me as a teacher that there are so many students that wait for others to do the thinking for them, to ask the questions and to give the answers so they don’t have to stretch their brains or even have to consider or think at all.

One way to expect students to share is to use thinking strategies that get them involved and gets their knowledge out of them.

I like to teach my students that we are not experts. We do not know everything. It is okay to be wrong. It is good to question and be curious. If we make a mistake we can learn from them. By making mistakes we encourage our learners to be risk-takers.

How can you challenge your learners with their thinking? You can use thinking tools and graphic organisers such as;

• Y Chart (Looks Like, Sounds Like, Feels Like) - three areas split like a Y. Students write their ideas on a topic what it looks like, sounds like and feels like. Uses their senses, intuition and imagination

• Venn Diagram - two large circles overlapping each other. Two topics are given. Students write how they are different in the outside circles and how they are similar in the centre

• KWL Chart (Know, Want To Know, Learnt) - what think will learn, what already know, what do you want to know

• Think Pair Share - students turn to the person next to them and share what they know about the task or discussion point. You may ask students to join with another pair for further discussion. Feedback is given as a whole class. Record ideas

• Six Thinking Hats (White, Red, Yellow, Black, Green and Blue Hats) - in six boxes students write about a topic any facts or questions (white) any feelings or intuitions (red) any positives, why it will work, success (yellow) and cautions or weak points (black) and creative alternatives (green) and an overview or summary (black)

• Wonder Wall (I wonder…) - off students post-it notes for them to write any questions they may pose about a topic or subject

• PMI (Plus, Minus, Interesting) - name something positive, something not so good and something interesting in a three-column table

• SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) - name something in each of the four quadrants. Allows students to view their results in a more deliberate way

• Mind Maps - also know as a Brainstorm. Students write the topic in the centre and then write down everything they know about the topic around it

• Hot Potato - pose a problem or a question and students must give their answer or reply once an object is thrown randomly around a circle. Provide students with thinking time before beginning.

• Round Robin - students work in table groups to answer a problem or question. One person from each table is chosen or nominated to feedback their information to the class

• Coloured Cards - students are given three coloured cards red if they disagree, yellow if they are unsure and green if they agree. Students hold up their colour depending upon the question or statement given. Thumbs up or thumbs down can also work

What other thinking tools do you use in your classroom to get the students knowledge out of their head and onto paper? We would love it if you joined the conversation and left a comment below.