The photos above are personal and family photos that I use to engage students at the beginning of my Great Bear Rainforest and Salish Sea unit. I use two thinking routines with these images, “See, Think, Wonder” from Project Zero and “Observe, Wonder, Infer” from Reading Power. These images are unique set that my students have not seen before which builds anticipation at the start of the unit. I have these images printed 4 to a page and laminated. I first have the images displayed around the room on chart paper and have my students do a chalk talk activity and write down what they see with these images, they record their observations of the pictures in one colour then do a second round to record their questions in a second colour. After students have had a chance to be up and moving to interact with the images, we come back to our carpet to discuss the photos and work through the thinking routines. Sitting on the carpet we have the images on the smart board and can write on and circle things on the images as we discuss them. Images are a powerful way to get students excited about a new topic or concept as well as to assess for and build background knowledge. For this unit I do spend time building background knowledge as many of my students have limited experience with the more remote portions of our BC coast. Many of my students will have experienced Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, or the Sunshine Coast, few have experience with the more remote portions.
http://www.pz.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/See%20Think%20Wonder_2.pdf
http://www.pz.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/Chalk%20Talk_1.pdf
