Strategies & Tools
“Knowledge about thinking and the practice of using thinking strategies can increase students’ motivation for, and management of, their own learning. They become more confident and autonomous problem-solvers and thinkers.”
“By applying a sequence of thinking skills, students develop an increasingly sophisticated understanding of the processes they can employ whenever they encounter problems, unfamiliar information and new ideas.”
The Coloured Thinking CaPs™
Scaffolding
6 SIMPLE STEPS TO SOLVE ANY PROBLEM!
1
Fact-find
The student can pose questions, consider perspectives, identify problems and clarify information.
2
Generate ideas
The student can imagine possibilities, connect ideas and consider alternatives.
3
Judge ideas
The student can apply logic and reasoning and make predictions.
4
Plan
The student can organise and process information, draw conclusions and design a course of action.
5
Produce
The student can put ideas into action and transfer knowledge into new contexts.
6
Reflect
The student can evaluate processes, procedures and outcomes and perform metacognition.
Feedback from teachers who have been teaching the coloured thinking caps for one year:
“I love using the Coloured Thinking Caps to plan units or activities, particularly with a constructivist approach.”
“It assists students in sorting out and organising their thinking processes and to articulate their plans and ideas.”
“I think the kids like the structure and process of working through the Coloured Thinking Caps. It’s so amazing hearing the students talking about their own thinking.”
“Using the Coloured Thinking Caps has been a helpful way to design project tasks and direct student thinking in a way that will produce better outcomes.”
“My students now have a predictable scaffold around solving problems. They are beginning to use the Coloured Thinking Caps independently when faced with a problem. Rather than coming directly to me, they employ the strategies of working out the problem, brainstorming, deciding on the best option, planning, doing, thinking about what they have done. This can be on a big scale or on a small scale.”
“I have used the Coloured Thinking Caps for projects and am using them for our current unit. It clarifies the different thinking processes in a clear and logical way.”