Combining Making Thinking Visible Activities

Honghe Rige Terrace Micro-Ecology
via Visual.ly

While planning for my current unit about the ecology of rice fields (ecosystems, food chains, and life cycles) I came across the above infographic on Visual.ly. Thinking it could make an interesting provocation, I printed it onto an A3 piece of paper and put it up in the front of the room on the first day of the unit.

Wanting to focus on the rice field in the upper left, I asked my class what they saw.

When they started talking about the people, I knew I had to take it further.

I started by taking out some See, Think, Wonder sheets I made up, and I covered up most of the picture, so they focused on the terraced rice field.

Image 1

Despite seeing the picture beforehand, when I asked what they saw in the small square, I still got interesting responses like fossil and alligator tail. After discussing their responses a little, we wrote them down and moved out.

As I zoomed out more, I again asked what they saw. This time I got responses like mountain, stairs, and one student said rice field.

Image 2

The students talked a little about the woman, but surprisingly, since I was focused on the terrace, they were too. They ignored the field to the top. I asked them to write down what they think about the image.

Honghe Rige Terrace Micro-Ecology
via Visual.ly

When I pulled back the curtain, again, I told them that it was indeed a rice field. I think every student's hand went up and the air electrified. Finally, I asked them if they had any wonderings or questions. I had them write them down.

I really like going through the questions the students have after they get worked up about a topic like this.

I will be ready for this in the start of the units from now on. This was as interesting as when I showed the students pictures of rice field art.