Topic: Nurturing Informed Thinking

How can we use the wisdom we gained this last spring to create a learning environment where more students thrive? One way is to nurture student inquiry.

As we help students become independent learners, we want them to understand that independent doesn't have to mean completely alone. We nurture the growth of independence by providing instruction that supports learners.

Have you ever conferred with students who struggle to determine what information is really important? A clearly stated purpose for reading multiple sources can make the difference between productive and unproductive reading and thinking for many students. Here's what that might look like...

The use of different formats helps authors shape the same information in different ways. As a result, diverse sets of sources promote critical thinking.

This is what we want for our students: the ability to look at multiple sources and triangulate meaning from a variety of perspectives.

In this video, author Sunday Cummins explains how we want students to ask questions and then actively seek out answers by locating and reading or viewing multiple sources—articles, books, videos, photographs, infographics. Then, we want students to articulate what they've learned.

Today on the Heinemann Podcast, Sunday Cummins, author of Nurturing Informed Thinking.