Step Inside ‘Flight’ by Nadia Wheatley
In this post I would like to share how Year 4 explored the Children’s Book Council of Australia shortlist Picture books. Each book was read and responded to using the Step Inside Visible Thinking Routine, for our purpose we stepped inside the main character. The Step Inside routine focuses on ‘getting inside viewpoints’ using three core questions to guide students:
- What can the person or thing perceive?
- What might the person or thing know about or believe?
- What might the person or thing care about?
Source: Visible Thinking Step Inside: Perceive, Know about, Care about
Sharing each picture with the class promoted Children’s Book Week and provided the students with the opportunity to compare and review a superb selection of sophisticated picture books. As some of the books were available though Story Box Library it was wonderful to have the story read to us and view the illustrations on the IWB.
By repetitively using the routine for the six picture books it became evident that students were able to provide deeper responses. Once we had reviewed each book students selected one of the books to respond to in more depth using illustration, written response and technology.
Lesson Steps:
Read, Think, Respond, Share
Introduce Children’s Book Week and that you will be focusing on the shortlisted Picture Books for the coming lessons. Introduce the Thinking Routine – Step Inside explaining each book will have three questions related to the main character.
To record and share the thinking students can work in pairs or independently and respond using ‘post-it’ notes and stick them on to a large sheet or use Socrative where students can enter responses online, the Step Inside questions I provided were:
- What can the character see, observe or notice?
- What might the character know, understand or believe?
- What might the character care deeply about?
Click here for a Selection of Step Inside Responses by Year 4.
Respond, Create:
Students select one of the books to focus on. Draw a picture of a character from selected shortlisted book. Using an iPad take a photo of the drawing using the TypeDrawing app. Write a reflection from the point of view of the character for example what they see, observe, or notice; understand, or believe; care deeply about. Share work examples on the Library Homepage or print and display in the Library.
Student examples:
Step Inside – One Step at a Time by Jane Jolly
Step Inside – My Dead Bunny by Sigi Cohen
Step Inside – Suri’s Wall by Lucy Estela
Step Inside – Suri’s Wall by Lucy Estela
Aligning with the NSW Syllabus:
English: Reading and Viewing 2 EN2-10C
A student: Thinks imaginatively, creatively and interpretatively about information, ideas and texts when responding to and composing texts.
General Capabilities:
Literacy: Comprehending texts through listening, reading and viewing. Interpret and analyse learning area texts
Critical and Creative Thinking: Inquiring – identifying, exploring and organising information and ideas
Information and Communication Technology
Creating with ICT: Generate solutions to challenges and learning area tasks. Experiment with ICT as a creative tool to generate simple solutions, modifications or data representations for particular audiences or purposes.
