THINKING STRATEGIES: Birthing and Sustaining Understanding

Ways of Understanding and Being Understood ©Laura Benson (2002)

As I read/view/observe/listen, I work to...

      & Monitor, clarify, refine and repair my understanding of the text; I employ 
         my phonological awareness, phonics knowledge, fluency models, and
         vocabulary wells to understand a variety of genres;

& Probe, ask questions of the text/author;

& Infer meanings in and beyond the text;

& Use my experiences and knowledge of the world and reading to understand the text;

& Identify importance striving to evaluate or grasp the messages, main ideas, themes, and feelings of the text;

& Develop a visual story or representation for the text like creating my own video movie or graphic of the words bringing in sensory images and feelings; and

& Synthesize or integrate all the pieces of the text together to form one whole idea, picture, image, feeling, or concept.

As I write/draw/create, I work to...

! Monitor, clarify, and refine my writing being mindful of my intentions and audience; Put my soul on paper so that readers hear my voice;

! Write from my questions and create inferences - show, don’t (just) tell - for my readers;

! Harvest memories, experiences, and knowledge to seed and develop my writing and to connect with my readers and know myself more intimately;

! Identify the important ideas and messages of my writing striving to create and clearly convey these messages, main ideas, themes, and/or feelings to readers;

! See the story of my writing in my head and write to portray this picture with my words; texture my language to vividly illustrate and shape my feelings/messages;

! Synthesize and organize all the pieces of my writing to form one coherent whole

I fuel my thinking efforts with my intentions...Reasons…Purposes…Needs…Wonders...and Desires.