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So – what do I mean by thinking skills in relation to reading?

Well, simply put, getting children to respond to texts more critically.  Are your children always faced with a book review or a set of comprehension questions after reading?  It can get a bit Zzzzz don’t you think?

When planning for reading session(s) do you have words and phrases like these in your objectives?

‘generate ideas’, ‘predict’, ‘problem solve’, ‘interrogate’, ‘evaluate’, ‘prioritize’, ‘think logically’, ‘have opinions’, ‘listen to a range of ideas’ and ‘be open to changing their mind’.

Above all – do you encourage children to remain CURIOUS?  For me this is one of the most important thinking skills to have and planning simple but thoughtful activities can help to encourage it.

Examples include:

Use good quality pictures and illustrations with children – ask them to look intently and ‘read’ what is happening. If there are characters in the picture they can make up dialogue – what might they be saying in that situation? And why? What might have happened previously?  What might happen next? Etc.

Read a picture book like ‘The Three Robbers’ by Tomi Ungerer. Ask children to come up with two themes and three questions after reading.  (‘Why did the people build three tall towers?’ – Can bad people do good things too?’)

Read books that have similar themes: g. Cops and Robbers & Burglar Bill by Janet & Alan Ahlberg. Make a list of ‘crimes’ with the children. Prioritise the list – which is the most serious ‘crime’ and which is the least serious?

Find books that have questions in their title: g. Is it BECAUSE? by Tony Ross So, What Do You Want to Be Brian?   By  Jeanne Willis & Mary Rees.

Or books that pose a 'What if...? question

Predict what might be in them before you read – try to answer the question as it were.

Look at the titles of other books and think about how it might change the way you read it if you were to turn the title into a question: E.g. Flat Stanley?  Whatever?  (by William Bee) or The Wolves in the Walls? (by Neil Gaiman)

Also -be more inquisitive about non-fiction. For example in a Big Book about The Body, I read the following ‘ Your eyes are the most important of your senses’ – Are they? Wouldn’t it be worth exploring such bold statements with children – show them that just because it is a non-fiction book it doesn’t necessarily mean it is ‘true’.

*A pre-school child asks around 100 questions a day but this diminishes as they get older.  If we encourage children to be curious and ask questions when reading, then we have a chance that children will remain curious and critical.

What picture books have you found to promote thought and curiosity?

Have you thought about joining The Thinking Child Network?