Professional Development
Picture Thinking creates student agency because it follows a predictable routine in which students do the intellectual work from the very first moment of a lesson. Before reading, listening, or investigating, students encounter a shared visual artifact and are expected to make sense of it using their own noticing, reasoning, and questions.
In KnowAtom classrooms, Picture Thinking often appears at the start of a lesson as students encounter a phenomenon through an image, diagram, or visual artifact already embedded in the lesson. This article focuses explicitly on how the steps of the Picture Thinking routine build agency by positioning students as observers, sensemakers, and revisers of their own thinking.
Step 1: Students notice the phenomenon without explanation
Picture Thinking begins with students noticing what is already present. The image or artifact is not framed, labeled, or explained by the teacher. It exists as something to be made sense of.
Students are guided to notice three types of details:
- an object
- an action
- a property or pattern
This step creates agency because it removes hierarchy from the conversation. No one is responsible for knowing what the image “means” yet. The only expectation is careful attention.
What this looks like across KnowAtom grade bands
Kindergarten:
In Weather in Our World, students look at a photograph showing parts of the playground in sunlight and shade. Students share what they notice aloud: “The slide is shiny,” “That part looks darker,” “The ground looks dry.” The teacher records student language without clarifying or correcting.
Grades 1–2:
In Changing Seasons, students examine images showing the sun’s position at different times of year. Students notice objects (the sun, trees), actions (the sun appears higher or lower), and properties (long shadows, short shadows). Students often turn and talk before sharing.
Grades 3–5:
In Shaping Earth’s Surface, students independently list notices in their notebooks after studying an aerial image of a canyon. Some focus on rock layers, others on water paths or slope patterns. The variety of notices is treated as a strength.
Grades 6–8:
In Climate and Human Activity, students analyze satellite images of weather systems. Students organize their noticing independently before discussion, deciding what details matter and how to describe them.
Across grade levels, this step establishes that noticing is legitimate scientific work and that every student can participate meaningfully.
Step 2: Students infer meaning from what they noticed
Once students have surfaced what they see, they are invited to infer meaning. Teachers prompt students to consider what the image might help them learn or explain, without confirming or evaluating responses.
Typical prompts include:
- “What do you think this page might help us understand?”
- “What do you think is happening here?”
- “What questions does this raise for you?”
Agency grows because students are not waiting for meaning to be delivered. They are generating tentative explanations that will later be tested.
How inference develops across grade spans
Kindergarten:
In Living Things Change, after noticing parts of a plant, students are asked what they think the page will teach them about plants. Responses such as “how plants grow” or “what plants need” are accepted as starting ideas.
Grades 1–2:
In Animal Behaviors, students infer why animals might behave in certain ways based on what they notice in images. Ideas are partial and sometimes conflicting, which is expected.
Grades 3–5:
In Water on Earth, students infer that a map might help explain where water is found or how it moves. These ideas shape what they attend to when they read.
Grades 6–8:
In Forests, students infer what tree rings might reveal about growth or environmental conditions. Disagreement becomes a resource for later discussion.
At this stage, students are positioned as sensemakers whose ideas matter, even when they are incomplete.
Step 3: Students revisit the same phenomenon while engaging with new evidence
The phenomenon does not change, but the information students bring to it does.
Students now read the text, watch a video, observe the phenomenon in motion, or conduct an investigation. They are explicitly listening and looking for evidence that supports, revises, or challenges the meaning they inferred earlier.
This step reinforces agency by making students responsible for evaluating ideas rather than replacing them.
Examples across KnowAtom lessons
Kindergarten:
After sharing ideas about sunlight and shade, students conduct a simple temperature investigation. They return to the original image and compare it to what they observe firsthand.
Grades 1–2:
In Changing Seasons, students read the lesson text while looking for evidence connected to their initial ideas about the sun’s position.
Grades 3–5:
In Energy Transfers, students analyze data or observe a demonstration, checking whether the evidence aligns with their early interpretations of the image.
Grades 6–8:
In Inheriting Traits, students study DNA models while revisiting diagrams they noticed earlier, refining or revising their initial thinking.
Learning is framed as working on ideas, not receiving conclusions.
Step 4: Students reflect on how their thinking changed
The routine closes with reflection, where students consider:
- Which notices turned out to be helpful
- What meaning they missed initially and why
- What new questions emerged
This step makes agency durable by reinforcing that thinking evolves through evidence and dialogue.
Reflection across KnowAtom grade bands
Kindergarten:
In Weather in Our World, students return to the original playground image after measuring temperatures in sun and shade. During a class discussion, students point to parts of the image and say things like, “We thought it was just brighter, but it’s warmer too,” or “The slide got hotter because the sun shines on it longer.” The teacher helps students connect their new observations to what they noticed first, highlighting how evidence changed their thinking.
Grades 1–2:
In Animal Behaviors, students revisit an image of animals interacting after reading and observing examples of survival behaviors. Students explain how their ideas shifted: “At first I thought the birds were playing, but now I think they’re warning each other,” or “I didn’t notice the food before, but now I see why the animal is moving that way.” Students often reference both the image and the text to explain the change.
Grades 3–5:
In Water on Earth, students look back at their initial inferences about a world map showing water distribution. After reading and analyzing data, students compare their first ideas with evidence, noting changes in writing or discussion: “I thought the map was just showing oceans, but now I see how glaciers and groundwater matter too.” Students identify which early notices supported their learning and which were misleading.
Grades 6–8:
In Forests or Inheriting Traits, students explicitly track revisions to their thinking. They may annotate an original diagram or write a short reflection explaining how new models, data, or texts reshaped their understanding. Students often name why their thinking changed, citing specific evidence (e.g., tree ring patterns, DNA models) and identifying new questions that emerge for future investigation.
Across grade levels, reflection positions students as thinkers whose ideas are expected to evolve. The goal is not closure, but awareness of how evidence strengthens understanding.
This reflection supports the gradual release of responsibility described in How Do I Release Responsibility to Students Without Losing Control?, helping students internalize reflection as part of the learning process rather than an add-on.
Why this routine consistently builds student agency
Picture Thinking builds agency because:
- Students generate the first ideas in the room
- Meaning is constructed before explanations appear
- Evidence is used to refine thinking, not replace it
- Revision and uncertainty are treated as normal
Over time, students internalize this process. They come to expect that their role in learning is to notice carefully, reason publicly, and revise based on evidence.
References
- Perkins, D. (2010). Making Learning Whole. Jossey-Bass.
- Ritchhart, R., Church, M., & Morrison, K. (2011). Making Thinking Visible. Jossey-Bass.
- Ritchhart, R. (2015). Creating Cultures of Thinking. Jossey-Bass.