Strand 2: visual thinking routine

On my MYP category 3 course that I did this weekend, the course leader provided us with this excellent website of resources for visual thinking activities in the classroom. I decided to use the "I see, I think, I wonder" activity with my Spanish Phase 1-2 students who are currently studying train travel as part of a unit focusing on communicating with others around the community. My students often struggle to recognise the conventions of an spoken and visual text, and it's true that this is something quite new to the students this year. I decided to show the students a TV advertisement for RENFE, the Spanish railway system. I explained the "I see, I think, I wonder" activity by modelling the activity provided to use on the course. We looked at the picture below and discussed what we could see, what assumptions we could draw from what we could see, and any questions that it prompted us to ask about the photo.

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• See: people, bright clothes, pots/containers, ropes, bricks, hole, land.
• Think: people are collecting water from a well in India.
• Wonder: Why are these people here? Do they have running water at home? Are here because of a basic need for water or for symbolic or religious reasons? Where is it?
  

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We watched the RENFE advertisement without sound and the students completed the activity using post-it notes under the titles...

• Veo...
• Pienso que...
• Quiero saber...

It became clear to me after discussions with the students that by not hearing the sound, they were able to make careful observations and thoughtful interpretations of the images and gain a deeper understanding of the message and how the visuals help deliver the message to the audience. I think that sometimes the students can be overwhelmed by listening to and trying to understand the language and miss other key components of the visual text. See the results of the activity and the video below.

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