Morning Settlers with Thunks!

I absolutely love Ian Gilbert's Thunks. This book "The Compleat Thunks Book" is described as 'A collection of classic Thunks from a number of his books, as well as hundreds of new ones, all designed to make your brain hurt as you think, question, debate and argue your way to a better understanding of how to survive in a world gone dangerously bonkers.'


To give you an idea of what a thunk looks like, here is a screenshot from the book:


Thunks can be used as a great discussion tool in class. Sharing one on the board at the start of the day and encouraging children to talk and listen to each other's ideas can be a great way to settle children into a lesson. JUST BE AWARE, not all the Thunks would be appropriate for the classroom.

You can also use apps like Seesaw to record and evidence children's thoughts and ideas about a Thunk. If I create a question like this:


Within the explain and reflect option of Seesaw, pupils can add labels. These can be initial thoughts and ideas. If the students are working in pairs, they can colour code their ideas. 

There is also the option to record. Here, students can orally talk through the question and their ideas, pausing to reflect and allowing their partner to then record their ideas. 


Once the pupils have saved their ideas, either typed or spoken to their learning journal. You can allow them to look and watch other student's efforts. Within Seesaw, there is the option to comment, allowing students to give peer to peer feedback. This is a great way to embed an understanding of how to give positive feedback through technology. Seesaw is a social media platform for your class - only visible to you and your pupils. So you are able to talk about how to give positive feedback in a format which will be very similar to the social media platforms children will use when they are older. 

So why not give it a go and Thunk up your classroom!

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