See Think Wonder is a visual thinking strategy used in arts integration. Arts integration is an impactful way to teach content to students. It allows me t teach students how to use art to create, reflect on knowledge, and connect with their areas of interest. If you are new to arts integration, or you have been using arts integration for a long time, there are some tools that are just tried and true in all content. One of my favorite tools to use in the classroom is see, think, wonder.
See think wonder is used when reflecting on any type of visual art. During see, think, wonder, student reflect and discuss the following thing while looking at a piece of artwork.
See
See: What do you see? During this time students literally say what they see. Words like lines, colors, patterns, animals, people, or facial expressions are identified. The purpose is to take in all the visual information and put words to them.
Think
Think: Students then go deeper into understanding a piece of art. During this time, they reflect on what they think about the piece. Sometimes it is a reflection on their opinion of the piece… how much they like it or do not like it. A more insightful use of Think is when students try to analyze or understand what they think is going in the painting. Their statements may be something like, ” I think that the shadow behind her was placed there to show sadness”. ” I think the artist chose those colors to reflect on his feelings of anger in the painting”. Think is a really great tool to assess what a student knows about the topic, artist, or painting itself, depending on your goal for the lesson.
Wonder
Wonder: This is when student ask questions about the painting. These can range of why the artist chose certain colors, to why certain shape or images were used. Essentially, anything that is causing the student to ponder or question. As an educator, Wonder is beneficial for students because it teaches them how to ask questions and problem solve complex concepts.
See, Think, Wonder can be done at any grade level. I have used this in elementary school Kindergarten all the way up through 5th grade. This concept of see, think, wonder can tie into any academic content and can be used to build comprehension, interest, and reflection on any academic content that it is used on.