I see, I wonder

A Brief Overview of the Lesson

This will be an opportunity for me as a teacher to see the students thinking when
they look at a picture that depicts the life of Japanese students in Japan.
This gives the students the benefit of talking with other classmates in order to
come to a conclusion on their thinking
The students will also get to walk around and see other groups pictures, and see
other groups thinking as well.
Lesson Goals

To introduce a new thinking routine to the

class

To collaborate with group members to

highlight key details that they notice in a
picture

Practice introductions

Previous Related Learning

Students have already

learned the basics of selfintroductions, now they will
practice more

Students may or may not

have been introduced to
thinking routines in other
classes

Class Start and Introduction Walk-Around (10 minutes)

Rationales:
I want the students to continuing to practice their self-introductions. While we are
still learning hiragana, I think its important to continue with some of the basic
speaking practice. The day before we read an excerpt in the book about the lives of
Japanese students in Japanese high school, and I felt that it was too brief. I decided
to work on a thinking routine, and seeing if students would notice the differences
and similarities in a Japanese school setting and theirs
Modes of Communication and Skills Incorporated in this
Activity
Critical thinking
Listening, Speaking

Touban (class leader) begins class as the bell rings,

makes the class bow, and then starts off by saying what
day it is, and what the weather is like
Teacher explains that they will do an introduction
signature walk around.
o Students will introduce themselves to two other
people, before introducing themselves to the
teacher. The items that will be included will be
Nice to meet you
My name is
I am (years old)
I am (years) in high school
My hobby is (hobby)
Please take care of me (fixed phrase)
o Students will be given participation points for
completing the sheet and turning it in
o In order to get a final sign from me, they have to
bow at appropriate times (already practiced) and
their pronunciation has to be correct or very

Participation
Structures:
Small groups, Gallery
walk
Materials /
Resources Needed
Pre-selected
pictures
Large paper for
writing down
observations
and feelings
Selfintroduction
half-sheet

Adapted from and by Suzanne Kauer, Jeff Bale, Abraham Ceballos, Kongji Qin, Katie Cook, Yunjeong
Choi, Jos Martinez

close.

How will you check for your students understanding during this activity? In
other words, how will you know if students have met the learning objectives of
this activity?
The students will have to come to me at the end of it all, so I can see their pronunciation
and their mannerisms when they bow. If they are not up to the standard that I have set
for them, I will send them back to practice and then they can try again.

I see, I wonder (30-45 minutes)

Rationales:
I want the students to focus more on group dynamics than language skills during
this class. Since the start of the new semester, I have put the students into pods
(four people each) instead of the rows that we have had since the beginning of the
year.
I want the students to be able to deconstruct a picture and tell me what they see
(without judgment) and also to analyze why they might be seeing and interpret the
image based on sight.
I want the students to be able to discuss these interpretations and ideas with their
classmates, and construct a list from it
Modes of Communication and Skills Incorporated in this
Activity
Interpersonal Mode
Listening, Speaking
Group work
Critical Thinking skills

T explains that they are going to start doing a new

thinking routine, called I see, I wonder. (It is a variation
of I see, I think, I wonder)
T shows an example on document camera (if one isnt
available, computer works just fine)
o T asks students to first just LOOK silently at the
picture and take in as many elements as they can
see (1 minute) (THINK)
o Then T asks students to find a partner to discuss
some of the things that they saw without writing
them down (PAIR)
o T instructs students to share the information that
they discussed about what they SAW only. T
writes down information on large sheet of paper
(SHARE)
T shares information that they wrote down, and now asks
them to do the same procedure for their wonder (Based
on what they see, they generate questions/comments
about the picture starting with the phrase I wonder)
T shows students the completed paper with their
observations and thoughts on it
Check for understanding

Participation
Structures:
Group work
(groups of four)
Gallery walk
(around the
room in their
groups)
Materials /
Resources Needed
Pictures (1 per
group plus 1
example)
Document
Camera with
projector
Large paper for
writing (1 per
group)
Markers
Magnets (to put
on whiteboard)

Adapted from and by Suzanne Kauer, Jeff Bale, Abraham Ceballos, Kongji Qin, Katie Cook, Yunjeong
Choi, Jos Martinez

T instructs students to do same thing with their groups

(four people each). Their job is to come up with as many
observations and thoughts as they can
When Ss finish, they put their picture on the boards, with
their papers underneath. (Their names go on the back of
the paper so that we can preserve anonymity.
Ss spend a minute at each station, looking at the picture
and the observations before sitting back down
DEBRIEF: T asks students to tell the class about their
picture or the observations that they saw about other
pictures and the thoughts from the group.
How will you check for your students understanding during this activity? In
other words, how will you know if students have met the learning objectives of
this activity?
I will circulate around the classroom and ask meaningful questions to the students about
their thinking
DIFFERENTIATION: For a Japanese 2 class, that has the language skills, they would
make a dialogue based on the picture, and also do their best to write their observations in
one word or in phrases.

Adapted from and by Suzanne Kauer, Jeff Bale, Abraham Ceballos, Kongji Qin, Katie Cook, Yunjeong
Choi, Jos Martinez