The “See, Think, Wonder” exercise is a very interesting and effective inquiry tool. My Link2Practice classroom teacher (French kindergarten) uses a similar technique, primarily for science and math. For example, the last day that I was there, the teacher had a photo like the one below on the projector.
They have done exercises like this before, so they knew what to do. The teacher would start by asking for “I see” (je vois) statements, then move into “I think” (je pense) statements, and finally, “I wonder” (je me demande) statements. Some student examples were “I see a flower,” “I think it’s night,” “I wonder who put the candles there,” etc. There are no boundaries on the questions they can ask or the observations they can make, so long as they are relevant to the photo During activities like this, the students are clearly engaged, and are usually extremely excited for their teacher to call on them so that they may express their thinking.
For the math component, they had to pick one object, count how many there were in the photo, and write and draw it in their notebook. For example, if they chose the candles, they would count one, two, three candles, and draw them with the numbers written alongside. They were also expected to write any sounds that they heard in the word “candle” (chandelle).
This activity is effective in developing observational and critical thinking skills, as well as providing students the opportunity to express their thoughts and questions in a safe and encouraging environment. Every statement is treated equal, with no diminishing of ideas.
The worksheet that Rebecca uses would be an interesting modification. I am not sure that the students in my class would be able to differentiate between the different sections on their own; I think that it would be more of an effective tool to use as a whole class.