Day 52: Evan Careclakis, Teacher at Rosemont School

I had the opportunity to explore one of the core routines from the Visible Thinking Project through a pumpkin presented to our class by a student. Mr. Pumpkin sat at the carpet area where students could interact with it – one even put it on her lap and read a book about pumpkins to it! I chuckled to myself during my guided reading group session, when she turned and asked it, “I wonder how you got your big scars.”


This was the moment where a learner explicitly made her thinking visible by asking a simple question. This would be my chance to explore the concept of: “I see, I think, I wonder” and a good introduction to visible learning journals.

Mr. Pumpkin has now become our artifact to explore through “I see, I think, I wonder”. “I think…” things became interesting when students began using background knowledge of carving pumpkins to respond with “I think... it’s going to be squishy inside, or stringy inside, or it will have 100 seeds.” 

Then came the jackpot moment for me… “I Wonder”. It clicked as I heard their responses… “I wonder... how it got its name? Why does it have lines running up and down on it? Why does it have a stem? Why do they start out green?” These great questions helped to guide us into deeper explorations of the pumpkin. Even after carving it open to examine inside, more question arose... “I wonder why it needs 672 seeds?”

I’ve learned that common artifacts can be a great springboard for learning!

Evan (@space_dog) teaches Grade 1/2 at Rosemont. Even if you think you can't, take a risk in life and learning. Loves: Travel and Dogs.