Sentence Phrase Word
Pick a sentence, a phrase, and a word from a text, then discuss themes.
Capturing the heartBuilding explanations
What is Sentence Phrase Word?
Used after reading. Forces selection at three levels of granularity.
Setup: Provide the text.
The prompts
- 1A SENTENCE that captures a core idea
- 2A PHRASE that moved or provoked you
- 3A WORD that struck you as powerful
- 4Why this selection?What themes do these point to?
Good moments for Sentence Phrase Word
- Classroom warm-upSurface what students bring before introducing new content.
- After a reading or videoConsolidate big ideas without testing recall.
- Discussion starterResponses become the seed material for the room conversation.
- End-of-session reflectionCapture how thinking changed.
About Visible Thinking
Visible Thinking Routines were developed by Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (Ron Ritchhart, David Perkins). They are short structured protocols for surfacing thinking, not assessments.
Project Zero website