Using See Think Wonder with Animated Shorts

As teachers, we love teaching reading with animated shorts! They are an easy way for students to practice comprehension strategies that they can transfer to their reading. Animated shorts also work perfectly for implementing the See, Think, Wonder strategy. Find out how to use animated shorts to improve students’ engagement and critical thinking skills.

Teaching Reading with Animated Shorts

There are obviously many ways to use animated shorts to teach reading strategies and skills. Here’s a comprehensive list of animated shorts with corresponding reading skills to help you get started using them with your students!

One of my favorite ways to use animated shorts for teaching reading is with the See, Think, Wonder strategy. The videos allow students to solely focus on applying critical thinking skills rather than also simultaneously working to decode text. Students naturally predict, infer, and make connections while watching the shorts without even realizing it! By using the See, Think, Wonder strategy to bring students’ attention to the thinking they’re doing while watching the video, we can begin to transfer the same skills to their reading.

What is the See Think Wonder Strategy?

The See, Think, Wonder strategy is a way to help students actively think about the text while reading. It also can be another way for students to annotate the text. As the name implies students are encouraged to see, think, and wonder about an image or text as they read.

Using Animated Shorts for See Think Wonder

Select an animated short that lends itself to making predictions and asking questions. (This is true for most shorts!) Preview the video ahead of time to identify various stopping points. Ideally, find points that lend themselves to making predictions about what will happen next or making inferences about how a character is feeling.

Briefly discuss their thinking before continuing the video. During the discussion, it is important to explicitly name the thinking strategies students are using (such as: “You predicted…” “You made a connection to…” “You inferred that…”). By bringing their awareness to what they’re doing, it helps them transfer that thinking to other images, videos, or text they’re viewing.

Teacher Tips:

• I recommend choosing multiple shorts to use for modeling and additional practice.
• Make sure to model your thinking the first time you implement this strategy with an animated short.
• The See part provides the evidence for the Think part where students make their inferences/predictions about the story. Examples: “I think [the character] is angry because I see her first are clenched and she is yelling.” or “I see she is stomping her feet so I think the character is angry.”
• Make sure you stop at the exact right time – sometimes the next second might reveal a major detail! Seeing those details too soon limits students’ opportunity to predict and analyze what’s happening.
• In order to save time, you may not want to have students record their thinking at every stopping point. It depends on how many times you decide to stop while watching it.
• Be sure to set a time limit for think time or to write at each stopping point. I stick to 30-60 seconds to save time.
• Inevitably, your students will want to watch the short the entire way through after you’ve finished this activity. So be sure to plan your time accordingly!

Suggested Shorts to Use

In order to help you start using animated shorts with the See, Think, Wonder strategy, I’ve compiled some of my students’ favorites. These are the videos I typically use and have found to work well with the strategy (but can also be used to teach various other reading skills). I’ve also included some recommended stopping points to help save you time!

For the Birds

A flock of birds is greeted by a large goofy bird who tries to join them on the telephone wire. Rather than welcoming him, the flock begins to mock him. But eventually, the tables are turned in this classic short!

Snack Attack

An elderly woman is trying to eat a snack but a stranger beside her keeps eating the cookies! This short is perfect to use for the Show Don’t Tell Writing Strategy. The stopping points allow students to state the specific details they see that support their thinking about how she is feeling. You’ll also want to rewatch it a second time from the young male’s perspective. (Be sure to pause to read his text messages on the 2nd viewing!)

Coin Operated

A young astronaut spends his entire life working to make his dream come true. But will he ever make it into space? This short definitely tugs at the heartstrings! One Small Step is another animated short with a beautiful story that is perfect to compare/contrast with this video. But I recommend previewing One Small Step since it alludes to the death of a character so it’s best for viewing with older students.

Teaching Note About Prompting Students

Some students will not automatically be able to record what they see, think, and wonder. They might need some additional prompting to apply this type of thinking. As a result, here are suggested prompts to help students express their thinking.

• How is the character feeling? How do you know?
• What do you think will happen next? Why do you think that?

The See part provides the evidence for the Think part where students make their inferences/predictions about the story. Examples of student responses: “I see [the character] clenching her fists and yelling so I think she is mad.” or “I think [the character] is going on a trip to the beach because I see him packing his suitcase with a bathing suit and towel.”

Be sure to download the FREE anchor chart and a graphic organizer to help you get started using the See, Think, Wonder Strategy with your students!

Want to Pin this for later?