Visible Thinking Routine
Connect–Extend–Challenge.
What connects to prior thinking, what extends it, what challenges it.
N_prompt pattern
connect
interpret
complexity
What is it
What is Connect–Extend–Challenge?
Reflective routine after engaging with new material.
Setup: Reference the material under discussion.
How it works
The prompts
-
01
CONNECT — How is this connected to what you already knew?
Response: Longtext
-
02
EXTEND — What extended or broadened your thinking?
Response: Longtext
-
03
CHALLENGE — What challenges or puzzles surfaced?
Response: Longtext
When to use
Good moments for Connect–Extend–Challenge
- Classroom warm-up. Surface what students bring before introducing new content.
- After a reading or video. Consolidate big ideas without testing recall.
- Discussion starter. Responses become the seed material for the room conversation.
- End-of-session reflection. Capture how thinking changed.
Keep exploring
Other thinking routines
Browse all 21 routines in the gallery, filtered by the kind of thinking you want to surface — observation, perspective-taking, reasoning with evidence, or capturing the heart of an idea.