Visible Thinking Routine
The Explanation Game.
Name a feature of an object, explain it, justify it, generate alternatives.
Source pattern
observe
interpret
reason
complexity
What is it
What is The Explanation Game?
Close-looking + reasoning. Excellent for artifacts, mechanisms, artworks.
Setup: Show the object.
How it works
The prompts
-
01
NAME — a feature you notice
Response: Text · bucket: name
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02
EXPLAIN — what could it be / what role might it play?
Response: Longtext · bucket: explain
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03
GIVE REASONS — what makes you say that?
Response: Longtext · bucket: reasons
-
04
GENERATE ALTERNATIVES — what else could it be?
Response: Longtext · bucket: alternatives
When to use
Good moments for The Explanation Game
- 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.