Visible Thinking Routine
Sentence–Phrase–Word.
Pick a sentence, a phrase, and a word from a text — then discuss themes.
Source pattern
conclude
interpret
What is it
What is Sentence–Phrase–Word?
Used after reading. Forces selection at three levels of granularity.
Setup: Provide the text.
How it works
The prompts
-
01
A SENTENCE that captures a core idea
Response: Longtext · bucket: sentence
-
02
A PHRASE that moved or provoked you
Response: Text · bucket: phrase
-
03
A WORD that struck you as powerful
Response: Text · bucket: word
-
04
Why this selection?
What themes do these point to?
Response: Longtext · bucket: why
When to use
Good moments for Sentence–Phrase–Word
- 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.