Adapted from Harvard Project Zero .
http://www.pz.harvard.edu/Purpose: What kind of thinking does this routine encourage?
This is a routine for understanding why something is the way it is.
How to use: The first student reads one of their questions. The other people in the group try to answer the question or at least to propose possible explanations and reasons. As these students share their ideas, the person asking the original questioner follows up by asking, “What makes you think so?” The group works together to build explanations rather than merely deferring to an outside source, the teacher or a textbook, to provide an answer.