The Strategic Six Thinking Moves Printable PDFs

Introduced in Shift 2 of Shifting the Balance: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Upper Elementary Classroom, the Strategic Six Thinking Moves give students a simple language for reflecting on the thinking that supports comprehension. While strategic thinking is important, it is just one part of successful comprehension. Readers also rely on strong vocabulary, background knowledge, understanding of language and sentence structures, and accurate, automatic word reading to make meaning.

We’ve distilled the research on high-leverage comprehension strategies into six kid-friendly Thinking Moves, each with a memorable icon, simple explanation, guiding questions, and examples. Use these classroom reference pages to introduce and revisit each Thinking Move during interactive text experiences, classroom discussions, and conferences.

The goal isn’t for students to memorize or perform the Thinking Moves, but to gradually internalize the habits of thoughtful, reflective readers.