The Meta-Cognitive Frames of Reference: Taking Thinking Maps to the Next Level (Part 1- The Green Frame)

I have a confession to make: When I was first introduced to Thinking Maps around fifteen years ago, I was completely unimpressed. I dutifully hung them on my wall and promptly forgot all about them, except on the occasions when I needed to temporarily take them down to make room for art projects. I maintained this insouciance for many years.

In 2011, I was sent to the Write from the Beginning (The Thinking Maps-based writing program) training offered at the Hardy Center. I immediately found the logical, intuitive structure of the program captivating, and I began to suspect I had missed something important about the bland-looking graphic organizers on my wall. I lobbied my principal for more training on Thinking Maps, which eventually led to multiple visits to our school by an incredibly knowledgeable trainer named Kristin Clark. One of the first things Kristin did was explain the crucial role of The Meta-Cognitive Frames of Reference in the proper use of Thinking Maps, and I eventually came to realize that they were the secret ingredient that unlocked the true potential of the maps.

The Frames of Reference are a series of color-coded questions that students should always ask themselves about their Thinking Maps (or any other thinking/reading/writing they are doing). Each colored category (green, blue, and red) is a major question, which is then broken into six detailed supporting questions (See the Tree Map below). These questions, in their original form or as content-specific variations, can and should be layered onto Thinking Maps for students to answer before, during, or after they have done the required thinking.

As you can see in the above graphic, the three question categories are as follows:

Green: Where did you get the information in your map?

Blue: What is influencing the information in your map?

Red: What conclusions can you draw from your map?

All of these questions will help you address important learning targets and standards across the curriculum. In my next few blog posts, I will cover each one in detail. Let’s start with the Green Frame!

The Green Frame: Where did you get the information?

Anyone who has ever administered a performance task knows that this question can make or break a student’s response. If the student is supposed to use a series of sources provided in the task, but instead relies on their prior knowledge, they are finished before they begin. The Green Frame question teaches students to distinguish between two possibilities, posed in the form of supporting questions:

Is the information based on your prior knowledge?

or

Did the information come from a specific source?

Obviously, the goal should be for kids to contemplate these questions before they begin thinking, but even answering them after the fact can help them build awareness. It is, of course, possible that some of the information in their map could come from their prior knowledge while other information comes from a specific source; an example would be a map of inferences about a story in which the student combines text evidence and prior knowledge. 

Prior Knowledge

If the information in a student’s map is based on their prior knowledge, there are a couple of follow-up questions they can use to more specifically identify the type(s) of prior knowledge with which they are working:

What personal experience have you had with this concept or topic?

and/or

What background knowledge do you have that could relate to this concept or topic?

One of the many aspects of the frames that I love is how they encourage precision of thought. By differentiating between personal experience and background knowledge, these questions lead students to consider exactly where their knowledge comes from. Is this something that has happened to you, or did you learn about it second-hand? 

The prior knowledge side of the green frame can also be used in writing instruction. Personal experience and imaginative narratives rely heavily on a writer’s prior knowledge, as do the various types of “Explain Why” writing (opinion, point of view, argumentative). Matching genres to information sources can help students create mental templates which can come in handy when responding to writing prompts.

Specific Sources

The other side of the Green Frame is perfectly suited to all things Common Core. The guiding question is: Did the information come from a specific source? Our standards are awash with mentions of using and/or citing text evidence. The consistent use of the accompanying follow-up questions is a fantastic way to ensure you are regularly requiring students to employ these skills:

What are the specific titles, page numbers, web addresses of the sources you referenced?

and/or

What specific textual evidence can you cite to support your inferences?

Needless to say, the use and citation of text evidence are essential academic skills with applications throughout the curriculum. As I mentioned above, the CAASPP performance tasks usually involve the use of specific sources. Many types of expository writing prompts (to Explain Why, to Report Information, and to Explain How) often call for the use of text evidence, and there is even a research grade on our report cards.

Uses and Examples

The Green Frame of Reference has become part of my classroom curriculum. In other words, I teach it explicitly throughout the year and it is the inspiration for many mini-lessons. I have even gone so far as to use green font on the maps I create to designate any places where students should consider the source of their information (including the titles of sources, text evidence, etc). 

Focusing on the Green Frame affords a teacher the opportunity to address important standards in writing, grammar, punctuation, social studies, reading comprehension, and just about any other subject across the curriculum. Students can be taught to use personal examples such as anecdotes, personal experiences, and the experiences of others to support reasons in “Explain Why” writing. Verbs of attribution, along with other language used to acknowledge sources, can and should be taught in conjunction with the concept of citing text evidence. Direct and indirect quotes and their proper punctuation are also logical topics of instruction in this context. In the study of history, sources are everything; the Green Frame questions about citations look like they’ve been pulled from a history class syllabus.

My reading comprehension strategy and skill maps are often covered with green font. This is my way of constantly reinforcing the need to consider sources of information (See the “Dramatic Structure Summarizing Flow Map” for an example).

I have an entire wall of my room devoted to the Meta-Cognitive Frames of Reference. This serves two purposes. First, it ensures that I never forget to weave the Frames into my instruction. More importantly, it allows my students constant access to these critical tools. In my next post, I will address the Blue Frame, which is the most cognitively challenging and game-changing of the frames. Please help continue the conversation by including any questions or suggestions in the comment section below!

Here are the links to my other two posts about the Frames, along with one about the importance of Thinking Maps:

Blue Frame: https://spotlightclassrooms.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-meta-cognitive-frames-of-reference.html

Red Frame: https://spotlightclassrooms.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-meta-cognitive-frames-of-reference.html

What's So Great About Thinking Maps?: https://spotlightclassrooms.blogspot.com/2021/10/whats-so-great-about-thinking-maps.html

Writing Every Day,

Eric Lovein

PS: Check out my post about Summarizing Flow Maps!: https://spotlightclassrooms.blogspot.com/2022/03/thinking-maps-for-fictional-narrative.html

...and my video on Circle Maps!:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuQ9RkXXZcI