What makes you say that (WMYST) is a thinking routine which encourages fresh insight. This routine, from Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, helps students describe what they see or know, using evidence. It asks them to build explanations, to dig deeper. It promotes evidential reasoning and encourages learners to understand alternatives and multiple perspectives.
“Science explains much about our world, but there’s a lot that takes faith.”
The routine starts by asking learners to respond to a statement (e.g. “I have faith that…). Next, learners share the answer with a learning partner. (It really does work better with two people.) Then, the partners ask the question WMYST.
Try It
Ask a child or grandchild to respond to the statement: I have faith that… Then, follow up with WMYST. Their answers may surprise you.
I tried it recently at a Bible study on the topic of “faith.” The answers were awesome. The class expressed passionate beliefs about God. For example, Donna said, “I have faith that God cares about us.” When asked WMYST, she listed many examples of God’s amazing interventions in her life. It was for sure fresh insight.
Faith
Faith is central to understanding the Biblical. Using Hebrews 11, the class studied the highlights of God’s story through lives of the protagonists or heroes, the good guys. Faith describes the relationship between God and these heroes of faith. In verse 3, we are reminded that we cannot even understand our world without faith. To explore this idea, I tried the thinking routine again. I asked the class to respond to the statement: Something I know because of faith is…
I was somewhat apprehensive as I listened for the answers. Today, we have a much greater understanding of our world than they did in Bible times. The answers, however, were amazing. Steve said, “I understand the stars in heaven by faith.” I questioned, even with all that science has taught us about stars? Astronomers even know of what material stars are made. In response to WMYST, Steve acknowledged that we know a lot about stars, but the concepts are abstract. He wondered, with all the billions of stars, could it really be true that ours is the only one with a planet that supports “intelligent” life? He said it requires some faith to understand that the stars are there and the purpose for it all. Science explains much about our world, but there’s a lot that takes faith.
Faithfulness
Our study also brought a deeper understanding about faithfulness. By studying the heroes of faith, we learned that faithfulness requires action. In verse 8, we learned that Abraham obeyed. Like the Nike commercial, he chose to “Just do it.” Abraham persevered because he put his trust in God.
The thinking routine, WMYST, caused the class to discover fresh insight about faith and faithfulness. We learned that we are called to walk each day in faithfulness or obedience. Try one more example, ask your child to respond to the statement, I am most faithful with… Of course, then, follow up with WMYST.
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1
Copyright © 2023 Chuck Locklear
Also, see Thinking Routines.