Six Thinking Hats K-College
 

Equip your students to become excellent lifelong thinkers.

Six Thinking Hats is a proven and practical thinking tool. It helps students think clearly and thoroughly by directing their thinking attention in one direction at a time--facts, creativity, benefits, cautions, feelings, and process. It's a simple mental metaphor. Hats are easy to put on and to take off. Each hat is a different color which signals the thinking ingredient. In a group setting each member thinks using the same hat at the same time on the same challenge—we call this focused parallel thinking.

“My students revel in the metacognitive strategies of Six Hats®. They just love thinking about thinking! Students enjoy the simplicity of the hats and can easily, and purposefully, examine all approaches to problem solving. And, besides that, they'll tell you it's just plain FUN!—Judy Micheletti, Teacher, Berwick School District
 

The Six Thinking Hats® Tool Kit

 

	Blue Hat Thinking- Process Thinking about thinking What thinking is needed? Organizing the thinking Planning for action
	White Hat Thinking- Facts Information and data Neutral and objective What do I know? What do I need to find out? How will I get the information I need?
	Green Hat Thinking - Creativity Ideas, alternative, possibilities Provocation - "PO" Solutions to black hat problems
	Yellow Hat Thinking- Benefits Positives, plus points Logical reasons are given. Why an idea is useful
	Black Hat Thinking - Cautions Difficulties, weaknesses, dangers Logical reasons are given. Spotting the risks
	Red Hat Thinking - Feelings Intuition, hunches, gut instinct My feelings right now. Feelings can change. No reasons are given.

The Six Thinking Hats® school program provides a wonderful framework for thorough thinking to help students

• Conduct a richer, more balanced exploration of any subject.

• Become independent thinkers.

• Objectively guide group discussions.

• Evaluate alternatives constructively.

• Improve research and writing skills.

• Think thoughtfully before speaking.

• Listen more intently to the views of others to gain a deeper understanding of issues.

• Present ideas with more confidence to teachers, peers, parents, and community groups.

• Solve problems.

• Make well thought through choices.

Testimonials from principals and teachers: Franny McAleer’s Groups

"Our work with de Bono's SIX HATS® has been a great base for improving our work with higher level thinking. I often hear references to those darn "White Hat questions", so deadly in large numbers. The awareness created from the SIX HATS® has been valuable.” —Suzanne Herr, Principal, Solanco School District, PA

“Applying the SIX HATS® is a natural for the classroom. Franny presents the information in a clear, usable, and valuable fashion. Move over Bloom - a great new way of teaching thinking!” —Susan Holzer

“I am using the SIX HATS® daily. I refer to them to get the children thinking in a certain direction. What I like about this program is that it gives the students a direction to think towards by the questions on the hats. In the primary grades especially, the students need to develop specific thinking areas. I did an activity where they had to pick a wish and then use white and black hat thinking about the wish. They did a great job. This is the first program I have used that starts students in the direction of thinking critically. They loved the activities especially the green hat. I'm happy with where I'm going especially as I use this with PSSA (state assessment) preparation.” —Debbie Miller, Wilkes Barre School District

"We love the hats. Tara and I introduced our students to them right away on Friday. Our Academic/Honors students were skeptical. My Applied Communications class LOVED them. Since then, with a little encouragement, we have had nothing but success with the hats. Tara’s Journalism class is attacking the school magazine all with hats. My Applied class designed and implemented a new independent novel unit utilizing the hats. My Honors Speech and Debate class has implemented a new peer comment format that revolves around yellow, black, and green hat ideas. My Honors III class is exploring The Red Badge of Courage with the hats. The red hat is especially helpful because they are putting themselves in a few of the characters’ shoes. They also linked the current Jessica Lynch debate (hero or not) to the novel with the hats.”

”I’ll admit, although your talk was informative and fun, I had doubts about getting the students to use it. After one day, my Applied students were correcting each other during a green hat session with, 'We’re wearing our green hats now. Save the black hat comments for later.' Amazingly no one was offended and the class continued working. I just wanted you to know how excited we are to share in this great method and how much we appreciate your instruction in it.” —Renee Sorensen, Teacher at Tunkhannock High School

“After attending the workshop, I was excited about going back to my classroom and trying out the Six Thinking Hats with my ESL students. I found it easy to simplify and adapt to their proficiency levels and they responded with enthusiasm to the visual and tactile presentation of the hats. They were motivated to answer questions and were able to demonstrate increased comprehension of the story. Even my most reluctant student was more responsive to questions. Though many of us are already doing some of the things Franny spoke about in the workshop, The Six Thinking Hats® provides a way for us to create a more muiltisensory learning environment, giving our students a greater chance for success. I found the SIX HATS workshop to be dynamic and inspiring. The Six Thinking Hats® concept is a valuable teaching tool that can be adapted to many areas of learning.” —Karen Lau, ESL Teacher, Luzerne Intermediate Unit

“I have learned so much about using the SIX HATS® in my classroom. I have already started using it in my class and it has been very successful.” —Dana Dubyak

“SIX HATS® has provided me with a whole new channel of thinking - pulling my mind into new directions.” —Carrie Mathias

“I attended this workshop with little knowledge of thinking skills and how to develop this concept in the classroom. This seminar introduced skills, developed those skills, and gave me new ideas to work "thinking" into my classroom, and daily life. Franny was a refreshing change of pace to other presenters. She was lively, creative, willing to share ideas and activities, and over FUN! Great workshop; wonderful presenter.”