About Think2Read
Think2Read is a UK not-for-profit organisation that is committed to helping teachers fulfil the reading comprehension, transferable thinking and co-operative learning potential of children of all abilities.Background
Think2Read founder Donna Thomson began researching into effective ways of developing early comprehension skills and child-led group enquiry in 2001 based on Matthew Lipman's Philosophy for Children approach (1988), Palicsar and Brown's reciprocal reading framework (1986) and Parkin, Parkin and Poole's meta-cognitive questioning techniques ('Probe' Triune,1999). Think2Read resources have grown organically out of this research over eight years of school trials and evaluations by experts in the literacy field.
During this period the programme has been funded and supported by Dartington Social Research Centre, Devon Education Services and RIO (Real Ideas Organisation) in association with Creative Partnerships 2008 – 2011 and is endorsed by the National Literacy Trust.
Think2read offers teachers an easy step-by-step approach to teaching the independent team skills that underpin effective group reading and child-led enquiry; and an explicit reading comprehension programme that shows children how to question and process their thinking to support 'understanding' as they read.
Donna’s first comprehension book (Quick Fix for Year 6 Comprehension, 2007) based on the Think2read approach was written with co-author, Year 6 colleague Ruth Nixey for Key Stage 2 children and became a best selling resource that was nominated for the ERA Awards in 2007.
The programme was developed further to include instruction for Key Stage 1 children in 2007. This led to ongoing success with the Scholastic 'Literacy Skills Comprehension' series in 2009, written with award-winning children's author Elspeth Graham.
This was followed by the internationally successful 'Nelson Comprehension' series written with series editor John Jackman, authors Wendy Wren, Sarah Lindsay and Doug Dickinson.
The more recent 'whole-school' downloadable Reciprocal Team and Comprehension Skills programmes (2012) deliver the meta-cognitive and dialogic elements of the Think2Read approach more explicitly over 33 sessions (see 'TEAM-building in the classroom' and 'Teaching Comprehension Skills' on this site for more details about the new programme modules and whiteboard lesson resources). Learn more >
TEAM Building in the Classroom
The Think2Read TEAM-Building programme helps children to realise their potential as independent team members and collaborative learners.Learn more >