As teachers one of the most challenging tasks is to
help students grow as critical thinkers. This is not an easy task at any stage.
It would be great to share some activities we all use so as to develop critical
thinking in our group. With the little ones
we usually use an activity that is very interesting. We read part of a story
and we ask st to imagine how the problem can be solved. It is amazing to see
that most of them have lots of ideas, usually more than one ending. There are
also students who cannot produce any solution, they need extra help, and they
usually get an ending based on what others have said. This is clear evidence
that we need to work harder with those st. This is just an example, one
activity, but we have to bear
in mind that we have to prepare challenging activities, activities that will make them
think, reflect imagine, every day.
I know that most of us will agree with the importance of critical thinking,
but it would be interesting to think what we can do so as to walk them through
this process and compare it to what we actually do in the classroom every day. Critical thimking is not only for students!!!
Of course we, as adults, need to train our critical thinking skills every day too.
ResponderBorrarI also do the same with my kids. I start reading a story and at certain points I stop to make them think how it can continue. I also make them imagine the same story with a different genre and I ask them to describe how it would differ from the original version. Voyage, the book we use, generally has open ending stories so they can thnk how to continue the story. When we hold literary circles, we sometimes talk about the readers they take for response activities. As they are generally well-known stories we talk about the autor and context of situation, checking how life and history could affect the autor to write such and such a thing. Another thing we do and students like it is to compare a charater from the book with an animal, or to think of a meeting between a character from the book and a famous person. Those are some of the things we do in 5th. Of course not all of them reach the same reults or have a similar performance. Some find it easier to think, imagine, create.
I agree with you two! Asking students to IMAGINE and think of different alternatives changing the factors to take into consideration makes them reflect and come up with great creative ideas which show and prove they are critically thinking!
ResponderBorrarPutting themselves in the shoes of different characters and thinking about how they would solve a conflict if they WERE that/ those characters is fantastic as well.
I remember that when I taught little children I always had a box with problem-solving activities for them to solve and they loved them! They were connected with mathematics, real-life situations and some cards with questions, which I'll paste below so as to share them with you:
How would life be different if there were no electricity? List three different ways.
Explain a flower to someone who has never seen or heard of one before.
Write a story about the zoo without using the names of any animals.
Pretend that you get to make one rule that everyone in the world must follow. What rule do you make? Why?
What kind of soup would you eat for dessert? Write a recipe for dessert soup.
You can have any three things that you want. In return you must give away three things that are about the same size as the things you get. What do you get and what do you give away?
What are some ways you could celebrate "Backwards Day?"
Are you more like a square or a circle? Why?
How would the game of soccer be different if the ball was shaped like a cube?
What are three ways the world would be different if people did not need to sleep? What would you do with the extra time?
What would happen if all the bowling balls and bowling pins in the world suddenly became alive?
Which do you think is more important: motorized vehicles like cars and airplanes or computers? Why?
If you could choose one thing that costs money and make it free for everyone forever, what thing would you choose? Why?
If you could live in a tree house, would you? What are three advantages and three disadvantages to living in a tree house?
If people could not see colors, how would traffic lights work? Design a traffic system that does not rely on colors.
What are the ten most important jobs in the world? Do you want to do any of these jobs when you are an adult?
Pretend that parents have to take a test before they can have children. Write six questions that would be on the parenting test.
If you could invent a new subject that would be taught to all children in school, what would the subject be?
Why do you think children need to learn about your subject\?
If you could talk to trees, what do you think they might say?
Create a conversation between you and a tree.
Are you more like a river, a lake, an ocean, or a waterfall? Why?
Love!
Ceci
Funny thing this activity of talking to a tree. Yesterday I watched a film about a "hippie community" who talked to trees after chewing "grass". haha
ResponderBorrarYesi, How importat it would be to think about how to develop critical thinking every day in every lesson... if we have it right there in our minds Iam sure you can find the way to turn each activity into a probling solving one! this is part of real life and task in the classroom should be as true to life as possible.
ResponderBorrarCeci's list of activities is great, they are funny and very creative! Creativity!! Another essential aspect to be developed.