- a children’s book writer…
- a poet…
$5.00
Seriously? A children’s book about turtles is philosophical? Oh yes it is! Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss), was not just a writer of children’s books, but a profound philosopher, a poet, a political advocate (sometimes controversial), and a promoter of critical thinking on all levels.
Using information wheels in lessons is a wonderful way of giving our students the opportunity to learn through, among other learning styles, kinesthetic interaction. They’ll be pulling from past knowledge, using deductive reasoning, negotiating meaning, and learning new subject matter, all at the same time. Studies show that learning is enhanced when students acquire knowledge through active processes that engage them. Literacy is a combination of recognising and matching oral and written language. The most effective ways of promoting literacy is to make vocabulary visible and to create high encounters with these words for your students – in interactive ways. Using wheels to scaffold vocabulary before you read a story can help. Below you’ll see how you can help your students to match words with images with an information wheel. information wheel.
Using information wheels in lessons is a wonderful way of giving our students the opportunity to learn through, among other learning styles, kinesthetic interaction. They’ll be pulling from past knowledge, using deductive reasoning, negotiating meaning, and learning new subject matter, all at the same time. Studies showthat learning is enhanced when students acquire knowledge through active processes that engage them. Literacy is a combination of recognising and matching oral and written language. The most effective ways of promoting literacy is to make vocabulary visible and to create high encounters with these words for your students – in interactive ways. Using wheels to scaffold vocabulary before you read a story can help. Below you’ll see how you can help your students to match words with images with an information wheel. information wheel.
Academic language is so important that experts assert that the warehouse of words a person has stored away is directly connected to their quality of thinking: higher quality of words equals higher quality of thinking.** In this age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the quality of thinking our students reach in our classes, will be the difference between being qualified for jobs that technology is (still) not capable of performing, and watching the world from the sidelines.
This applies even to our youngest learners. We can help them to assimilate academic language even before they begin to read. If we verbalise  first-, second- and third-tier words,*** through dynamic activities, we are helping them to become familiar with academic language that will serve them for the rest of their academic and professional lives.
Academic language is so important that experts assert that the warehouse of words a person has stored away is directly connected to their quality of thinking: higher quality of words equals higher quality of thinking.** In this age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the quality of thinking our students reach in our classes, will be the difference between being qualified for jobs that technology is (still) not capable of performing, and watching the world from the sidelines.
This applies even to our youngest learners. We can help them to assimilate academic language even before they begin to read. If we verbalise  first-, second- and third-tier words,*** through dynamic activities, we are helping them to become familiar with academic language that will serve them for the rest of their academic and professional lives.
We all know by now (pretend that you do, even if you don’t!!!) that teaching critical thinking is a never-ending job. Critical thinking strategies are domain sensitive, which simply means that a strategy that works in art may not work in history, and a strategy that works in for a verbal deliberation may not work in a situation that requires physical movement, etc.
We look at all this as an opportunity to expand our practice. We can take this as an excuse to widen even further the variety of strategies we use in our classroom activities so that when our students go out into the world, they’ll be more prepared because of this little extra effort we put into our lessons.
We all know by now (pretend that you do, even if you don’t!!!) that teaching critical thinking is a never-ending job. Critical thinking strategies are domain sensitive, which simply means that a strategy that works in art may not work in history, and a strategy that works in for a verbal deliberation may not work in a situation that requires physical movement, etc.
We look at all this as an opportunity to expand our practice. We can take this as an excuse to widen even further the variety of strategies we use in our classroom activities so that when our students go out into the world, they’ll be more prepared because of this little extra effort we put into our lessons.
Higher-order level questions – those that elicit deeper thinking – help students to stretch their thinking and engage their curiosity, their reasoning ability, their creativity, and independence. These questions encourage students to open their minds, they offer opportunities to produce original thinking. Â A well-structured question sparks perspectives that might not have at first occurred to us; they encourage us to look at the issue from different perspectives. Higher-order level questions inspire fresh and sometimes even startling insights and ideas, they open roads for wider perspectives of the issue, and enable teachers and students to work together in constructing understanding. If we use effective questioning skills in the educational environment, we help our students to be more effective thinkers now and in the future.*
Higher-order level questions – those that elicit deeper thinking – help students to stretch their thinking and engage their curiosity, their reasoning ability, their creativity, and independence. These questions encourage students to open their minds, they offer opportunities to produce original thinking. Â A well-structured question sparks perspectives that might not have at first occurred to us; they encourage us to look at the issue from different perspectives. Higher-order level questions inspire fresh and sometimes even startling insights and ideas, they open roads for wider perspectives of the issue, and enable teachers and students to work together in constructing understanding. If we use effective questioning skills in the educational environment, we help our students to be more effective thinkers now and in the future.*