- 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.
Studies show that while memorising academic language is effective in the short term – to pass exams, for instance, in the long-term it is an ineffective way of learning terms that students can use in context*. Without having analysed, compared, categorised, and defended their own ideas through the use of these terms, most students will forget their meanings as quickly as they learned them.
What can we do? The solution is easy. We create opportunities for our students to analyse, compare, categorise, and defend their own ideas through the use of these terms.
Sequencing is a concept that needs to be repeated throughout the education process. We need to intentionally give our students the opportunities to be able to recognise and express sequences, and we need to provide the phrases they can use to clarify the ordering of events. It might be motivating to know that studies show that students are able to recall information more accurately if they´ve been schooled in sequencing.
The art of ordering is a skill that requires critical thinking as it obligates the students to see both sides of an issue, be open to new evidence, and deduce and infer conclusions from available facts.* Inferential reasoning enables students to construct new knowledge by considering, connecting past knowledge to new. If we want to delve into the biology of the skill, you might be interested to know that the dynamic activates the hippocampus, which is the part of the brain responsible for retaining short-term, long-term and spatial memory. So, the more we give students the opportunity to develop this part of the brain, the more we are aiding them in strengthening neuron connections.
Sequencing is a concept that needs to be repeated throughout the education process. We need to intentionally give our students the opportunities to be able to recognise and express sequences, and we need to provide the phrases they can use to clarify the ordering of events. It might be motivating to know that studies show that students are able to recall information more accurately if they´ve been schooled in sequencing.
The art of ordering is a skill that requires critical thinking as it obligates the students to see both sides of an issue, be open to new evidence, and deduce and infer conclusions from available facts.* Inferential reasoning enables students to construct new knowledge by considering, connecting past knowledge to new. If we want to delve into the biology of the skill, you might be interested to know that the dynamic activates the hippocampus, which is the part of the brain responsible for retaining short-term, long-term and spatial memory. So, the more we give students the opportunity to develop this part of the brain, the more we are aiding them in strengthening neuron connections.
This scaffold helps students to become personally involved in whatever text they are asked to read. The technique includes using verbal reasoning to aid in the reading of new material – so that the reader has the opportunity to build a mental representation of the text through critical thinking and deliberation. The active dialogue while reading helps students to maintain active nodes (that might otherwise be passive), and the construct of knowledge then becomes stronger and can be accessed longer.
This scaffold helps students to become personally involved in whatever text they are asked to read. The technique includes using verbal reasoning to aid in the reading of new material – so that the reader has the opportunity to build a mental representation of the text through critical thinking and deliberation. The active dialogue while reading helps students to maintain active nodes (that might otherwise be passive), and the construct of knowledge then becomes stronger and can be accessed longer.
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.