- 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.
Writing is one of the four cornerstone skills of every inclusive educational curriculum. It helps us form our thoughts into coherent verses and communicate over distance and time. It is a skill usually approached as a way of appeasing bands for standardised exams, but, in fact, is the perfect tool to foster the development and expression of empathy.
Empathy is a way of connecting with other people in such a way so that you show you understand what they’re experiencing – and that you respect their experience as something meaningful – even though you may not understand exactly how it feels for them. In other words, empathy is about finding a way to connect.
Writing is one of the four cornerstone skills of every inclusive educational curriculum. It helps us form our thoughts into coherent verses and communicate over distance and time. It is a skill usually approached as a way of appeasing bands for standardised exams, but, in fact, is the perfect tool to foster the development and expression of empathy.
Empathy is a way of connecting with other people in such a way so that you show you understand what they’re experiencing – and that you respect their experience as something meaningful – even though you may not understand exactly how it feels for them. In other words, empathy is about finding a way to connect.
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.
Adding humour to a lesson is always a recipe for success. Humour changes the dynamic of the class and helps students to see their lessons with a different frame of mind. This scaffold uses irony – the highest form of humour – to help make potentially dry material more inviting and accessible.
The use of humour is engrained in our cultural perspectives. Edward T. Hall, one of the pioneers of cultural studies for the purpose of preparing us for and appreciating the differences in peoples across the globe, elucidates the varying uses of humour in different environments. American humour, for instance, is binary and is either present or absent. In the Far East, on the other hand, one encounters a wide spectrum of subtle degrees of humour that are commonly present.*
Adding humour to a lesson is always a recipe for success. Humour changes the dynamic of the class and helps students to see their lessons with a different frame of mind. This scaffold uses irony – the highest form of humour – to help make potentially dry material more inviting and accessible.
The use of humour is engrained in our cultural perspectives. Edward T. Hall, one of the pioneers of cultural studies for the purpose of preparing us for and appreciating the differences in peoples across the globe, elucidates the varying uses of humour in different environments. American humour, for instance, is binary and is either present or absent. In the Far East, on the other hand, one encounters a wide spectrum of subtle degrees of humour that are commonly present.*
This scaffold gives students the opportunity to interact with material through linguistics and visuals. As in the best-planned activities, we also include specific language outcomes. Too often we focus only on content, but being specific about the language structure, grammar and clarity of meaning ahead of time, students feel more supported and are therefore more able to confidently participate. The examples used in this activity come from a Natural Science class on energy. You’ll see how easy it is to adapt it to your lesson.
This scaffold gives students the opportunity to interact with material through linguistics and visuals. As in the best-planned activities, we also include specific language outcomes. Too often we focus only on content, but being specific about the language structure, grammar and clarity of meaning ahead of time, students feel more supported and are therefore more able to confidently participate. The examples used in this activity come from a Natural Science class on energy. You’ll see how easy it is to adapt it to your lesson.