Thinking Critically
In the modern world where truth can often be concealed, we must be able to sift fact from fiction. This is also the case for our learners, who must make sense of the information presented from various sources on the internet.
During this week's MDTA PLG, we discussed the importance of teaching critical thinking in our classrooms. We considered how this could be covered in a various subject areas, including guided reading and social sciences. Caleb, an MDTA graduate, talked us through how he fostered critical thinking skills in his learners by discussing current events with them. He described how solo taxonomy can be used to support learners in developing this skill.
As I attended a professional development workshop regarding solo taxonomy at the beginning of the year, I intend to foster critical thinking through the use of this framework. I have introduced various critical thinking activities to my learners, including the hexagon task from HookED and the predict map, which supports students to create predictions.
In this session my learners filled out hexagons related to writing a narrative, they then had to find and justify links between individual hexagons. This lead to a rich discussion between my learners about the features of a narrative.
After engaging in discourse regarding critical thinking in both this PLG session and our university lecture earlier on in the week, it is clear that children can benefit greatly from partaking in critical thinking activities. Amy and I will concentrate on introducing critical thinking activities to more curriculum areas and will be facilitating discussion regarding current events. I am quite excited to work with our learners this way!
During this week's MDTA PLG, we discussed the importance of teaching critical thinking in our classrooms. We considered how this could be covered in a various subject areas, including guided reading and social sciences. Caleb, an MDTA graduate, talked us through how he fostered critical thinking skills in his learners by discussing current events with them. He described how solo taxonomy can be used to support learners in developing this skill.
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| Solo Taxonomy Model - HookED |
As I attended a professional development workshop regarding solo taxonomy at the beginning of the year, I intend to foster critical thinking through the use of this framework. I have introduced various critical thinking activities to my learners, including the hexagon task from HookED and the predict map, which supports students to create predictions.
In this session my learners filled out hexagons related to writing a narrative, they then had to find and justify links between individual hexagons. This lead to a rich discussion between my learners about the features of a narrative.
After engaging in discourse regarding critical thinking in both this PLG session and our university lecture earlier on in the week, it is clear that children can benefit greatly from partaking in critical thinking activities. Amy and I will concentrate on introducing critical thinking activities to more curriculum areas and will be facilitating discussion regarding current events. I am quite excited to work with our learners this way!
Great to see how you are introducing these critical thinking skills to your learners Danni! Nice use of the hexagons for building knowledge about narratives - such a great idea!
ReplyDeleteThank you Heath! It's definitely worth checking out HookED if you are interested in the hexagons!
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