what is critical thinking class in high school

ChatGPT for Teachers

Trauma-informed practices in schools, teacher well-being, cultivating diversity, equity, & inclusion, integrating technology in the classroom, social-emotional development, covid-19 resources, invest in resilience: summer toolkit, civics & resilience, all toolkits, degree programs, trauma-informed professional development, teacher licensure & certification, how to become - career information, classroom management, instructional design, lifestyle & self-care, online higher ed teaching, current events, critical thinking resources for high school teachers.

Critical Thinking Resources for High School Teachers

Developing critical thinking abilities is a necessary skill for all high school students but teaching these skills is not the easiest task for high school teachers. Fortunately, there is a wealth of information online to provide teachers the resources needed for creating critical thinking lesson plans.

These online resources provide lessons plans, videos, and small but helpful tips that can be used everyday in the classroom to reinforce lessons and ideas. Below are some of the top resources for teaching critical thinking to high school students.

A site devoted to all things related to critical thinking

The Critical Thinking Community, from the Center for Critical Thinking, provides one of the best sites for critical thinking resources and has a special section aimed at helping high school teachers prepare appropriate lesson plans: Critical Thinking Community for High School Teachers .

“Critical thinking is essential if we are to get to the root of our problems and develop reasonable solutions,” reads the site’s About Us page. “After all, the quality of everything we do is determined by the quality of our thinking.”

Therefore it’s no surprise that the site provides many free online resources for high school teachers, as well as other materials that can be ordered online for a small fee.

One example of an online resource for critical thinking for high school students is the article “How to Study and Learn (Part One)”. This introductory article lays the ground work for the importance of thinking critically, illustrated by the following passage:

“To study well and learn any subject is to learn how to think with discipline within that subject. It is to learn to think within its logic, to:

raise vital questions and problems within it, formulating them clearly and precisely
gather and assess information, using ideas to interpret that information insightfully
come to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against relevant criteria and standards
adopt the point of view of the discipline, recognizing and assessing, as needs be, its assumptions, implications, and practical consequences
communicate effectively with others using the language of the discipline and that of educated public discourse
relate what one is learning in the subject to other subjects and to what is significant in human life”

State critical thinking resources

Additionally, many states offer free online critical thinking resources, such as the handbook compiled by faculty members of Prince George’s Community College and put on Maryland’s official website: Handbook of Critical Thinking Resources .

In addition to providing a wealth of outside information resources, the handbook details how thinking critically can help students while they are in high school and in the future:

“Improving students’ critical thinking skills will help students:

improve their thinking about their course work
use sound thinking on tests, assignments, and projects in their courses
have the strategic, analytical, problem solving, and decision-making skills they need when they transfer to another college
have the strategic, analytical, problem solving, and decision-making skills they need when they transition to the workplace”

Keeping up to date on current trends

Other sites, such as Edutopia.org, are constantly updated with new information to provide teachers with the most current information possible. The site, which is part of the George Lucas Educational Foundation, is divided by grade level and has a special section focused on producing critical thinking high school students: Grades 9-12 High School .

The site describes three fundamental skills it believes necessary for students to become lifelong learners in the 21 st Century:

how to find information
how to assess the quality of information
how to creatively and effectively use information to accomplish a goal

The site combines original articles and instructional videos with other valuable critical thinking resources from around the globe. The site is set up like a blog and puts the most recent articles at the forefront, and also includes a community forum for both students and teachers to use.

Classroom Q&A

With larry ferlazzo.

In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers’ questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to [email protected]. Read more from this blog.

Integrating Critical Thinking Into the Classroom

what is critical thinking class in high school

(This is the second post in a three-part series. You can see Part One here .)

The new question-of-the-week is:

What is critical thinking and how can we integrate it into the classroom?

Part One ‘s guests were Dara Laws Savage, Patrick Brown, Meg Riordan, Ph.D., and Dr. PJ Caposey. Dara, Patrick, and Meg were also guests on my 10-minute BAM! Radio Show . You can also find a list of, and links to, previous shows here.

Today, Dr. Kulvarn Atwal, Elena Quagliarello, Dr. Donna Wilson, and Diane Dahl share their recommendations.

‘Learning Conversations’

Dr. Kulvarn Atwal is currently the executive head teacher of two large primary schools in the London borough of Redbridge. Dr. Atwal is the author of The Thinking School: Developing a Dynamic Learning Community , published by John Catt Educational. Follow him on Twitter @Thinkingschool2 :

In many classrooms I visit, students’ primary focus is on what they are expected to do and how it will be measured. It seems that we are becoming successful at producing students who are able to jump through hoops and pass tests. But are we producing children that are positive about teaching and learning and can think critically and creatively? Consider your classroom environment and the extent to which you employ strategies that develop students’ critical-thinking skills and their self-esteem as learners.

Development of self-esteem

One of the most significant factors that impacts students’ engagement and achievement in learning in your classroom is their self-esteem. In this context, self-esteem can be viewed to be the difference between how they perceive themselves as a learner (perceived self) and what they consider to be the ideal learner (ideal self). This ideal self may reflect the child that is associated or seen to be the smartest in the class. Your aim must be to raise students’ self-esteem. To do this, you have to demonstrate that effort, not ability, leads to success. Your language and interactions in the classroom, therefore, have to be aspirational—that if children persist with something, they will achieve.

Use of evaluative praise

Ensure that when you are praising students, you are making explicit links to a child’s critical thinking and/or development. This will enable them to build their understanding of what factors are supporting them in their learning. For example, often when we give feedback to students, we may simply say, “Well done” or “Good answer.” However, are the students actually aware of what they did well or what was good about their answer? Make sure you make explicit what the student has done well and where that links to prior learning. How do you value students’ critical thinking—do you praise their thinking and demonstrate how it helps them improve their learning?

Learning conversations to encourage deeper thinking

We often feel as teachers that we have to provide feedback to every students’ response, but this can limit children’s thinking. Encourage students in your class to engage in learning conversations with each other. Give as many opportunities as possible to students to build on the responses of others. Facilitate chains of dialogue by inviting students to give feedback to each other. The teacher’s role is, therefore, to facilitate this dialogue and select each individual student to give feedback to others. It may also mean that you do not always need to respond at all to a student’s answer.

Teacher modelling own thinking

We cannot expect students to develop critical-thinking skills if we aren’t modeling those thinking skills for them. Share your creativity, imagination, and thinking skills with the students and you will nurture creative, imaginative critical thinkers. Model the language you want students to learn and think about. Share what you feel about the learning activities your students are participating in as well as the thinking you are engaging in. Your own thinking and learning will add to the discussions in the classroom and encourage students to share their own thinking.

Metacognitive questioning

Consider the extent to which your questioning encourages students to think about their thinking, and therefore, learn about learning! Through asking metacognitive questions, you will enable your students to have a better understanding of the learning process, as well as their own self-reflections as learners. Example questions may include:

Why did you choose to do it that way?
When you find something tricky, what helps you?
How do you know when you have really learned something?

‘Adventures of Discovery’

Elena Quagliarello is the senior editor of education for Scholastic News , a current events magazine for students in grades 3–6. She graduated from Rutgers University, where she studied English and earned her master’s degree in elementary education. She is a certified K–12 teacher and previously taught middle school English/language arts for five years:

Critical thinking blasts through the surface level of a topic. It reaches beyond the who and the what and launches students on a learning journey that ultimately unlocks a deeper level of understanding. Teaching students how to think critically helps them turn information into knowledge and knowledge into wisdom. In the classroom, critical thinking teaches students how to ask and answer the questions needed to read the world. Whether it’s a story, news article, photo, video, advertisement, or another form of media, students can use the following critical-thinking strategies to dig beyond the surface and uncover a wealth of knowledge.

A Layered Learning Approach

Begin by having students read a story, article, or analyze a piece of media. Then have them excavate and explore its various layers of meaning. First, ask students to think about the literal meaning of what they just read. For example, if students read an article about the desegregation of public schools during the 1950s, they should be able to answer questions such as: Who was involved? What happened? Where did it happen? Which details are important? This is the first layer of critical thinking: reading comprehension. Do students understand the passage at its most basic level?

Ask the Tough Questions

The next layer delves deeper and starts to uncover the author’s purpose and craft. Teach students to ask the tough questions: What information is included? What or who is left out? How does word choice influence the reader? What perspective is represented? What values or people are marginalized? These questions force students to critically analyze the choices behind the final product. In today’s age of fast-paced, easily accessible information, it is essential to teach students how to critically examine the information they consume. The goal is to equip students with the mindset to ask these questions on their own.

Strike Gold

The deepest layer of critical thinking comes from having students take a step back to think about the big picture. This level of thinking is no longer focused on the text itself but rather its real-world implications. Students explore questions such as: Why does this matter? What lesson have I learned? How can this lesson be applied to other situations? Students truly engage in critical thinking when they are able to reflect on their thinking and apply their knowledge to a new situation. This step has the power to transform knowledge into wisdom.

Adventures of Discovery

There are vast ways to spark critical thinking in the classroom. Here are a few other ideas:

Critical Expressionism: In this expanded response to reading from a critical stance, students are encouraged to respond through forms of artistic interpretations, dramatizations, singing, sketching, designing projects, or other multimodal responses. For example, students might read an article and then create a podcast about it or read a story and then act it out.
Transmediations: This activity requires students to take an article or story and transform it into something new. For example, they might turn a news article into a cartoon or turn a story into a poem. Alternatively, students may rewrite a story by changing some of its elements, such as the setting or time period.
Words Into Action: In this type of activity, students are encouraged to take action and bring about change. Students might read an article about endangered orangutans and the effects of habitat loss caused by deforestation and be inspired to check the labels on products for palm oil. They might then write a letter asking companies how they make sure the palm oil they use doesn’t hurt rain forests.
Socratic Seminars: In this student-led discussion strategy, students pose thought-provoking questions to each other about a topic. They listen closely to each other’s comments and think critically about different perspectives.
Classroom Debates: Aside from sparking a lively conversation, classroom debates naturally embed critical-thinking skills by asking students to formulate and support their own opinions and consider and respond to opposing viewpoints.

Critical thinking has the power to launch students on unforgettable learning experiences while helping them develop new habits of thought, reflection, and inquiry. Developing these skills prepares students to examine issues of power and promote transformative change in the world around them.

‘Quote Analysis’

Dr. Donna Wilson is a psychologist and the author of 20 books, including Developing Growth Mindsets , Teaching Students to Drive Their Brains , and Five Big Ideas for Effective Teaching (2 nd Edition). She is an international speaker who has worked in Asia, the Middle East, Australia, Europe, Jamaica, and throughout the U.S. and Canada. Dr. Wilson can be reached at [email protected] ; visit her website at www.brainsmart.org .

Diane Dahl has been a teacher for 13 years, having taught grades 2-4 throughout her career. Mrs. Dahl currently teaches 3rd and 4th grade GT-ELAR/SS in Lovejoy ISD in Fairview, Texas. Follow her on Twitter at @DahlD, and visit her website at www.fortheloveofteaching.net :

A growing body of research over the past several decades indicates that teaching students how to be better thinkers is a great way to support them to be more successful at school and beyond. In the book, Teaching Students to Drive Their Brains , Dr. Wilson shares research and many motivational strategies, activities, and lesson ideas that assist students to think at higher levels. Five key strategies from the book are as follows:

Facilitate conversation about why it is important to think critically at school and in other contexts of life. Ideally, every student will have a contribution to make to the discussion over time.
Begin teaching thinking skills early in the school year and as a daily part of class.
As this instruction begins, introduce students to the concept of brain plasticity and how their brilliant brains change during thinking and learning. This can be highly motivational for students who do not yet believe they are good thinkers!
Explicitly teach students how to use the thinking skills.
Facilitate student understanding of how the thinking skills they are learning relate to their lives at school and in other contexts.

Below are two lessons that support critical thinking, which can be defined as the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment.

Mrs. Dahl prepares her 3rd and 4th grade classes for a year of critical thinking using quote analysis .

During Native American studies, her 4 th grade analyzes a Tuscarora quote: “Man has responsibility, not power.” Since students already know how the Native Americans’ land had been stolen, it doesn’t take much for them to make the logical leaps. Critical-thought prompts take their thinking even deeper, especially at the beginning of the year when many need scaffolding. Some prompts include:

… from the point of view of the Native Americans?
… from the point of view of the settlers?
How do you think your life might change over time as a result?
Can you relate this quote to anything else in history?

Analyzing a topic from occupational points of view is an incredibly powerful critical-thinking tool. After learning about the Mexican-American War, Mrs. Dahl’s students worked in groups to choose an occupation with which to analyze the war. The chosen occupations were: anthropologist, mathematician, historian, archaeologist, cartographer, and economist. Then each individual within each group chose a different critical-thinking skill to focus on. Finally, they worked together to decide how their occupation would view the war using each skill.

For example, here is what each student in the economist group wrote:

When U.S.A. invaded Mexico for land and won, Mexico ended up losing income from the settlements of Jose de Escandon. The U.S.A. thought that they were gaining possible tradable land, while Mexico thought that they were losing precious land and resources.
Whenever Texas joined the states, their GDP skyrocketed. Then they went to war and spent money on supplies. When the war was resolving, Texas sold some of their land to New Mexico for $10 million. This allowed Texas to pay off their debt to the U.S., improving their relationship.
A detail that converged into the Mexican-American War was that Mexico and the U.S. disagreed on the Texas border. With the resulting treaty, Texas ended up gaining more land and economic resources.
Texas gained land from Mexico since both countries disagreed on borders. Texas sold land to New Mexico, which made Texas more economically structured and allowed them to pay off their debt.

This was the first time that students had ever used the occupations technique. Mrs. Dahl was astonished at how many times the kids used these critical skills in other areas moving forward.

Thanks to Dr. Auwal, Elena, Dr. Wilson, and Diane for their contributions!

Please feel free to leave a comment with your reactions to the topic or directly to anything that has been said in this post.

Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post. You can send one to me at [email protected] . When you send it in, let me know if I can use your real name if it’s selected or if you’d prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind.

You can also contact me on Twitter at @Larryferlazzo .

Education Week has published a collection of posts from this blog, along with new material, in an e-book form. It’s titled Classroom Management Q&As: Expert Strategies for Teaching .

Just a reminder; you can subscribe and receive updates from this blog via email (The RSS feed for this blog, and for all Ed Week articles, has been changed by the new redesign—new ones won’t be available until February). And if you missed any of the highlights from the first nine years of this blog, you can see a categorized list below.

This Year’s Most Popular Q&A Posts
Race & Racism in Schools
School Closures & the Coronavirus Crisis
Classroom-Management Advice
Best Ways to Begin the School Year
Best Ways to End the School Year
Student Motivation & Social-Emotional Learning
Implementing the Common Core
Facing Gender Challenges in Education
Teaching Social Studies
Cooperative & Collaborative Learning
Using Tech in the Classroom
Student Voices
Parent Engagement in Schools
Teaching English-Language Learners
Reading Instruction
Writing Instruction
Education Policy Issues
Differentiating Instruction
Math Instruction
Science Instruction
Advice for New Teachers
Author Interviews
Entering the Teaching Profession
The Inclusive Classroom
Learning & the Brain
Administrator Leadership
Teacher Leadership
Relationships in Schools
Professional Development
Instructional Strategies
Best of Classroom Q&A
Professional Collaboration
Classroom Organization
Mistakes in Education
Project-Based Learning

I am also creating a Twitter list including all contributors to this column .

The opinions expressed in Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

Sign Up for EdWeek Update

Edweek top school jobs.

Kid Characters Observe Sky with Moon, Milky Way and Reach for the stars!

Sign Up & Sign In

www.teachmehowtostudy.com

Teach Me How To Study

Home » Best Ways To Study » Critical Thinking in High School

Best Ways To Study
How To Get Better Grades
Memorization Techniques
Study Habits

Latest Posts

Developing critical thinking skills in the classroom

April 29, 2021

Critical thinking skills in the classroom: A teacher's guide to developing higher-order thinking and student reasoning.

Main, P (2021, April 29). Developing critical thinking skills in the classroom. Retrieved from https://www.structural-learning.com/post/what-is-critical-thinking

What is critical thinking?

Critical thinking is important in every aspect of our lives. It helps us make decisions, solve problems , and learn new information. But how do we develop these skills in school?

In order to become a well-rounded person who has developed critical thinking skills, students must first understand the importance of developing these skills. This means teaching students how to analyze data, evaluate arguments, and draw conclusions from evidence.

This article will help teachers teach critical thinking skills in the class room. We'll look at how to teach critical thinking skills using examples from history, science, math, literature, and art.

Critical thinking has been defined and re-defined by many teachers over the years and it's one of those essential abilities we want our students to develop. However, looking at the breakdown of the term as the two words that comprise it provides a simple, yet accurate definition.

The Critical Thinking process involves the use of the mind to incorporate prior experience and basic knowledge about a subject matter in order to reach conclusions. Critical thinking has a few definitions. In this article we are focused on what critical thinking looks like in the classroom.

We are interested in how we can make more logical and accurate thinking a classroom habit that every school can adopt. To examine the topic of critical thinking we have to look beyond the purely philosophical perspective and explore the latest cognitive science . For example, we now know the importance that knowledge plays in developing critical thinking, you can't have one without the other. Expert thinking is a domain specific skill and the subject disciplines act as a catalyst for enhancing this life long skill. We also know the importance of retrieval practice in developing higher order thinking.

Low stakes quizzing is not just rote learning, it plays an important part in freeing up our working memory to do more of the creative work. If we no longer have to strain to remember the facts and figures, our mental capacities can be put to work in more creative ways . Within the article we will also put forward some ideas about how to promote critical and creative thinking across your school.

Logical reasoning is one of the three main components of critical thinking. This component requires students to think critically about a problem and then apply logic to solve it. Students must understand the difference between logical and illogical arguments and recognize when someone is using logical fallacies.

Why critical thinking is important

Critical thinking is a process that is often viewed as a more intense version of just plain old thinking. In education, critical thinking is a disciplined process that has stuck around for a while now – but how is this coveted skill really different from just plain old thinking? Frankly, sometimes, it's not. The two terms can be used interchangeably, and often are.

Consider a teacher who is urging a student “think harder” or “think differently”. What the teacher is actually saying is: “think critically in order to reach a more complex solution”. We are not always conscious of the multitude of cognitive actions at our disposal, the Universal Thinking Framework addresses this issue by providing child-friendly explanations of the various ways in which we can think.

These can be chained together to create a logical inquiry that any student can follow. The idea being that over time, children begin to develop critical thinking dispositions that cause reflective thinking and advance the mental process. Increasing our repertoire of cognitive actions improves a students decision making process as they are simply more aware of the directions their learning could move in.

We have divided the various types of thinking using these key questions:

How do I get started?
How should I organise my ideas?
How do I know this?
How can I communicate my understanding?
What can I do with my new knowledge and understanding?

All of the sections provide teachers with a systematic approach to encourage reflective thinking . The questions that are posed to the learner are designed to break down a complex process into basic skills. These thinking skills, over time can be mastered and understood. Having the different types of thinking available to both educators and students means that logical thinking can be achieved more readily and can eventually become an attitude of mind. The mental actions are accompanied by critical thinking questions . Teachers can use critical thinking questions to promote rational thinking.

Reflective thinking is employed when a solution is needed, or in school when there is a connection that needs to be drawn between two or more concepts. Therefore, critical thinking is, in essence, the thought processes that result from disapproval of the solutions and connections that already exist, or a lack thereof.

Students engaging in critical thinking exercise using the Structural Learning blocks

Mental skills or learning behaviours?

School leaders love to see and hear teachers incorporating the idea of crosscutting concepts into their daily instruction. That is, concepts and skills can be used and developed in more than one subject matter, and therefore more than one class. I don't think I have ever had an administrator who has not asked me how I plan to collaborate with my colleagues in order to make instruction more meaningful and applicable to my students' lives.

Upon further consideration of this popular interview question, there should really only ever be one acceptable response to such a question – “I will make it a priority to routinely engage my students in the practice of critical thinking so that they can grow that skill and use it in other classes as well as outside of the school” … or something along those lines.

It remains true that practice leads to confidence and increased ability. Therefore, as students learn what the process of thinking critically feels like for them, they will be able to replicate that feeling by replicating their actions in other classes. When critical thinking is used as a part of the daily routine, it becomes less scary to use that skill when faced with a problem, regardless of the subject matter .

Critical thinking is, therefore, a crosscutting concept to be planned for and incorporated into a teacher's daily lesson plans as well as the scope and sequence of a course. If you want a practical way of integrating critical thinking into your lessons, our mental modelling approach using the building block method might be a good place to start. The playful approach encourages children to organise their ideas and in doing so, engage in critical reasoning.

Principles of critical thinking

Despite its value in all subjects , one uncertainty that educators run into is the idea of what Daniel T. Willingham (2019) calls transfer. That is, whether or not the ability to think critically in one subject or in relation to one problem will automatically lead to similar abilities in other subjects or problems. As Willingham (2019) explains, the research on this idea is not necessarily all in agreement. Consequently, educators are faced with a task that seems to be in flux and altogether unanswered. While frustrating, this is not necessarily a new ask for educators.

Some scholars claim that the ability to think critically in one subject will naturally transfer to all other subjects , which is why it is so inherently valuable as a skill. Others argue that this is not the case, and that is why it is crucial to intentionally teach students how to think critically in all situations and across all subjects. With this quality still largely disagreed upon, it is difficult to know how best to proceed when attempting to teach and develop critical thinking skills.

Do students ever possess a true foundation of critical thinking skills and abilities, or do they regress back to a point of utter confusion with the introduction to each new problem? How can educators make these skills stick for their students ? What do students need to understand in order to be able approach problems from a critical thinking perspective regardless of the discipline or subject matter? How can we train students to recycle prior experience and previous solutions when faced with new problems?

Using the Universal Thinking Framework to promote inductive reasoning

Assessing students analytical thinking

Critical thinking is a high-level goal that educators everywhere strive toward for their students. Many “teacher moves” exist solely to work toward this purpose. However, repeatedly asking higher-order thinking questions in class and on tests, is merely the method that best demonstrates that the skill of thinking critically has already been developed. That is to say that just asking these types of questions as often as possible is not a sufficient method for the true development of this skill.

When we ask higher-order thinking questions in class or on assessments , we are ultimately trying to analyze whether or not students have that ability; or to what level they have mastered that ability. However, it stands to reason that the only way to develop this skill cannot be to simply ask more of these types of questions more often, since this is just the method of measurement. So, the question now becomes - what are the steps that lead up to a student being able to successfully encounter and respond to these higher-order thinking questions that show their ability to think critically? The answer is actually quite simple– continue to teach and prioritize critical thinking skills in every possible situation, regardless of how many times it has been reviewed.

What about critical thinking dispositions ? It has been argued that this ability is not a distinct cognitive skill but a set of critical thinking dispositions or habits of mind. Ron Ritchart talks through the argument here.

If your school is interested in implementing more critical thinking in your classrooms, you might want to start by sharing some key ideas with your staff. Our professional development approach gives staff access to the principles that underpinned critical thinking. We can help educators measure the impact of the interventions in the classroom.

How can we develop reasoning skills?

Notice that in the answer above, the onus is placed on the educator rather than the student. There is not necessarily a numbered universal list of steps to take when given a critical thinking problem that we can give to students as a road map and post as an anchor chart in the classroom. Quite the opposite, educators are charged with the vague task of teaching students how to access prior knowledge and experience and apply it in a way that will benefit them.

Ultimately, if students can manipulate their understanding and experience into a process and application that works for the task or question at hand, they are able to think critically . However, the ability to think critically in one situation does not predict with any real degree of certainty the same ability in a novel situation, especially one that seems more challenging to a student.

One characteristic that tends to make students believe that one situation is more difficult than another is subject matter. Students are not able to generalize solutions that they have already thought through because the subject matter is so different. Willingham (2019) refers to this as the surface structure of a problem and gives the example of an inability to derive the solution for a medical problem even though it is essentially the same as the solution to military/tactical problem that the group had just worked through.

However, since the surface structure of these problems seems so different, participants were not able to transfer the reasoning behind the solution to the tactical problem to the medical problem.Teachers see this difficulty with students all the time across subjects, which means that the real task for teachers to tackle is teaching students how to recognize the deep structure of a problem.

Graphic organisers for developing critical thinking

According to Willingham (2019), strong critical thinkers claim that they are able to recognize the deep structure of problems presented to them in their field of expertise, but not necessarily in other fields. This is both comforting and disconcerting for teachers. It is comforting because it shows that it is normal for it to be a challenge for students to be able to transfer critical thinking skills from one problem to another. However, it is disconcerting because it seems nearly impossible for teachers to be able to overcome this barrier if experts still encounter this barrier regularly.

All things considered, the seemingly realistic approach to the task of developing critical thinking skills in students through consistent practice seems to have a few clearly actionable approaches that are also memorable due to the alliteration they produce: collaboration , comparison and content knowledge. This form of knowledge is certainly important in everyday life.

Collaborative problem solving skills

Collaboration is the act of working with another person or other people in order to achieve a common goal or solve a common problem. In as many ways as possible, teachers should incorporate collaboration into their lessons. Initially, it may seem as though this practice takes away from the development of independent critical thinking since weaker thinkers can lean on stronger thinkers or just more dominant personalities. However, since subject-matter experts are easily able to identify the deep structure of problems within their area of expertise, it stands to reason that pairing experts together who excel in different areas and presenting them with a complex problem will yield the best results.

Of course, in any given group of students, there may not be identifiable “experts”, however, the idea is that the different perspectives and experiences that students bring with them will intuitively lead them to a problem from different angles . This type of natural exposure to different approaches serves to model for students how it is possible to think differently about a similar problem. With continued modelling and wider exposure, students will gradually learn to intentionally incorporate different ways of thinking and to continue to seek out differing perspectives when searching for a solution to a problem.

Logical thinking and careful thinking are often cited as being ways of thinking critically. The Cornell Critical Thinking Test and Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal both claim to be able to measure critical reasoning and critical thinking ability.

Comparisons and critical thinking

While telling students what the deep structure of a problem is might seem fairly simple, the fact is that telling does not equate to teaching, nor does it always result in learning, especially when a skill is involved . Therefore, one way to begin to lead students to be able to identify and extract the deep structure of a problem is to have them compare.

When asked to compare two (or more) problems with contrasting surface structures, students are forced to look harder for the similarities. While this may be met with resistance and frustration at first, when coupled with the practice of modelling these types of comparisons, students will begin to understand that there are similarities to be found after all, and how those comparisons can help lead to a practical and applicable solution.

Academic Arguments

Identification, construction , and evaluation of arguments are crucial parts of critical thinking.

People often use the term "argument" to refer to a quarrel between people in everyday life. To a logician or critical thinker, an argument is not a statement, it is a collection of statements , with one being the conclusion and the rest being premise or assumption.

The way students attain in subjects is by reading the views of the academic writing of others. The way students achieve in a formal exam setting is by writing the academic argument of their own. So without academic argument writing we cannot learn, or teach, or persuade. One way of promoting argumentation is by teaching students to create argument maps . This practical approach of developing an analysis of arguments means that students can visualise the main points in an easy-to-understand format.

Domain Knowledge and critical thinking

Sometimes, educators tend to avoid questions and practice activities that can be labelled as “ basic recall ” because they are said to be low in rigour. However, when attempting to develop critical thinking skills , it should be noted that domain knowledge expertise is achieved through extensive knowledge of the foundational aspects and facts of a topic. Willingham (2019) explains that effective critical thinking about a problem often comes from a place of confidence in the subject matter, which is born from extensive knowledge about it.

Being able to see alternative viewpoints, argument with evidence (and spot bad arguments) and avoid faulty reasoning can become habits of mind that are nurtured throughout a students career. Additionally, sometimes a complex solution is merely the sum of many smaller and more routine solutions. There is value in teaching and focusing on content in school , as it breeds experts. When paired with the challenge of critical thinking in order to solve real-world problems, new interest can also be bred for a subject that students may previously have seen little use for.

Critical thinking using the modelling blocks

Five tips for improving critical thinking in your classroom

Critical thinking abilities are essential skills for students to develop. Here are five tips for improving critical thinking skills in your classroom :

1. Teach Students How to Think Critically

Teaching students how to think critically involves helping them understand the difference between facts and opinions. Facts are true statements that can be proven using evidence. Opinions are beliefs based on personal experiences, feelings, values, and preferences.

Students often confuse facts with opinions. For example, “I am going to the store to buy milk.” This statement contains no opinion. It is simply stating a fact. On the other hand, “Milk tastes good.” This statement expresses an opinion.

When teaching students how to think critically, focus on helping them distinguish between facts and opinions. Helping students learn how to think critically will improve their ability to analyze information and solve problems.

2. Encourage Critical Thinking

Encouraging students to think critically means encouraging them to question everything. If you ask students questions such as “Why did you write that?,” “What makes you say that?,” or “How would you prove that?,” you encourage them to think critically.

Asking questions helps students become better thinkers . Questions allow students to explore issues and come up with answers themselves. Asking questions encourages students to think deeply and analytically.

3. Use Real World Examples

Real world examples are helpful for teaching students how to think. Using real world examples allows students to apply concepts to situations outside of school.

For example, if you teach students how to identify logical fallacies, you can show them how to recognize these errors in arguments. Showing students how to identify logical fallacy gives them practice identifying common mistakes made by others.

4. Provide Feedback

Providing feedback is another effective method for teaching students how to improve their critical thinking skills. Giving students positive and constructive criticism improves their performance.

Giving students negative feedback does not improve their performance . Negative feedback may discourage students from trying again. Positive feedback motivates students to continue working toward success.

#5. Model Good Critical Thinking Skills

Modelling good critical thinking skills is one of the most effective methods for teaching students how to become better thinkers. Teaching students how to think critically requires modeling good critical thinking skills.

Good critical thinking skills include asking open-ended questions, analyzing data, evaluating sources, and recognizing logical fallacies.

By showing students how to think critically and model good critical thinking skills, you can help them develop into successful learners.

In a world where artificial intelligence is on the rise and continuously developing, a humanized value such as critical thinking is increasingly important. Reliance on technology makes life simpler in many ways, but simultaneously makes the possession of certain skills and abilities more attractive to potential employers and more beneficial for individuals who possess them.

Critical thinking allows for creativity when problem-solving and promotes independence and confidence. Should technology ever fail, those who are able to think critically in a variety of situations will be the ones who are valued the most.

Willingham, D. T. (2019). How to Teach Critical Thinking. Education: FutureFrontiers.

http://www.danielwillingham.com/uploads/5/0/0/7/5007325/willingham_2019_nsw_critical_thinking2.pdf

Enhance Learner Outcomes Across Your School

Download an Overview of our Support and Resources

We'll send it over now.

Please fill in the details so we can send over the resources.

What type of school are you?

We'll get you the right resource

Is your school involved in any staff development projects?

Are your colleagues running any research projects or courses?

Do you have any immediate school priorities?

Please check the ones that apply.

Download your resource

Thanks for taking the time to complete this form, submit the form to get the tool.

Why schools should teach critical thinking

From online misinformation and divisive political discourse to science skepticism, there are many challenges when it comes to making sense of the world around us. Having critical thinking skills is essential in ensuring students can navigate the increasingly complex events and contexts they will encounter throughout their lives.

And in a world calling out for problem-solvers, the value of critical thinking skills is recognized far beyond the classroom walls. Let’s take a look at how prioritizing teaching critical thinking skills benefits students and sets them up for success.

What are critical thinking skills for students?

Critical thinking is the art of clear thinking that is rational and reasoned. Critical thinkers don’t simply accept information at face-value but rather interpret and analyze it to arrive at their own conclusions grounded in evidence. They come at a question from different perspectives, seeking out opposing viewpoints, and questioning their assumptions.

For students, critical thinking skills are relevant across subject areas and crucial in guiding them to become independent thinkers. What’s more, schools are in a good position to help nurture the required skills! Let’s explore their role and the benefits of making critical thinking an educational goal.

Why schools are well-placed to teach critical thinking skills

Developing critical thinking skills is an ongoing process, requiring guidance and deliberate practice. Schools can take a longer-term and systematic approach to teaching critical thinking by integrating it into the curriculum. This provides students with a structured learning environment with access to expert educators who use pedagogy to support students in building on existing skills, promoting transfer , and fostering thinking skills.

Added to that, domain knowledge is a crucial factor in thinking skills and educators can integrate domain-specific skills to support critical thinking alongside content delivery in the classroom.

How educators can successfully teach critical thinking skills to students

Educators are in a strong position to teach critical thinking skills, whether by cultivating a classroom environment that values inquiry, modeling thinking processes through think-alouds, or giving attention to key skills such as perspective-taking.

Importantly, educators can foster critical thinking skills in real-world contexts while building curriculum knowledge to emphasize their practical application.

Using collaborative learning strategies, teachers can expose students to different perspectives or integrate activities that prompt students to justify their thinking, such as through discussion or argument mapping on Kialo Edu . And though developing critical thinking skills takes time, students reap unparalleled benefits that last them a lifetime.

How students benefit from critical thinking skills

Critical thinking improves student learning outcomes.

Helping students learn how to think critically ensures they aren’t simply passive recipients of information, but rather can interpret and apply their knowledge across subject areas. It is immensely satisfying to watch them learn to take control of their learning, ask important questions, and actively engage with material with a discerning eye. This type of dialogic teaching sets them up to become independent learners.

Not only that, critical thinking skills also help students become better communicators . Effective communication relies on the ability to organize our thoughts clearly and logically — a central element of developed thinking!

Students hone 21st-century skills with critical thinking

Critical thinking sits alongside creativity, collaboration, and communication as a key 21st-century skill . These skills are vital to helping students respond to the demands of a rapidly changing world, whether that involves dealing with information overload, adapting to new technologies or understanding diverse perspectives in a multi-cultural context.

By working on critical thought in the classroom, students will be better equipped to deal with whatever the future brings. For example, you can encourage students to become active participants in conversations on changes happening around them by having a Kialo discussion on how AI will impact the world .

Students use critical thinking skills to battle against misinformation

To fully benefit from today’s information-rich world, students need to successfully identify and evaluate good sources, assessing the reams of (credible and not-so-credible) content at their fingertips. A combination of information literacy and critical thinking skills makes for a well-rounded skill set, supporting students to come to reasoned conclusions amid the deluge of information available.

Critical thinking skills complement civic literacy

As another closely intertwined skill set, civic l i teracy works hand-in-hand with critical thinking skills to nurture informed and engaged citizenship. An ability to recognize different points of view, question political and media rhetoric, and understand the broader implications of policy decisions empowers students to participate in meaningful discussions about how society and structures function around them.

To engage students on these topics, try choosing a Kialo discussion from the Civics and Society section in our Topics Library to help scaffold these complex topics. Students might discuss the relevance of democracy to their lives or debate whether voting should be a civic duty expected of all!

Is democracy a good form of government? — kialo-edu.com

Students can make better decisions with critical thinking skills

The power to make thoughtful, well-informed decisions can positively impact every aspect of our lives, and critical thinking is the linchpin for effective decision-making. A critical thinker makes decisions from a place of objective understanding and sound evidence. Educators can help students weigh up arguments from different perspectives and become aware of cognitive biases , making students better placed to compensate for such influences as groupthink , the availability heuristic and confirmation bias.

To develop decision-making skills in a clear context, try a classic desert island survival discussion. This lighthearted approach can still emphasize real-world applications in making difficult choices around resource allocation . You might even get students to explore their own capacity for decision-making with a discussion on the implications of turning 18 !

Students can better their problem-solving skills through critical thinking

Problem-solving is a highly complex skill, essential in our personal and professional lives to deal with the inevitable challenges that come our way. And critical thinking is a core component of good problem-solving, helping students systematically approach a problem and ask the right questions to get to the root cause.

By giving students the opportunity to work on true problems in the classroom, teachers can contextualize and model effective problem-solving processes and rational thinking . One approach is to task your students to practice engaging with more than one solution to a given problem, such as exploring an argument map on proposed responses to climate change . Or create your own to get your students exploring challenges in your preferred curricular area.

Critical thinking boosts student creativity

Another 21st-century skill, creativity has the potential to enhance learning and student well-being. Closely intertwined with problem-solving, creative thinking is essential to generating novel and innovative solutions. Those solutions, however, need to be useful and address the underlying issue!

Students versed in critical thinking can examine their creative ideas, identifying areas for modification or recognizing fundamental flaws that make them unfeasible. Not only that, students can reflect on the outcomes of their ideas to inform future creative processes, enhancing the quality and effectiveness of their ideas beyond the task they’re working on.

Critical thinking helps student self-reflect on their actions

An ability to engage in meaningful reflection is integral for students to develop positive relationships and work towards meaningful goals. These goals can be for an academic achievement, or other personal goals that motivate them. By utilizing critical thinking skills, students are better placed to identify lessons learned from past experiences or to engage in an honest assessment of their personal strengths and weaknesses.

We’d love to know what benefits you see from working on critical thinking in your classroom! Get in touch at [email protected] , or on any of our social media platforms. And if you haven’t yet tried a class discussion to activate your students’ critical thinking skills, take some inspiration from some of our ready-made debate topics !

Want to try Kialo Edu with your class?

Sign up for free and use Kialo Edu to have thoughtful classroom discussions and train students’ argumentation and critical thinking skills.

Educationise

11 Activities That Promote Critical Thinking In The Class

52 Critical Thinking Flashcards for Problem Solving

Critical thinking activities encourage individuals to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information to develop informed opinions and make reasoned decisions. Engaging in such exercises cultivates intellectual agility, fostering a deeper understanding of complex issues and honing problem-solving skills for navigating an increasingly intricate world. Through critical thinking, individuals empower themselves to challenge assumptions, uncover biases, and constructively contribute to discourse, thereby enriching both personal growth and societal progress.

Critical thinking serves as the cornerstone of effective problem-solving, enabling individuals to dissect challenges, explore diverse perspectives, and devise innovative solutions grounded in logic and evidence. For engaging problem solving activities, read our article problem solving activities that enhance student’s interest.

What is Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking is a 21st-century skill that enables a person to think rationally and logically in order to reach a plausible conclusion. A critical thinker assesses facts and figures and data objectively and determines what to believe and what not to believe. Critical thinking skills empower a person to decipher complex problems and make impartial and better decisions based on effective information.

Importance of Acquiring Critical Thinking Skills

Acquiring critical thinking skills was never as valuable as it is today because of the prevalence of the modern knowledge economy. Today, information and technology are the driving forces behind the global economy. To keep pace with ever-changing technology and new inventions, one has to be flexible enough to embrace changes swiftly.

Read our article: How to Foster Critical Thinking Skills in Students? Creative Strategies and Real-World Examples

Today critical thinking skills are one of the most sought-after skills by the companies. In fact, critical thinking skills are paramount not only for active learning and academic achievement but also for the professional career of the students. The lack of critical thinking skills catalyzes memorization of the topics without a deeper insight, egocentrism, closed-mindedness, reduced student interest in the classroom and not being able to make timely and better decisions.

Benefits of Critical Thinking Skills in Education

Certain strategies are more eloquent than others in teaching students how to think critically. Encouraging critical thinking in the class is indispensable for the learning and growth of the students. In this way, we can raise a generation of innovators and thinkers rather than followers. Some of the benefits offered by thinking critically in the classroom are given below:

It allows a student to decipher problems and think through the situations in a disciplined and systematic manner
Through a critical thinking ability, a student can comprehend the logical correlation between distinct ideas
The student is able to rethink and re-justify his beliefs and ideas based on facts and figures
Critical thinking skills make the students curious about things around them
A student who is a critical thinker is creative and always strives to come up with out of the box solutions to intricate problems
Critical thinking skills assist in the enhanced student learning experience in the classroom and prepares the students for lifelong learning and success
The critical thinking process is the foundation of new discoveries and inventions in the world of science and technology
The ability to think critically allows the students to think intellectually and enhances their presentation skills, hence they can convey their ideas and thoughts in a logical and convincing manner
Critical thinking skills make students a terrific communicator because they have logical reasons behind their ideas

Critical Thinking Lessons and Activities

11 Activities that Promote Critical Thinking in the Class

We have compiled a list of 11 activities that will facilitate you to promote critical thinking abilities in the students. We have also covered problem solving activities that enhance student’s interest in our another article. Click here to read it.

1. Worst Case Scenario

Divide students into teams and introduce each team with a hypothetical challenging scenario. Allocate minimum resources and time to each team and ask them to reach a viable conclusion using those resources. The scenarios can include situations like stranded on an island or stuck in a forest. Students will come up with creative solutions to come out from the imaginary problematic situation they are encountering. Besides encouraging students to think critically, this activity will enhance teamwork, communication and problem-solving skills of the students.

Read our article: 10 Innovative Strategies for Promoting Critical Thinking in the Classroom

2. If You Build It

It is a very flexible game that allows students to think creatively. To start this activity, divide students into groups. Give each group a limited amount of resources such as pipe cleaners, blocks, and marshmallows etc. Every group is supposed to use these resources and construct a certain item such as building, tower or a bridge in a limited time. You can use a variety of materials in the classroom to challenge the students. This activity is helpful in promoting teamwork and creative skills among the students.

It is also one of the classics which can be used in the classroom to encourage critical thinking. Print pictures of objects, animals or concepts and start by telling a unique story about the printed picture. The next student is supposed to continue the story and pass the picture to the other student and so on.

4. Keeping it Real

In this activity, you can ask students to identify a real-world problem in their schools, community or city. After the problem is recognized, students should work in teams to come up with the best possible outcome of that problem.

5. Save the Egg

Make groups of three or four in the class. Ask them to drop an egg from a certain height and think of creative ideas to save the egg from breaking. Students can come up with diverse ideas to conserve the egg like a soft-landing material or any other device. Remember that this activity can get chaotic, so select the area in the school that can be cleaned easily afterward and where there are no chances of damaging the school property.

6. Start a Debate

In this activity, the teacher can act as a facilitator and spark an interesting conversation in the class on any given topic. Give a small introductory speech on an open-ended topic. The topic can be related to current affairs, technological development or a new discovery in the field of science. Encourage students to participate in the debate by expressing their views and ideas on the topic. Conclude the debate with a viable solution or fresh ideas generated during the activity through brainstorming.

7. Create and Invent

This project-based learning activity is best for teaching in the engineering class. Divide students into groups. Present a problem to the students and ask them to build a model or simulate a product using computer animations or graphics that will solve the problem. After students are done with building models, each group is supposed to explain their proposed product to the rest of the class. The primary objective of this activity is to promote creative thinking and problem-solving skills among the students.

8. Select from Alternatives

This activity can be used in computer science, engineering or any of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) classes. Introduce a variety of alternatives such as different formulas for solving the same problem, different computer codes, product designs or distinct explanations of the same topic.

Form groups in the class and ask them to select the best alternative. Each group will then explain its chosen alternative to the rest of the class with reasonable justification of its preference. During the process, the rest of the class can participate by asking questions from the group. This activity is very helpful in nurturing logical thinking and analytical skills among the students.

9. Reading and Critiquing

Present an article from a journal related to any topic that you are teaching. Ask the students to read the article critically and evaluate strengths and weaknesses in the article. Students can write about what they think about the article, any misleading statement or biases of the author and critique it by using their own judgments.

In this way, students can challenge the fallacies and rationality of judgments in the article. Hence, they can use their own thinking to come up with novel ideas pertaining to the topic.

10. Think Pair Share

In this activity, students will come up with their own questions. Make pairs or groups in the class and ask the students to discuss the questions together. The activity will be useful if the teacher gives students a topic on which the question should be based.

For example, if the teacher is teaching biology, the questions of the students can be based on reverse osmosis, human heart, respiratory system and so on. This activity drives student engagement and supports higher-order thinking skills among students.

11. Big Paper – Silent Conversation

Silence is a great way to slow down thinking and promote deep reflection on any subject. Present a driving question to the students and divide them into groups. The students will discuss the question with their teammates and brainstorm their ideas on a big paper. After reflection and discussion, students can write their findings in silence. This is a great learning activity for students who are introverts and love to ruminate silently rather than thinking aloud.

Finally, for students with critical thinking, you can go to GS-JJ.co m to customize exclusive rewards, which not only enlivens the classroom, but also promotes the development and training of students for critical thinking.

Read our next article: 10 Innovative Strategies for Promoting Critical Thinking in the Classroom

A Focus on Critical Thinking

Take a look at a high school that asks students difficult, thought-provoking questions to prepare them for college.

A group of students are having a conversation.

Why Critical Thinking?

King, a small public charter high school of 460 students (in the 2010-11 academic year) in grades 9-12, is part of the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) network of schools. KIPP Is a national network of free, open-enrollment, college-prep public schools that operates in underserved communities across the country. King shares the KIPP goal of preparing students for success in college and beyond. But at King, they believe that the most important skill that will lead to this success is critical thinking.

Most of the students at King will be the first in their family to go to college. While at King, students are surrounded by others from similar backgrounds. Nationwide, more than 85 percent of KIPP students are from families eligible for the free or reduced-price lunch program; 95 percent are African American or Latino. However, when they get to college, most find themselves for the first time in an environment of predominantly white students from higher-income communities.

So the goal becomes doing as much as humanly possible to erase any doubt in the minds of students that they can succeed in college. The teachers at King are narrowly focused on arming their students with the skills they need to meet the particular challenges of higher education. From the moment one of their graduates steps onto a college campus, KIPP educators want her to feel confident that she belongs in that rigorous academic environment. Singer believes that the intellectual asset that is leveraged most on college campuses is critical thinking. By teaching these skills at King, he says, "we've given them what they need to persist through college." When they emerge to take their places in the workplace, degrees in hand, "that is the moment when we close the achievement gap," Singer adds.

How It's Done

Inquiring minds.

Ideally, teaching kids how to think critically becomes an integral part of your approach, no matter what subject you teach. But if you're just getting started, here are some concrete ways you can begin leveraging your students' critical-thinking skills in the classroom and beyond.

Questions, questions, questions

Questioning is at the heart of critical thinking, so you want to create an environment where intellectual curiosity is fostered and questions are encouraged. For Jared Kushida, who teaches a global politics class called War and Peace at KIPP King Collegiate, "lecturing" means integrating a flow of questions throughout a lesson. "I rarely go on for more than 30 seconds without asking a question, and I rarely stop at that one question," he explains.

In the beginning stages, you may be doing most of the asking to show your students the types of questions that will lead to higher-level thinking and understanding. You can also use "wrong" answers as opportunities to explore your students' thinking. Then ask more questions to lead them in a different direction. As students become more comfortable and skilled, their questions will drive the class discussions.

Start with a prompt and help them unpack it

Pose a provocative question to build an argument around and help your students break it down. Identify any ambiguous or subjective terms and have students clarify and define them. For example, Katie Kirkpatrick, who teaches ninth-grade Speech & Composition at KIPP King Collegiate, poses this question in the first unit of her class: "Is a life in poverty the responsibility of the individual or a result of outside factors?" She guides her class to identify "responsibility of the individual" and "result of outside factors" as what she calls "shady terms" that need definition. Once the terms are clearly defined, students are better able to seek and find evidence that is relevant to their argument.

Provide tools for entering the conversation

At the beginning of the year, Kirkpatrick gives her students a list of sentence starters and connectors such as "I agree/disagree because," "I can connect to your statement because," and "Can you clarify what you mean by." Providing them with these words gives them ways to enter the conversation and will guide their thought process in analyzing the argument.

Model your expectations

"It all comes back to modeling," says Kellan McNulty, who teaches AP world history and AP U.S. history at KIPP King Collegiate. "If you have a behavioral expectation, the best way to teach that is to model." In fact, he learned how to facilitate effective Socratic discussions by observing his colleague. Similarly, he demonstrates for his students ways to enter a conversation, the difference between an analytical point and a summary, and appropriate ways to disagree with one another. Kirkpatrick uses examples, both good and bad, of people presenting arguments and having Socratic discussions from sites such as YouTube.

Encourage constructive controversy

Lively discussions usually involve some degree of differing perspectives. McNulty even uses a "devil's advocate" card that he secretly gives to a student before each discussion, charging him or her with the role of bringing up opposing views. You can give students controversial topics and let them hash it out, but make sure to first demonstrate for them respectful ways of disagreeing and establish clear rules for voicing different perspectives. These rules include the language to use when disagreeing and that the disagreement must be objective, such as finding a flaw in the evidence or the reasoning, not a subjective disagreement based on personal opinions.

Choose content students will invest in

It's important to choose topics that are relevant and significant to students to get them talking and engaged. Kirkpatrick wanted social justice to be the overarching theme for her class. The topic struck a chord with the students and motivated them to build the communication skills they needed to effectively voice their views. Kushida spends much of his prep time finding rich sources (including texts, photos, art, even a single word) about pressing, relevant content to help fuel the discussions. He follows up with a deep arsenal of questions that range from factual to analytical to connective to philosophical.

Set up Socratic discussions

Socratic discussion is the method of inquiry in which participants ask one another questions that test logic with the goal of gaining greater understanding or clarity. At King, teachers regularly set up formal Socratic discussions to give students the opportunity to challenge one another intellectually. The teachers serve primarily as observers, offering prompts only when there is a lull in the conversation, but otherwise leaving it to the students to keep the discussion moving. They strive to engage students in Socratic dialogue informally as well. Kushida explains that he works Socratic questioning in every single day by "never being satisfied with a student answer that does not result in another question and always pushing and counterquestioning and teaching them to do the same."

Assess their reasoning through different methods

To know whether your students are learning to think critically, you need a window into their thought processes. So challenge them to communicate back to you. Essays, Socratic discussions, and speeches give students the chance to demonstrate their skill and allow you to evaluate their reasoning in a variety of situations. Even written tests can foster critical thinking if they require the student to provide counterarguments to a series of statements using details and evidence from the unit of study. You can also assign your students topics to research and then let them lead the classroom discussion. Doing so will help you assess their understanding of the material and their skill at communicating it.

Let students evaluate each other

It can be difficult to assess students while simultaneously facilitating a Socratic discussion. But one way teachers at King give some of the responsibility to the students is by setting up the room in a "fishbowl" configuration, with an inner circle and an outer circle. Students in the inner circle are the active participants while those in the outer are their peer evaluators. Kirkpatrick, McNulty, and others at King use a Socratic seminar rubric that clearly lays out the components of analytical thinking so the students know exactly what to look for. And by evaluating their peers with the same rubric the teacher uses, students gain a better understanding of the criteria for strong critical thinking and discussion.

It can be hard for a teacher to let go of the reins and let the students do the teaching. "But when you remove yourself from the equation," McNulty explains, "that really forces the kids to step up." And when you give students the responsibility to be the thinkers in the class and drive the content, they may take it in unexpected directions that are more relevant to them and are thus more likely to stick.

KIPP King Collegiate High School

Per pupil expenditures, free / reduced lunch, demographics:.

20% English-language learners, 2% Individualized education programs

Grades 6-12
School Leaders

Win 10 Summer Reading Books from ThriftBooks 📚!

5 Critical Thinking Skills Every Kid Needs To Learn (And How To Teach Them)

Teach them to thoughtfully question the world around them.

Examples of critical thinking skills like correlation tick-tac-Toe, which teaches analysis skills and debates which teach evaluation skills.

Little kids love to ask questions. “Why is the sky blue?” “Where does the sun go at night?” Their innate curiosity helps them learn more about the world, and it’s key to their development. As they grow older, it’s important to encourage them to keep asking questions and to teach them the right kinds of questions to ask. We call these “critical thinking skills,” and they help kids become thoughtful adults who are able to make informed decisions as they grow older.

What is critical thinking?

Critical thinking allows us to examine a subject and develop an informed opinion about it. First, we need to be able to simply understand the information, then we build on that by analyzing, comparing, evaluating, reflecting, and more. Critical thinking is about asking questions, then looking closely at the answers to form conclusions that are backed by provable facts, not just “gut feelings” and opinion.

Critical thinkers tend to question everything, and that can drive teachers and parents a little crazy. The temptation to reply, “Because I said so!” is strong, but when you can, try to provide the reasons behind your answers. We want to raise children who take an active role in the world around them and who nurture curiosity throughout their entire lives.

Key Critical Thinking Skills

So, what are critical thinking skills? There’s no official list, but many people use Bloom’s Taxonomy to help lay out the skills kids should develop as they grow up.

A diagram showing Bloom's Taxonomy (Critical Thinking Skills)

Source: Vanderbilt University

Bloom’s Taxonomy is laid out as a pyramid, with foundational skills at the bottom providing a base for more advanced skills higher up. The lowest phase, “Remember,” doesn’t require much critical thinking. These are the skills kids use when they memorize math facts or world capitals or practice their spelling words. Critical thinking doesn’t begin to creep in until the next steps.

Understanding requires more than memorization. It’s the difference between a child reciting by rote “one times four is four, two times four is eight, three times four is twelve,” versus recognizing that multiplication is the same as adding a number to itself a certain number of times. Schools focus more these days on understanding concepts than they used to; pure memorization has its place, but when a student understands the concept behind something, they can then move on to the next phase.

Application opens up whole worlds to students. Once you realize you can use a concept you’ve already mastered and apply it to other examples, you’ve expanded your learning exponentially. It’s easy to see this in math or science, but it works in all subjects. Kids may memorize sight words to speed up their reading mastery, but it’s learning to apply phonics and other reading skills that allows them to tackle any new word that comes their way.

Analysis is the real leap into advanced critical thinking for most kids. When we analyze something, we don’t take it at face value. Analysis requires us to find facts that stand up to inquiry, even if we don’t like what those facts might mean. We put aside personal feelings or beliefs and explore, examine, research, compare and contrast, draw correlations, organize, experiment, and so much more. We learn to identify primary sources for information, and check into the validity of those sources. Analysis is a skill successful adults must use every day, so it’s something we must help kids learn as early as possible.

Almost at the top of Bloom’s pyramid, evaluation skills let us synthesize all the information we’ve learned, understood, applied, and analyzed, and to use it to support our opinions and decisions. Now we can reflect on the data we’ve gathered and use it to make choices, cast votes, or offer informed opinions. We can evaluate the statements of others too, using these same skills. True evaluation requires us to put aside our own biases and accept that there may be other valid points of view, even if we don’t necessarily agree with them.

In the final phase, we use every one of those previous skills to create something new. This could be a proposal, an essay, a theory, a plan—anything a person assembles that’s unique.

Note: Bloom’s original taxonomy included “synthesis” as opposed to “create,” and it was located between “apply” and “evaluate.” When you synthesize, you put various parts of different ideas together to form a new whole. In 2001, a group of cognitive psychologists removed that term from the taxonomy , replacing it with “create,” but it’s part of the same concept.

How To Teach Critical Thinking

Using critical thinking in your own life is vital, but passing it along to the next generation is just as important. Be sure to focus on analyzing and evaluating, two multifaceted sets of skills that take lots and lots of practice. Start with these 10 Tips for Teaching Kids To Be Awesome Critical Thinkers . Then try these critical thinking activities and games. Finally, try to incorporate some of these 100+ Critical Thinking Questions for Students into your lessons. They’ll help your students develop the skills they need to navigate a world full of conflicting facts and provocative opinions.

One of These Things Is Not Like the Other

This classic Sesame Street activity is terrific for introducing the ideas of classifying, sorting, and finding relationships. All you need are several different objects (or pictures of objects). Lay them out in front of students, and ask them to decide which one doesn’t belong to the group. Let them be creative: The answer they come up with might not be the one you envisioned, and that’s OK!

The Answer Is …

Post an “answer” and ask kids to come up with the question. For instance, if you’re reading the book Charlotte’s Web , the answer might be “Templeton.” Students could say, “Who helped save Wilbur even though he didn’t really like him?” or “What’s the name of the rat that lived in the barn?” Backwards thinking encourages creativity and requires a good understanding of the subject matter.

Forced Analogies

Practice making connections and seeing relationships with this fun game. Kids write four random words in the corners of a Frayer Model and one more in the middle. The challenge? To link the center word to one of the others by making an analogy. The more far out the analogies, the better!

Learn more: Forced Analogies at The Owl Teacher

Primary Sources

Tired of hearing “I found it on Wikipedia!” when you ask kids where they got their answer? It’s time to take a closer look at primary sources. Show students how to follow a fact back to its original source, whether online or in print. We’ve got 10 terrific American history–based primary source activities to try here.

Science Experiments

Hands-on science experiments and STEM challenges are a surefire way to engage students, and they involve all sorts of critical thinking skills. We’ve got hundreds of experiment ideas for all ages on our STEM pages , starting with 50 Stem Activities To Help Kids Think Outside the Box .

Not the Answer

Multiple-choice questions can be a great way to work on critical thinking. Turn the questions into discussions, asking kids to eliminate wrong answers one by one. This gives them practice analyzing and evaluating, allowing them to make considered choices.

Learn more: Teaching in the Fast Lane

Correlation Tic-Tac-Toe

Two 3 by 3 grids of pictures showing mountains, islands, and other landforms, with Xs drawn in each grid to form tic-tac-toe lines.

Here’s a fun way to work on correlation, which is a part of analysis. Show kids a 3 x 3 grid with nine pictures, and ask them to find a way to link three in a row together to get tic-tac-toe. For instance, in the pictures above, you might link together the cracked ground, the landslide, and the tsunami as things that might happen after an earthquake. Take things a step further and discuss the fact that there are other ways those things might have happened (a landslide can be caused by heavy rain, for instance), so correlation doesn’t necessarily prove causation.

Learn more: Critical Thinking Tic-Tac-Toe at The Owl Teacher

Inventions That Changed the World

Explore the chain of cause and effect with this fun thought exercise. Start it off by asking one student to name an invention they believe changed the world. Each student then follows by explaining an effect that invention had on the world and their own lives. Challenge each student to come up with something different.

Learn more: Teaching With a Mountain View

Critical Thinking Games

Pile of board games that encourage critical thinking skills

There are so many board games that help kids learn to question, analyze, examine, make judgments, and more. In fact, pretty much any game that doesn’t leave things entirely up to chance (Sorry, Candy Land) requires players to use critical thinking skills. See one teacher’s favorites at the link below.

Learn more: Miss DeCarbo

This is one of those classic critical thinking activities that really prepares kids for the real world. Assign a topic (or let them choose one). Then give kids time to do some research to find good sources that support their point of view. Finally, let the debate begin! Check out 100 Middle School Debate Topics , 100 High School Debate Topics , and 60 Funny Debate Topics for Kids of All Ages .

How do you teach critical thinking skills in your classroom? Come share your ideas and ask for advice in the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook .

Plus, check out 38 simple ways to integrate social-emotional learning throughout the day ..

Get ideas and activities for teaching kids to use critical thinking skills to thoughtfully question the world and sort out fact from opinion.

30+ Awesome Career-Readiness Activities That Teach Soft Skills

Students need these skills to succeed in the workplace. Continue Reading

3 Answers for Parents About the AVID Program

The AVID program focuses on college readiness to help students be successful after high school.

High School AVID Classes

A teacher with an older group of students.

iStockphoto

Students usually take AVID throughout high school with the same group of students.

High schools across the country are offering an elective class that advocates say gives middle-of-the-road students extra support as they prepare for college .

AVID, which stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination, is a nonprofit college-readiness program designed to help students develop the skills they need to be successful in college . The program places special emphasis on growing writing, critical thinking, teamwork, organization and reading skills.

"AVID lessons are also designed around teaching tenacity, grit, perseverance, persistence," says Lori Wyborney, principal of Rogers High School in Spokane, Washington.

The class is now offered at more than 2,500 U.S. high schools , according to Dennis Johnston, senior director and chief research officer at AVID.

Students in the class usually take it throughout their high school career, and with the same group of students. AVID is offered as an elective, though some districts have adapted its strategies across the school system.

"We have put an emphasis on using AVID instructional strategies. AVID outlines a set of research strategies that align with best practices and current research for providing instruction across all content areas," says Adam Swinyard, associate superintendent for teaching and learning at Spokane Public Schools . "All of our schools have put an emphasis on that, as well as an emphasis that AVID utilizes around college and career readiness, awareness, exploration and building the aspirations of students."

For parents considering the class for their high school student, there are three things to keep in mind about the AVID program:

How to determine if AVID is a good fit.
What AVID students learn.
How AVID students perform after high school.

How to Determine if AVID Is a Good Fit

The best students for the class are usually the B or C students who have shown potential, Johnston says. "All students are eligible to enroll in the AVID elective. However, what we have found over our 40 years is that those students who benefit the most are in the academic middle."

AVID students are often those underrepresented on college campuses, he adds, such as low-income or first-generation students .

"What we really look for is the kids who will be the first in their family to get into a four-year university. And that's not an absolute, but the majority of our AVID kids are going to be first-generation college-going," Wyborney says.

Students generally begin the AVID class during ninth or 10th grade, Johnston says, because it takes a couple of years for the methods taught in the class to be effective. All go through an extensive application process, which includes an interview.

What AVID Students Learn

The curriculum focuses on building skills and developing behaviors that lead to success.

"AVID teaches kids how to do school," Johnston says.

Students learn skills like note-taking, reading and writing strategies and how to interact with peers and work in groups. They can then practice those skills in more challenging courses, such as honors and Advanced Placement classes, that they may be required to take.

"We push really hard for all our students to try at least one Advanced Placement class," Wyborney says, noting that many students take more.

According to data from AVID , at least 78% of class of 2018 seniors in the program took one college-level course in high school.

In addition to steering students toward a rigorous academic curriculum, the AVID program focuses heavily on college readiness.

"It's built upon the idea that students need more than content knowledge to be successful in a college experience, in a postsecondary experience. They need critical thinking skills to be able to evaluate, analyze, synthesize," Swinyard says. "They need specific skills around goal-setting, time management and note-taking. They also need information and awareness around just what that process looks like to apply for financial aid , to apply to colleges and to look for scholarships."

Each teacher decides on the assignments and activities they use to teach the skills. Interested teachers volunteer for the AVID elective course, and Johnston says anyone can teach the class once they've learned how to apply AVID strategies in the classroom.

Students may learn how to approach a challenging problem through tutoring, practice their research and writing skills while preparing for discussions about current events or be explicitly taught how to take notes, for example.

They also can explore different careers and learn about the college application process – all of which helps get across the message that learning isn't limited to one subject or classroom.

"The class is really designed to put those students in a group and experience on a daily basis, and really building that well-rounded skill set that kids need to be successful after high school," Swinyard says.

How AVID Students Perform After High School

Wyborney credits climbing graduation rates at Rogers in part to applying AVID strategies across the high school.

"AVID, for my school, has just really helped us turn a corner," she says.

But how do AVID students fare academically after graduating from high school?

According to a 2017 study out of Washington, 98% of seniors in AVID partner schools graduated on time, 94% had plans to attend a postsecondary institution and 93% had completed entrance requirements for a four-year college.

According to the AVID website, first-generation low-income students who go through the program are much more likely to earn a bachelor's degree within six years than their peers nationwide without an AVID experience, at a rate of 42% to 11%.

Johnston sees those numbers as proof that the program is working for students.

"The big message to parents is every student, no matter how successful or how challenged he or she might be, can gain significantly from an AVID experience," he says.

See the complete rankings of the Best High Schools.

Study Tips for High School Students

High angle view of young woman sitting at desk and studying at home during coronavirus lockdown

Tags: students , teachers , parenting , high school , academics , education , colleges , college admissions

About High School Notes

Whether you are a parent, teacher, student or administrator, get caught up on the latest news, ideas and policy debates affecting America's high school classrooms.

A Parent's Guide to STEM

This lively, 100-page guidebook provides everything you need to know to help your child get inspired, succeed in school and map a forward path in the STEM fields.

States With Highest Test Scores

Sarah Wood April 23, 2024

Map: Top 100 Public High Schools

Sarah Wood and Cole Claybourn April 23, 2024

Metro Areas With Top-Ranked High Schools

A.R. Cabral April 23, 2024

U.S. News Releases High School Rankings

See the 2024 Best Public High Schools

Joshua Welling April 22, 2024

Explore the 2024 Best STEM High Schools

Nathan Hellman April 22, 2024

Ways Students Can Spend Spring Break

Anayat Durrani March 6, 2024

Attending an Online High School

Cole Claybourn Feb. 20, 2024

How to Perform Well on SAT, ACT Test Day

Cole Claybourn Feb. 13, 2024

Topeka High students' critical thinking draws visit from Stanford University professor

S tanford University professor Greg Watkins visited Topeka High School to meet students from his online course on philosophy and morality.

Watkins has taught moral philosophy for more than 20 years, said Stanford communications director Jonathan Rabinovitz. This is the second year the course has been provided to Topeka High students.

For the course, Topeka High gifted facilitator Sara Schafer hosts the current 17 students taking the course in her classroom. She assists with providing the readings and helping facilitate the discussions while Topeka High students talk over Zoom with Stanford graduate students selected by Watkins.

Stanford professor commends his students at Topeka High

Watkins said he chose to visit Topeka High this year because of how impressed he was with them the past two years.

"It's just their ability to take the material seriously, to share their own views about it, rather than guess at what I might want to hear or what the undergrads might want to hear," Watkins said during his Thursday visit. "They pay attention in a way that it becomes like a 10-week conversation because that's another goal of this class."

Throughout the course, students read and discussed works from such philosophers as Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche and W.E.B Du Bois.

"So one thing I think has been really powerful about this course is that once students figure out that there aren't really wrong answers, they're able to express themselves in ways that they might not feel comfortable expressing themselves in other courses," Schafer said. "Where it's very evident a sort of correct answer, a correct interpretation ... and think about how the course material applies to their own lives.

"So we've just had some really wonderful discussions from kids who maybe are not the strongest writers."

Never too old or young to learn

While discussing a piece of writing about how humans are good in nature, a student surprised Watkins by suggesting an interpretation he had not heard or thought of in the 20 years of teaching the course.

"It's rare that there's something new, but we had a lunchtime discussion and it's that sentence on the board (a gentleman is not a pot), which is from Confucius," Watkins said. "I just never tire of doing something like that with some students because the conversation that happens, even though you cover some of the same territory, is distinctive."

Schafer said she enjoys being the in-person teacher for this and other similar courses because she learns with the class.

"Students always observe things that I don't observe, notice pieces of text that are unnoticed by me and have perspectives that I hadn't considered," Schafer said. "And so one of the pieces that I really enjoy about this course in particular, is there's a chance for me to be a lifelong learner."

Topeka High class gives a chance to think critically

Multiple students said they enjoy the course because the knowledge given is meant to be used mindfully instead of repeating facts.

"I like this course because it challenged me and also allowed me to you know, share my thoughts on stuff like this and just get to think more instead of just regurgitating facts," sophomore Atchison Henderson said.

Other students said the class was a chance to expand their minds in new ways.

"I really enjoyed it, because it's not a very difficult class," sophomore David Erwin said, "but you have to look into yourself and think about answers to very thought-provoking questions that usually you don't get to do in any other class."

Topeka High students learn a new way of thinking

While the students said they took away different things from the course, they all agreed their mindset would be forever changed.

"The class gave me the confidence to look inside of myself for questions and ask other people about their own thoughts about philosophy or deeper questions about life," sophomore Abigail Nichols said.

Another student said she plans to continue her exploration of knowledge.

"Yeah, I think it'll just like make me look more into like the people around me and see just how they are, how they act and continue to ask these kinds of questions and just kind of further my own wisdom or knowledge and be able to share that with other people," junior Keelie Colstrom said.

Students say they enjoy challenging their own beliefs

This year's class size nearly doubled from last year's nine participants. As this year's course is coming to a close, Schafer said she already plans to host the course again next year and hopes other schools follow suit.

Students were asked if they would recommend the class to future students and each asked said yes. Some students said the course is mentally challenging because you'll have to challenge and face your own beliefs and views. They also said not to be afraid.

"I'd say you're not alone," sophomore Ruby Lindsay-Ybarra said. "You have a whole class of people that can help you. You have shapers who can help you. Even if you think you're scared because of the course load, don't be, because you have people who can help."

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka High students' critical thinking draws visit from Stanford University professor

Stanford University professor Greg Watkins visited Topeka High School on Thursday to give an in-person class for his moral philosophy course.

IMAGES

How To Use Critical Thinking in Your Classroom
Critical Review Of Literature Example
How to help your child develop critical thinking skills
25 Critical Thinking Examples (2024)
Drashti Joshi: thinking skills- workshop
Critical Thinking Worksheets High School

VIDEO

entry four: grwm for school 🤓 (college)
LITERACY ACADEMY
High Up Academy For English and Leadership: Moments from: Student Budget Management
Top Critical Thinking Skills
Discussion and Critical Thinking Summer 2024 Class
LIST 3100 class Four Presentation

COMMENTS

Teaching Critical Thinking Skills in Middle and High School
Teach Reasoning Skills. Reasoning skills are another key component of critical thinking, involving the abilities to think logically, evaluate evidence, identify assumptions, and analyze arguments. Students who learn how to use reasoning skills will be better equipped to make informed decisions, form and defend opinions, and solve problems.
Critical Thinking Resources for High School Teachers
The Critical Thinking Community, from the Center for Critical Thinking, provides one of the best sites for critical thinking resources and has a special section aimed at helping high school teachers prepare appropriate lesson plans: Critical Thinking Community for High School Teachers. "Critical thinking is essential if we are to get to the ...
Eight Instructional Strategies for Promoting Critical Thinking
At Avenues World School, critical thinking is one of the Avenues World Elements and is an enduring outcome embedded in students' early experiences through 12th grade. For instance, a ...
What Is Critical Thinking and Why Do We Need To Teach It?
That's what critical thinking is about: asking the right questions, and knowing how to find and evaluate the answers to those questions. Good critical thinkers do this sort of analysis every day, on all sorts of subjects. They seek out proven facts and trusted sources, weigh the options, and then make a choice and form their own opinions.
Integrating Critical Thinking Into the Classroom (Opinion)
Critical thinking blasts through the surface level of a topic. It reaches beyond the who and the what and launches students on a learning journey that ultimately unlocks a deeper level of ...
How To Teach Critical Thinking In K-12
Daniel Willingham, cognitive scientist, writes that attempts to teach general thinking abilities through logical and spatial puzzles, for example, as parts of courses added on to the curriculum ...
Critical Thinking in High School
Item #2: Be active in learning and active read, write and speak as a critical thinker. Item #3: Each subject you study is part of your thinking strategy. Item #4: Ask questions of the teacher and your class mate in your discussions. Item #5: Find the connections in all of the class you are taking. Item #6: Your teachers are coaches to help as a ...
Developing critical thinking skills in the classroom
In order to become a well-rounded person who has developed critical thinking skills, students must first understand the importance of developing these skills. This means teaching students how to analyze data, evaluate arguments, and draw conclusions from evidence. This article will help teachers teach critical thinking skills in the class room.
High School Teachers
The following articles and resources are offered complimentary: Tactical and Structural Recommendations. Teaching Tactics that Encourage Active Learning. Using Intellectual Standards to Assess Student Reasoning. The Art of Redesigning Instruction. Remodeled Lessons: High School. Introduction to Remodeling: Components of Remodels and Their ...
Why schools should teach critical thinking to students
Critical thinking helps student self-reflect on their actions. An ability to engage in meaningful reflection is integral for students to develop positive relationships and work towards meaningful goals. These goals can be for an academic achievement, or other personal goals that motivate them.
What Are Critical Thinking Skills and Why Are They Important?
According to the University of the People in California, having critical thinking skills is important because they are [ 1 ]: Universal. Crucial for the economy. Essential for improving language and presentation skills. Very helpful in promoting creativity. Important for self-reflection.
PDF An examination of high school students' critical thinking dispositions
Therefore, the present study intends to explore high school students' critical thinking dispositions and analytical thinking skills. To this end, it seeks answers to the following research questions: RQ 1) What is the level of high school students' critical thinking dispositions and analytical thinking skills?
Learn Essential Critical Thinking Skills
Critical thinking skills allow you to make reasonable decisions in the moment, especially when you or others around you are under stress. You can solve problems better when you put critical thinking into practice. Critical thinking also helps you to make decisions without resorting to emotions or selfishness.
Research and Critical Thinking
The purpose of this course involves the development of a range of transferable thinking skills and processes for solving problems, critical thinking and reasoning. These skills are valuable and relevant within other subjects as well as being essential for further and higher education. This course aims to encourage students to apply these skills ...
Research and Critical Thinking
M/J AVID 8th. The purpose of this course is to provide students with an opportunity to experience success in academically rigorous courses and improve attitudes and behaviors towards learning, self, school and community. Experiences include study skills instruction, tutoring of students, mentioning, and exploring colleges and universities.
11 Activities That Promote Critical Thinking In The Class
6. Start a Debate. In this activity, the teacher can act as a facilitator and spark an interesting conversation in the class on any given topic. Give a small introductory speech on an open-ended topic. The topic can be related to current affairs, technological development or a new discovery in the field of science.
A Focus on Critical Thinking
Questioning is at the heart of critical thinking, so you want to create an environment where intellectual curiosity is fostered and questions are encouraged. For Jared Kushida, who teaches a global politics class called War and Peace at KIPP King Collegiate, "lecturing" means integrating a flow of questions throughout a lesson. "I rarely go on ...
Critical Thinking Skills for Kids (& How to Teach Them)
Debates. This is one of those classic critical thinking activities that really prepares kids for the real world. Assign a topic (or let them choose one). Then give kids time to do some research to find good sources that support their point of view. Finally, let the debate begin!
PDF High School Students' Critical Thinking Related to Their Metacognitive
Keywords: critical thinking, metacognitive self-regulation, physics self-efficacy belief 1. Introduction In today's fast-paced knowledge, students need to have some skills in selecting useful information, evaluating the truth of information, and making decisions. Critical thinking is an important skill in decision-making process of students.
3 Answers for High School Parents About the AVID Program
AVID, which stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination, is a nonprofit college-readiness program designed to help students develop the skills they need to be successful in college. The ...
Critical Thinking: A Simple Guide and Why It's Important
Critical thinking enriches communication skills, enabling the clear and logical articulation of ideas. Whether in emails, presentations, or casual conversations, individuals adept in critical thinking exude clarity, earning appreciation for their ability to convey thoughts seamlessly. ☑ Adaptability and Resilience
Topeka High students' critical thinking draws visit from Stanford
Topeka High class gives a chance to think critically Multiple students said they enjoy the course because the knowledge given is meant to be used mindfully instead of repeating facts.
What School Subjects Do Teens Need in High School?
Electives. Picking high school courses is an exciting process. Core high school subjects like math, science, and language arts are required, but a range of others can be selected. Finally being ...
Stand Out in High School
High School Classes Colleges Look For . If you're in high school and thinking about college you should know that the courses you take matter. That's because college admissions officers want to see a solid foundation of learning you can build on in college. Learn More
Teacher Who Went Viral For Teaching Critical Thinking Gets Fired
31. Share. Warren Smith went viral (after a retweet from Elon Musk) at the beginning of the year when he posted a discussion with a pupil about the Harry Potter author, JK Rowling. The pupil asked Mr. Smith whether he still liked Rowling's work despite her "bigoted opinions". For those who have not been following the JK Rowling saga, the ...
Profile of Junior High School Students' Critical Thinking Skills in
Critical thinking skills are one of the competencies that must be possessed by students in the 21st Century. This study aims to analyze the level of critical thinking skills of junior high school students in science learning using the learning media lectora inspire. This research is quantitative descriptive.
'College for What?' High School Students Want Answers Before Heading to
EdSurge Podcast. 'College for What?'. High School Students Want Answers Before Heading to Campus. By Jeffrey R. Young May 14, 2024. Louis Bustos and Vivian Turbak, two juniors at Central High School, report on their school's 'Opportunity Fair' for a student-run video news program.

ChatGPT for Teachers

A site devoted to all things related to critical thinking

State critical thinking resources

Keeping up to date on current trends

You may also like to read

Classroom Q&A

Integrating Critical Thinking Into the Classroom

‘Learning Conversations’

‘Adventures of Discovery’

‘Quote Analysis’

Sign Up for EdWeek Update

Sign Up & Sign In

www.teachmehowtostudy.com

Recent Posts

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Latest Posts

Developing critical thinking skills in the classroom

What is critical thinking?

Why critical thinking is important

Mental skills or learning behaviours?

Principles of critical thinking

Assessing students analytical thinking

How can we develop reasoning skills?

Collaborative problem solving skills

Comparisons and critical thinking

Academic Arguments

Domain Knowledge and critical thinking

Five tips for improving critical thinking in your classroom

Enhance Learner Outcomes Across Your School

We'll send it over now.

What type of school are you?

Is your school involved in any staff development projects?

Do you have any immediate school priorities?

Download your resource

Why schools should teach critical thinking

What are critical thinking skills for students?

Why schools are well-placed to teach critical thinking skills

How educators can successfully teach critical thinking skills to students

How students benefit from critical thinking skills

Students hone 21st-century skills with critical thinking

Students use critical thinking skills to battle against misinformation

Critical thinking skills complement civic literacy

Students can make better decisions with critical thinking skills

Students can better their problem-solving skills through critical thinking

Critical thinking boosts student creativity

Critical thinking helps student self-reflect on their actions

Want to try Kialo Edu with your class?

11 Activities That Promote Critical Thinking In The Class

Importance of Acquiring Critical Thinking Skills

11 Activities that Promote Critical Thinking in the Class

1. Worst Case Scenario

2. If You Build It

4. Keeping it Real

5. Save the Egg

6. Start a Debate

7. Create and Invent

8. Select from Alternatives

9. Reading and Critiquing

10. Think Pair Share

11. Big Paper – Silent Conversation

Share this:

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

A Focus on Critical Thinking

Why Critical Thinking?

How It's Done

Questions, questions, questions

Start with a prompt and help them unpack it

Provide tools for entering the conversation

Model your expectations

Encourage constructive controversy

Choose content students will invest in

Set up Socratic discussions

Assess their reasoning through different methods

Let students evaluate each other

KIPP King Collegiate High School

5 Critical Thinking Skills Every Kid Needs To Learn (And How To Teach Them)

What is critical thinking?

Key Critical Thinking Skills

How To Teach Critical Thinking

One of These Things Is Not Like the Other