critical thinking in language arts

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Developing Critical Thinking in English Language Arts (ELA)

The importance of critical thinking in ela and beyond.

Critical thinking is an essential skill for academic success, and it’s particularly important in the world of ELA. Common Core Curriculum standards expect students to employ critical thinking in all related areas, from reading to writing, speaking, listening, and ELA college readiness goals. However, the importance of critical thinking goes far beyond English class. Being able to read and write critically is a powerful tool to help students navigate their lives in high school and beyond.

A study published in Research in Science Education found that when students were exposed to teaching strategies that promoted critical thinking skills, they demonstrated resulting qualities including:

• Truth-seeking
• Open-mindedness
• Self-confidence

Qualities like these not only help students achieve academic success, but also set them up for success in their workplaces and personal lives. They will be equipped to make well-informed decisions, identify and evaluate arguments, and recognize assumptions and biases. These skills will help students navigate a world of increasing misinformation, and will give them a competent and compelling voice with which to share their ideas.

Critical Thinking Skills in ELA

As an educator, you can develop critical thinking in many ways through your ELA coursework. Here’s a more in-depth look at how critical thinking is used and improved upon in the reading and writing techniques learned in ELA.

What Is Critical Reading?

Critical reading is a thoughtful and analytical approach to evaluating written material. It involves actively analyzing and evaluating the text and examining its structure, arguments, evidence, and underlying assumptions. This process helps the reader gain a deeper understanding of the material and develop an informed opinion.

Knowing how to read critically enables the reader to evaluate the validity and reliability of information encountered in daily life. In an age of information overload, it is more important than ever to be able to distinguish between credible and unreliable sources.

In addition, critical reading helps develop a reader's ability to engage in informed debates and discussions. By thoroughly examining and evaluating different perspectives and arguments, critical readers are better equipped to contribute to important conversations and make informed decisions.

Critical reading also helps to expand knowledge and understanding of various subjects. This is true even when engaging with fiction, where literary analysis can help to uncover authors’ perspectives and purposes. By critically analyzing the written work of others, readers can gain a deeper understanding of complex topics, as well as new insights into their own beliefs and values.

Critical Thinking and Writing

Critical thinking is an essential component of effective essay writing and written communication. It is the process of objectively analyzing, evaluating, and making judgements about information and arguments. When used in essay writing and written communication, critical thinking helps individuals produce well-reasoned, well-supported, and convincing arguments.

In essay writing, critical thinking helps to identify and evaluate the strength of evidence and arguments presented in one’s own writing and in the writing of others. This includes considering alternative perspectives and challenging assumptions, which leads to a deeper understanding of the topic and a more informed position.

Critical thinking also helps developing writers organize thoughts and present arguments in a clear, concise, and logical manner. By breaking down complex ideas into smaller parts and evaluating the relationships between these parts, critical thinking can help students effectively structure academic essays.

The importance of critical thinking also extends beyond schoolwork. In written communication like emails, articles, applications, and more, critical thinking will help young people communicate capably and confidently. This ability to communicate clearly can lead to improved relationships and increased effectiveness in personal and professional contexts.

How to Develop Critical Thinking in ELA

As students progress through their ELA classes, their critical thinking skills can be improved by:

• Practicing critical reading strategies like surveying texts beforehand and annotating while reading
• Learning how to identify trustworthy sources
• Synthesizing information from multiple credible sources
• Communicating findings through essays or Capstone Projects
• Analyzing and evaluating informational texts using the THINKING PRO Competency Framework and critical thinking strategies

Exploring THINKING PRO interactive learning videos to expand critical thinking skills with a targeted and comprehensive gamified system

Here at Thinking Habitats, we use thinking tools to empower young people to lead successful lives and contribute to the wellbeing of their communities. Our online platform has helped students improve their critical thinking, reading comprehension, and news media literacy, and has had significant individual and community impacts. Try THINKING PRO today , and join our students who feel more empowered in decision-making, more mindful with their news engagement, and more connected to their local community!

Basso, F. L. (2020, September 21). How Reading Fiction Can Shape Our Real Lives . Greater Good Magazine. Retrieved February 13, 2023, from https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_reading_fiction_can_shape_our_real_lives  

Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2022, November). Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects.

Critical Reading: What is critical reading, and why do I need to do it? CSU Ohio. (n.d.). Retrieved February 13, 2023, from https://www.csuohio.edu/writing-center/critical-reading-what-critical-reading-and-why-do-i-need-do-it  

Miri, B., David, B.-C., & Uri, Z. (2007). Purposely teaching for the promotion of higher-order thinking skills: A case of critical thinking. Research in Science Education , 37 (4), 353–369. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-006-9029-2 Volzke, D. (2017, February 22). How to Demonstrate Critical Thinking in Your Writing . Mount Vernon Nazarene University. Retrieved February 13, 2023, from http://studentsuccess.mvnu.edu/demonstratingcriticalthinking/  

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Critical Thinking: Building a Key Foundation for Language and Literacy Success

Did you know that school curriculums around the world are increasing their focus on critical thinking skills? Experts on early childhood development agree that the basic skills of reading, writing and math are no longer enough – children also need to learn to think critically if they’re going to be successful in today’s complex world.

What Is Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking happens when children draw on their existing knowledge and experience, as well as on their problem-solving skills, to do things like:

• Compare and contrast
• Explain why things happen
• Evaluate ideas and form opinions
• Understand the perspectives of others
• Predict what will happen in the future
• Think of creative solutions

Why is critical thinking so important?

Critical thinking is a fundamental skills for both language and literacy success.

• Language − Language and critical thinking grow together and nurture each other’s development. As children engage in critical thinking, their language skills expand because they’re encouraged to develop and use more complex language with words like “because”, phrases with “if” and “then” and different verb tenses. Conversely, as children’s language development progresses, their ability to think critically grows as well.  
• Literacy − To truly understand the meaning of a book, children must be able to do more than recognize and sound out letters and words. They must also “read between the lines” to figure things out that are not actually stated in the book. To do this, they must use critical thinking skills like problem-solving, predicting and explaining. Encouraging this kind of thinking early in a child’s life prepares her for understanding the books she’ll read on her own later on.  

When and How Does Critical Thinking Develop?

Research shows that children begin to think critically at a very young age. These skills develop during the natural, back and forth conversations children have with the important adults in their lives.

As soon as children are able to speak in sentences, they’re ready for you − the parent, caregiver or educator − to nurture the critical thinking skills that will prepare them for success in school. Whether you’re reading a book or taking a walk in the park, any time is a good time to build critical thinking.

Tips for Building Critical Thinking – It’s all about the E’s and P’s!

Use the arrows to scroll through the E’s and P’s and get a fun tip from the 2016 Calendar for promoting each one!

Helpful articles on critical thinking

More Than ABCs: Building the Critical Thinking Skills Your Child Needs for Literacy Success Get more fun tips on building children’s E’s and P’s during book reading. Read article

Teaching Children to Think: Meeting the Demands of the 21st Century Learn more about the evolving role of early childhood educators and what governments around the world are doing to increase the focus on critical thinking. Read article

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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

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(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 .

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Critical Thinking & Language Learning

From a very young age, learning a language is of utmost importance. Starting from our mother tongue, we then learn another language (usually English, Spanish, German or French). Learning – and teaching- methods though, don’t always work as expected. Conventional teaching and learning techniques are starting to become a feature of the past now, as new methods are considered to be more efficient. One of these techniques is critical thinking.

Critical Thinking Defined

Second of all, it also occurs when we look at a specific issue or problem, from more than one perspective. Third of all, it also occurs when we criticize something, in a constructive way. For example, disagreeing with the words of a journalist, while pointing out the problem and supporting our opinion with arguments. Also, when critically viewing new information, we can find more meanings that might be indirect.

Critical thinking affecting Language Learning

The first person who supported the use of Critical thinking in education was the American philosopher John Dewey. According to his beliefs, teaching Critical thinking to the students is actually the ultimate goal of education.

In addition, learning a language can be achieved by many practical activities that combine critical thinking with the material taught in class. Hence, learning becomes more inclusive and practical.

Critical thinking improving Language Learning

Furthermore, when a student participates in such activities, he/she becomes an “active participant”, as he/she interacts with other students while constructing his/her learning. Through this process, the student perceives the knowledge learned at the moment in his/her own way, and because of this fact, this knowledge is remembered – and used- more easily (learning stops being too theoretical and is applied in practice).

Overall, critical thinking allows a learner to “process” a language, and perceive it in his/her own way. Therefore, language learning becomes easier, more efficient, and applicable.

Language learning improving Critical Thinking Skills

Per the above fact, it is useful to mention that critical thinking skills are improved through the process of language learning. Critical thinking and language learning support each other at a level where Critical thinking can almost teach you the language itself.

Furthermore, while learning a language a person can participate in various activities where different kinds of critical thinking are unlocked. Therefore, critical thinking becomes more spherical. As a necessary and useful process, language learning provides critical thinking with a lot more dimensions.

The kind of relationship between Critical thinking and language learning

In other words, critical thinking is not dependent on language learning, when it comes to its improvement and formation whereas language learning needs critical thinking, as it has the goal of being as much efficient as possible.

On An Ending Note

https://unitec.researchbank.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10652/3680/revised-critical-thinking-paper-May-2016-.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

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Critical thinking job interview questions, unleashing your creativity: associative thinking techniques explained, divergent vs convergent thinking – what are they and how are they different, lateral thinking in the real world: everyday examples of lateral thinking., download this free ebook.

Developing Students' Critical Thinking Skills Through Whole-Class Dialogue

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Students take positions all the time. They defend their love of a television show or character with evidence or support that justifies their position. However, students may struggle to think critically about the books they've read and take a position about events from those books. In this lesson, students either listen to the instructor read a book aloud or read the book silently. (The book used in this lesson is My Freedom Trip by Frances Park and Ginger Park.) After reading, students answer an open-ended question about an issue that could have multiple perspectives. Students take positions, then identify reasons to support their positions. They then evaluate the reasons and draw their own conclusions. The lesson may be followed by additional whole-class discussion sessions that place emphasis on dialogue, eventually transferring more and more responsibility to the students for their learning.

From Theory to Practice

• Dialogical-Thinking Reading Lessons (D-TRLs), in which students articulate their thoughts in response to literature through dialogue, go beyond the question-and-answer and recitation methods that usually deal only with literal thinking.
• Students develop critical thinking as they learn to justify their reasons for a certain position on a story-specific issue.
• The basic format of a D-TRL provides practice with identifying and evaluating reasons as well as drawing conclusions. As more responsibility for the elements of the D-TRL is transferred to students, they receive additional practice in formulating hypotheses and identifying central themes and issues
• When students have opportunities to pose questions, they assume more responsibility for determining what needs to be understood and for directing their own learning processes.
• Literature discussions based on student-posed questions address an array of reading, writing, and oral language core curriculum objectives.
• When student questioning reigns in literature discussions, students generate many questions, help one another clarify questions, listen carefully to their peers, engage in critical thinking, and appreciate the opportunity to reflect on their own questions.

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

• 3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
• 6. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
• 11. Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.
• 12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Materials and Technology

• My Freedom Trip by Frances Park and Ginger Park (Boyds Mills Press, 1998)
• Chart paper, board, or overhead

Central Question Chart

Preparation

Student Objectives

Students will

• Develop and demonstrate critical thinking skills as they take positions in response to a question, consider other viewpoints, identify reasons in support of their positions, evaluate supporting reasons for truth and acceptability, and draw final conclusions based on discussion
• Take responsibility for their own learning and for evaluating their own thoughts
• Participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical persons in respectful dialogue with one another

Instruction and Activities

Before reading (15 minutes) Open the lesson with an informal discussion of what students already know about the Korean War. Tell them that they will be reading and discussing a book about one girl's experience during that war. Can they make predictions about the book based on its title and cover and what they already know about the war? Let students know that after reading the book, they're going to be asked a question that will take the whole class to answer-and everyone's answer could be different. What will be important is whether they can provide acceptable reasons to support their answers. Reading phase (about 15 minutes, depending on the length of the text and the reading comprehension method you use) Depending on your students' needs and the availability of book copies, you can read the book to your students using the guided reading approach, have the students partner/group read, or have the students read silently. The important thing to consider when conducting the reading phase is to make sure students understand the text entirely. This will allow them to fully participate in the discussion phase to follow.

• With the guided reading approach, intermittent discussion should take place. The discussion breaks should be informal and focus on sharing an understanding of what is happening in the text.
• If you use another approach, check in with the individuals or groups to ensure understanding by asking questions during or after the reading. Keep the questions focused for now on students' comprehension of the book, making sure everyone understands the basic story well enough to be able to participate in the discussion phase to follow.

Discussion phase (30 to 60 minutes, depending on class size) There are four basic components to this part of the lesson:

• Posing a central question and possible answers
• Identifying reasons to support the possible answers
• Evaluating the truth and acceptability of the supporting reasons
• Drawing final conclusions on the merit of the possible answers

As students become familiar with the critical-thinking process, these components can be modified to give students greater responsibility for their learning. (See Modifications for examples.) Before proceeding with the discussion, make sure to establish a few guidelines with the students. These guidelines can include

• Listening carefully to other students' questions, opinions, and reasons and responding to them in a helpful manner
• Respecting everyone's questions and everyone's responses
• Agreeing or disagreeing, but giving reasons to support your opinion
• Respecting everyone's opportunity to speak and waiting your turn

Central question. At this point, introduce a question that will be of interest to students and in response to which they will each have to take a position. The question should be thought-provoking, the answer to which can be debated. A sample question for this book (as listed on the Central Question Chart ) is, "Why did Mr. Han try to convince the soldier to let Soo go across the river instead of himself?" Once you have a question, you should offer two hypotheses (or positions) as answers to it. Record the two positions on chart paper, the board, or overhead. Sample positions are listed on the Central Question Chart. (Until students have practiced the subsequent processes of identifying and evaluating reasons, it is important to limit the position options for now to two.) Once the two positions are listed, ask each student to decide which position he or she thinks best answers the central question and to be prepared to explain why. Let students know that they can change their positions after the discussion. Identifying reasons . Have students explore each position by identifying supporting reasons for it. Talk to a student who supports the first position, for example. Ask the student why he or she believes it's correct. How about a student who supports the second position? Get the students to begin talking to each other, with you acting as facilitator between them. This may be a good time to abandon a rule of raising hands; instead, let students dialogue freely but respectfully. As they cite reasons, encourage them to use examples from the text, from their own background knowledge of not only the Korean War but any experiences they have had that help them understand the text, and from what they feel makes sense. Record all reasons on the chart underneath their respective positions, even those that make little sense or seem wrong. (In the course of the discussion, students will be evaluating the truth and acceptability of the reasons. If you filter out reasons according to your judgment, it will deny students the opportunity to evaluate their own thinking.) Evaluating reasons. After all the reasons are listed (and perhaps even as they are being listed), students should decide whether they are completely true, completely false, or are true or false depending on certain factors. As the facilitator, put each reason before the group for discussion and let students decide amongst themselves the truth and acceptability of each reason. For each reason, ask students the following kinds of questions (and eventually encourage them to ask each other and themselves): What makes this reason true? Or what makes it false? Are there times that it could be true, but other times when it could be false? What examples can you give from the book to support a reason as acceptable? Does it make sense? Why or why not? Should we accept this as a supporting reason for the position? Throughout this discussion, you may need to question the students or rephrase their ideas to help them formulate their thoughts. However, be sure not to put words in students' mouths. As students discuss the reasons, record their decisions about the reasons in the truth column of the chart. You can use a 'T' for true, 'F' for false, and 'D' for depends. For the 'T' and 'D' reasons, mark what makes them acceptable: 'TXT' for text support, 'BK' for background knowledge support, and 'LOG' for logical support. Students themselves may not know at first that an acceptable reason is based on text, background knowledge, or logic (i.e., what seems to make sense), but they should be able to decide if it's acceptable or not. As you classify the reasons, help them to understand why you are categorizing them as you are-that their discussion is leading you to figure out the kind of support each reason is based upon. Guide them in this thought process until they are able to tell you what justifies the reasons. Drawing conclusions. After all reasons have been evaluated, give students the opportunity to say what their positions are based on the discussion. Has anyone changed his or her mind? For those who are sticking with their original positions, do they feel more strongly about them now? Also, give students the option to say they have not made up their minds (for the ability to withhold judgment is central to critical thinking). Another way to end the lesson could be to have the students write their conclusions and justify their reasons in a journal entry or a more formal writing assignment. Modifications After a few lessons with the same book or subsequent readings, students will have had practice identifying and evaluating reasons for positions you hypothesize. Next, allow them to generate several positions of their own to new central questions. This will help them to develop hypothesizing skills. After practice at hypothesizing, move on to allowing them to generate their own central questions. You will have to determine their readiness for identifying central themes and issues, but also, you can expect by this time for students to help guide each other in this process. Another modification as students become more and more responsible for their own learning may include switching to peer discussion groups, which then report their results in writing or to the class.

My Freedom Trip does not have a great deal of factual information, so creating a K-W-L chart may help lead the class into a research project as an extension of the book. Ask the students what they already know about Korea and the issues that arose around the Korean War. Use the W column in the K-W-L as a springboard for research. As examples, students could research why the soldiers divided the country of Korea or why North Korea was oppressed while South Korea was "the freedom land." Since My Freedom Trip has a theme of bravery and not giving up, ask each student to write a personal narrative about a time when he or she was faced with a tough situation, but stuck it out. Remind students that their stories do not have to be of the same magnitude and that we all face challenges, big and small. You may want to take these pieces through the entire writing process to publication. Invite people who have lived through challenging situations to speak to the class about their ordeals. Send a letter to parents and community members to see if they would like to share their experiences. Students can respond to guest speakers' experiences through discussion afterward or in journal entries.

Student Assessment / Reflections

Observe the following in students:

• Do they participate in the discussion before the book is read, as well as during the reading (whether using the guided reading approach or other method)?
• Do they offer reasons for their positions that can be verified by the text, background knowledge, or logic?
• Do they rightfully evaluate and dismiss reasons that are not acceptable or valid?
• Do they participate fully in the discussion, giving due regard for differing opinions and viewpoints?

Provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate their critical thinking skills with the following assessment:

• Have students read a new text or read it aloud to the entire class
• Present students with a central question and two positions
• Have students, on an individual basis, provide support for both positions and evaluate each as they did in the lessons
• Have students give a written response regarding one of the positions
• Evaluate the written response the same way as the journal entry (see below)

Evaluate student journal entries on the following (minimum) criteria:

• Do the students justify their conclusions using reasons supported by the text, background knowledge, or logic?
• Do the students' writing responses reflect your expectations for them?
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• May 20, 2022

4 ways to increase critical thinking in the English language classroom

Much of what we do in the language classroom is focused on fluency and accuracy. Most teachers aim for students to use vocabulary and grammar accurately, and be able to read and listen with enough understanding to answer comprehension questions. However, language learning is different from other academic subjects, many of which are based around retention of knowledge.

Learning a second language involves a lot more than simply remembering the right words to use. The more that students activate their critical thinking brains, and employ Higher-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS), the more they will develop flexibility, confidence and the ability to self-evaluate in the work that they do, making them better language users in any situation where they have to use the language they learn.

Critical thinking includes a range of HOTS which can be useful to language learning, enabling students to develop learning strategies which can help them to work independently and develop in their own ways beyond the classroom and the set curriculum that you teach . Fostering a critical / analytical environment takes students further than simply supplying correct answers to pass tests, or repeating memorised chunks of language which may not apply to their real lives. Here are some simple ways of facilitating critical thinking in your classroom:

Ask for more than just information

The vast majority of questions asked by teachers in the language classroom are designed for students to answer based on something they have just been told, or that they need to remember from previous classes. In most cases, the teacher already knows the answer to the questions, which have been designed for teaching rather than actual sharing of information. Questions where the answer is already known are called ‘display’ questions, and are a useful teaching tool. However, the level of thinking required to answer them is not highly cognitive. Often, students either know the answer or they don’t - there is little room for calculation, deduction or other higher types of reasoning.

Rather than simply asking students for the answers to the questions they are studying, or for the information in the texts they read, push them to tell you more about aspects of the text which are not explicitly mentioned in the writing. This type of ‘referential’ question leads to much more authentic, spontaneous and personal information sharing, and requires more reflective and critical thought. Examples of higher-order referential questions (here, for a reading or listening exercise) might be:

Why does the writer use the word ‘_______’ in this sentence?

Why do you think the writer starts the article in this way?

Do you agree with the writer when she says ‘________’? Why?

Do you think the writer feels positive / negative / happy / sad / worried… by the topic? Why?

What does the word/sentence ‘__________’ make you think of?

Some of these questions are quite high-level in terms of the language needed to respond, but questions about simple tone or feeling, or emotional response questions, can be used with lower-level learners to help them reflect on their reaction (and the author’s feeling) about the writing. This takes the student out of the traditional understanding / comprehending / answering factual questions from the text that may restrict their thinking as they read.

Get students deducing meaning from context

Another area of language where critical thinking can be used is in vocabulary study. Traditionally, teachers focus very strongly on accuracy of meaning when teaching new words, then find ways of helping students to remember the words effectively. However, the majority of new words that a student meets, both in and out of the classroom, will not be the focus of specific teaching stages with a teacher going through pronunciation, meaning and use .

More critical/analytical approaches to vocabulary can help students to develop independent strategies for dealing with new words without constant support. The skill of deducing meaning based on language clues is an invaluable skill for anyone using a second language, and a skills which can be developed in the classroom. All that is needed are some ways of spotting the clues in a new word, sentence or paragraph, which can reveal different aspects of meaning:

At word level, a lot of meaning can be deduced from prefixes, suffixes and stems. By getting students to identify the stem meaning of a word, then applying prefixes and suffixes, they will be surprised at how they can decode new meanings more easily, as in:

Undeniable = prefix: un- + stem: -deny- + suffix: -able

If a student knows the word ‘deny’, they can build the meaning of

un- (not) + -deny- (refuse) + -able (be able to)

This kind of inductive work leads to activities with word families, where one stem word can be explored for all its related forms: deny, denial, deniable, undeniable, etc., building several words form a single, known root.

In sentence examples, clues to meaning (contextual clues) can be designed and added in to help students deduce new meanings, as in:

Janine was happy, but Bob was miserable

The key clue here comes from the contrast marker ‘but’ - if students know the meaning of happy, and they know that ‘but’ is followed by a contrasting idea, then they can deduce that ‘miserable’ means ‘unhappy’, even if they have never seen the word before.

Presenting vocabulary in a sentence context like this takes students beyond the level of single word meanings, and gets them using other information around a new word to think critically and engage with meaning in different ways. By teaching your students the skill of deducing meaning, you can save a lot of time teaching new words one by one, and get them working with different examples on their own, or working with a partner.

Use project-based activities

Another way of developing higher-order skills is by focusing students on the processes that they follow when they learn. A great way of doing this is to get them working on projects rather than individual language tasks. Projects are different toothed types of activity because they involve collaboration and allocation of work between different members of a group to get the job done. The process of planning, delegating and taking responsibility for different aspects of a project can involve some high-level critical thinking and reflection (if it is planned into the project by the teacher).

Projects usually result in more complex outcomes than single activities, so require more different skills than just language use. The discussion, role-setting, preparation and creative processes all require different types of interaction and communication, all of which are more authentic than general language-focused pair-work.

Working together to create a poster presentation, a board game or a labelled model involves different language and social skills, leadership, compromise and strategy-setting, which can be performed in English if the students’ level is high enough, or in the students’ first language (in a specific planning stage) if it isn’t. By following the procedure below, you can incorporate HOTS, language and other skills to produce an effective project outcome:

inform students of the goal of the project - what product are they working towards?

Students break the project into parts and assign roles to each group member (in first language with lower-level groups)

Students produce a plan for creation of the project, step by step to get everything done in good order and within the time limit (again, in first language if necessary)

Students each work on their role for the project, keeping in communication with each other at each step

Group members check each others’ work for accuracy of language, quality and how well it fits the project brief from 1)

In larger classes, further critical thinking can be developed by having each group present their work to another group for feedback - what do the other group(s) think of their work? Each group writes action points to improve their product and goes back to make any changes they think are necessary.

Each group presents their project to the class, either in a show-and-tell style, or by moving from project to project to view each others’ work.

Develop students’ reflective skills

Self-reflection is one of the highest of the HOTS. Without stopping to evaluate any task that we have done, it is much more difficult to develop better ways of doing a good job in future. This applies to language learning as much as it does to any other kind of activity.

A simple way of bringing self-reflection into he classroom is to include a short stage at the end of each activity that you do, or at the end of each class, which focuses on how students performed. Some simple questions that can prompt self-reflection after a period of class activity are:

How do you feel after completing this activity?

Did you find it easy or difficult? Why?

What did you find most useful in that activity?

How did you complete the activity? What did you do first, then what did you do?

If you did it again, what would you do differently?

You don’t need to ask all of these questions after every activity, but questions like these can prompt a little bit of thought about how students are working, not just whether they succeeded in a task or not. This can raise awareness about learning strategies, thought processes and how different students approach different types of activity . They can also inform you about how your students work, and therefore how they might benefit from different types of support from your teaching.

As we have seen, critical, analytical and higher-order work can be incorporated into the language classroom without too much disturbance of your planned work. A few small additions here and there, and some rethinking of tasks and activities, can raise the level of thinking that goes on, and help students to help themselves when they come to perform in English in situations outside the classroom. Start by including some small critical or reflective questions in your classes, and see how your students respond. You (and they) might be surprised at the results!

Tom Garside is Director of Language Point Teacher Education. Language Point delivers the internationally recognised RQF level 5 Trinity CertTESOL in a totally online mode of study , and the RQF level 6 Trinity College Certificate for Practising Teachers , a contextually-informed teacher development qualification with specific courses which focus on online language education or online methodology.

If you are interested to know more about these qualifications, or you want take your teaching to a new level with our teacher education courses, contact us or see our course dates and fees for details.

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Helping Students Hone Their Critical Thinking Skills

Used consistently, these strategies can help middle and high school teachers guide students to improve much-needed skills.

Critical thinking skills are important in every discipline, at and beyond school. From managing money to choosing which candidates to vote for in elections to making difficult career choices, students need to be prepared to take in, synthesize, and act on new information in a world that is constantly changing.

While critical thinking might seem like an abstract idea that is tough to directly instruct, there are many engaging ways to help students strengthen these skills through active learning.

Make Time for Metacognitive Reflection

Create space for students to both reflect on their ideas and discuss the power of doing so. Show students how they can push back on their own thinking to analyze and question their assumptions. Students might ask themselves, “Why is this the best answer? What information supports my answer? What might someone with a counterargument say?”

Through this reflection, students and teachers (who can model reflecting on their own thinking) gain deeper understandings of their ideas and do a better job articulating their beliefs. In a world that is go-go-go, it is important to help students understand that it is OK to take a breath and think about their ideas before putting them out into the world. And taking time for reflection helps us more thoughtfully consider others’ ideas, too.

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. 

One way to teach reasoning is to use problem-solving activities that require students to apply their skills to practical contexts. For example, give students a real problem to solve, and ask them to use reasoning skills to develop a solution. They can then present their solution and defend their reasoning to the class and engage in discussion about whether and how their thinking changed when listening to peers’ perspectives. 

A great example I have seen involved students identifying an underutilized part of their school and creating a presentation about one way to redesign it. This project allowed students to feel a sense of connection to the problem and come up with creative solutions that could help others at school. For more examples, you might visit PBS’s Design Squad , a resource that brings to life real-world problem-solving.

Ask Open-Ended Questions 

Moving beyond the repetition of facts, critical thinking requires students to take positions and explain their beliefs through research, evidence, and explanations of credibility. 

When we pose open-ended questions, we create space for classroom discourse inclusive of diverse, perhaps opposing, ideas—grounds for rich exchanges that support deep thinking and analysis. 

For example, “How would you approach the problem?” and “Where might you look to find resources to address this issue?” are two open-ended questions that position students to think less about the “right” answer and more about the variety of solutions that might already exist. 

Journaling, whether digitally or physically in a notebook, is another great way to have students answer these open-ended prompts—giving them time to think and organize their thoughts before contributing to a conversation, which can ensure that more voices are heard. 

Once students process in their journal, small group or whole class conversations help bring their ideas to life. Discovering similarities between answers helps reveal to students that they are not alone, which can encourage future participation in constructive civil discourse.

Teach Information Literacy 

Education has moved far past the idea of “Be careful of what is on Wikipedia, because it might not be true.” With AI innovations making their way into classrooms, teachers know that informed readers must question everything. 

Understanding what is and is not a reliable source and knowing how to vet information are important skills for students to build and utilize when making informed decisions. You might start by introducing the idea of bias: Articles, ads, memes, videos, and every other form of media can push an agenda that students may not see on the surface. Discuss credibility, subjectivity, and objectivity, and look at examples and nonexamples of trusted information to prepare students to be well-informed members of a democracy.

One of my favorite lessons is about the Pacific Northwest tree octopus . This project asks students to explore what appears to be a very real website that provides information on this supposedly endangered animal. It is a wonderful, albeit over-the-top, example of how something might look official even when untrue, revealing that we need critical thinking to break down “facts” and determine the validity of the information we consume. 

A fun extension is to have students come up with their own website or newsletter about something going on in school that is untrue. Perhaps a change in dress code that requires everyone to wear their clothes inside out or a change to the lunch menu that will require students to eat brussels sprouts every day. 

Giving students the ability to create their own falsified information can help them better identify it in other contexts. Understanding that information can be “too good to be true” can help them identify future falsehoods. 

Provide Diverse Perspectives 

Consider how to keep the classroom from becoming an echo chamber. If students come from the same community, they may have similar perspectives. And those who have differing perspectives may not feel comfortable sharing them in the face of an opposing majority. 

To support varying viewpoints, bring diverse voices into the classroom as much as possible, especially when discussing current events. Use primary sources: videos from YouTube, essays and articles written by people who experienced current events firsthand, documentaries that dive deeply into topics that require some nuance, and any other resources that provide a varied look at topics. 

I like to use the Smithsonian “OurStory” page , which shares a wide variety of stories from people in the United States. The page on Japanese American internment camps is very powerful because of its first-person perspectives. 

Practice Makes Perfect 

To make the above strategies and thinking routines a consistent part of your classroom, spread them out—and build upon them—over the course of the school year. You might challenge students with information and/or examples that require them to use their critical thinking skills; work these skills explicitly into lessons, projects, rubrics, and self-assessments; or have students practice identifying misinformation or unsupported arguments.

Critical thinking is not learned in isolation. It needs to be explored in English language arts, social studies, science, physical education, math. Every discipline requires students to take a careful look at something and find the best solution. Often, these skills are taken for granted, viewed as a by-product of a good education, but true critical thinking doesn’t just happen. It requires consistency and commitment.

In a moment when information and misinformation abound, and students must parse reams of information, it is imperative that we support and model critical thinking in the classroom to support the development of well-informed citizens.

Creative and Critical Thinking in Language Classrooms

Introduction, creative and critical language learners, what is needed, attitude towards students, attitude towards pedagogy, attitude towards themselves (as teachers), how it is achieved.

• Describe the content of discussion
• Find creative options to the situations or problems
• Boyce, M.E. (1996). Teaching Critically as an Act of Praxis and Resistance. http://newton.uor.edu/FacultyFolder/Mboyce/1CRIPTED.HTM

Using Precise Terminology to Encourage Thinking

Encouraging Learners to Think About Thinking

A Sample Activity A: Problem-posing

• Think creatively and critically
• Why are there so many 'things' flying over the bin?

A Sample Activity B: Decision Making

• Can this trial be thrown out? Why?

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English language teachers are trained to teach language skills, but they do not always learn how to teach the critical thinking skills that help guide learning. Critical thinking skills are part of many curriculum guidelines, but some teachers may be unsure how to teach these skills. For example, an academic reading curriculum might have the following objective: “Learners will analyze a variety of academic writing samples in an effort to determine the components, organization, and structure of academic writing texts.” Although English language teachers can think of any number of ways to teach and support reading as a skill, they may find it more difficult to achieve the first part of this objective—how to teach learners to analyze.

Critical thinking involves reflection and the analysis of ideas.  Good critical thinkers are able to break a broad idea into many parts. They can examine each part, question biases, and come to a reasonable conclusion. This task is difficult for anyone and requires practice. Thinking critically is even more challenging when done in a second language.    

This month’s Teacher’s Corner looks at the critical thinking skills that shape learning goals and outcomes. Each week presents a new activity that targets critical thinking skills while also encouraging language use and development. Some of the activities and tasks may seem familiar as they are based on long-established language teaching techniques.  The activities are designed to support authentic language use while also encouraging critical thinking.

Brown, H. D. and Lee, H. (2015). Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language   Pedagogy. White Plains, NY: Pearson Longman.

Additional Resources

For additional information about critical thinking , check out the resource below and many others available on the American English website:

·      A Questionnaire Project: Integrating the Four Macro Skills with Critical Thinking

Table of Contents

It takes time to design activities and tasks that both target language skills and encourage critical thinking. Project-based learning (also known as experiential learning) is one approach you can use to integrate language-learning goals with critical thinking skills. Project-based learning tasks and activities combine language and action so that learners learn by doing (Brown and Lee, 2015). Learners must understand, examine, analyze, evaluate, and create while using English to complete a task or activity. The result is a language skills task or activity that promotes critical thinking skills.

One of the most popular types of project-based learning in the language classroom is the Language Experience Approach (LEA). LEA gives language learners a chance to recount a personal experience in their own words (Brown and Lee, 2015). This week’s Teacher’s Corner offers an LEA activity that can be conducted in the classroom using minimal resources.

High Beginning

Language Focus

During this activity, students will be able to the following:

• U se English to talk about a special meal they shared with their family.
• Organize th eir experience into a written story.

Paper, pencils

Preparation

• Write the following prompt on the board:

      o   Describe a special meal you ate with your family.

• When was it?
• What did you eat?
• Where were you?
• Who was with you?
• Have your own story of a special meal ready to share with students.

1.     Begin class by telling students: “Today you are going to talk about a special meal you ate with your family.” Direct their attention to the prompt and questions on the board.

2.     Ask students to think about a meal. You might say, “Do you remember a special meal with your family? Do you remember two?”

3.     Encourage students to begin sharing what they remember. For example, one student might share that they remember a time when they had a family dinner for a birthday or holiday. Use the questions on the board to guide the discussion.

• Keep the conversation moving with different students responding and sharing their memories. The more students talk, the more it will encourage and support other students to remember and share additional details.
• Some student might not be able to think of all of the language required immediately. This is fine. Encourage those students to think about other parts of the meal, and tell them you will come back in a moment.
• Give plenty of time for the discussion so that all students have a clear idea of an occasion that they can write about.

4.     Tell students that now they are going to work on writing their story of a special meal.

• Depending on the group, feel free to give them guidelines for writing, but try not to put limitations on what they write. For example, you could say that everyone needs to write at least 5 sentences, but they could write more if they choose.
• Part of LEA is to encourage a learner’s autonomy over their own experience. Allow learners to share their ideas in English without worrying about grammar or spelling. In this way, you can give learners   freedom to play with the language, navigate their own story, and negotiate meaning through their language choices.

5.     As students write, walk around and support them by helping them write down exactly what they say.

If you have a student who wants to know how to spell something correctly, you can tell them the correct spelling. On the other hand, if a student spells some words incorrectly, do not correct them. Encourage learners to use the English they know and are comfortable using in their stories.

6.     After students have written their stories, give everyone a chance to share what they have written.

One way to share the stories is to divide the students into two groups. Have one group hang their stories on the wall and stand next to them. Tell the second group that they are visiting the story gallery, and they can go around the room reading the different stories and asking the authors questions. After students have circulated, the groups can switch tasks. The second group now hosts a story gallery, and the first group gets to read stories and ask questions.

7.     Keep all of the stories up on the walls so students can see their work, or encourage students to take their stories home to share with their families.

One variation of this activity is to have learners write their stories in small groups of three or four students. Have one student tell their story out loud while the other students in the group write down the story as they hear it.

An additional variation could involve a whole-class shared experience. Rather than have learners share their individual experiences, you could ask the class to recount an experience you shared as a group. For example, if the class went on a field trip recently, ask the class to recount the field trip together. The teacher becomes the scribe and writes the story on the board, and the students can see their experiences taking shape in writing.

This activity can be extended to include a visual component. Once students have written their stories, ask them to draw a picture depicting the events in the story. This could be done simply with pencil and paper or, if magazines and pictures are available, students could make picture collages to go with their stories.

Reading aloud is a popular reading task in English language classrooms. The task typically targets skills associated with reading, such as fluency, word recognition, and pronunciation. In this week’s Teacher’s Corner, a read-aloud task is used as the framework for a more demanding task that targets critical thinking skills as well. The task asks learners to process and then summarize the content of a story while reading aloud in a group.

Intermediate and above

During this activity, students will be able to complete the following tasks:

• Read a story aloud.
• Consider, evaluate, and plan a summary of a story while reading.
• Present a verbal summary of a story.

Reading: “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allen Poe

• Print enough copies of the story “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allen Poe for each student.
• Place students into groups of 3-4 students before class by creating a list of students in each group.

1.     Begin by putting students in the groups planned before class.

2.     Tell the class that today they are going to read a story by Edgar Allen Poe called “The Black Cat.”

3.     Have each group discuss what they expect the story might be about based on the title and on what they know about Edgar Allen Poe.

4.     Ask the class to share what they’ve discussed in groups, and write the ideas on the board. For example, one group might say they know Edgar Allen Poe wrote scary stories so they expect this story to be scary. Another group might say that black cats are believed to be bad luck in some cultures.

5.     Give each group a single copy of the story. Tell the class that one student will read three paragraphs aloud to the group. As the person reads, they will stop at the end of each paragraph to summarize the paragraph for the group. After the first student has read and summarized three paragraphs, the next student in the group will read and summarize the next three paragraphs. The group will continue reading the story by taking turns reading aloud and summarizing.

a.            If possible, model the activity for students using Appendix A as a sample of reading and summarizing. For example, read the first paragraph in Appendix A aloud to the students. At the end, summarize the paragraph using the suggested summary in Appendix A.

6.     Once all of the groups have completed the story, hand out more copies of the story so each student has a copy.

7.     Direct students to read the story silently.

8.     While students read, write the following questions on the board:

a.            What was difficult about reading aloud while summarizing?

b.            What part of the activity was easiest?

c.            Were your group’s summaries accurate?

9.     When everyone has finished reading, ask students to discuss the questions written on the board in their groups.

10.  Finally, bring the class back together and ask for some responses to the questions.

Any reading can be used for this activity. The reading should be easy enough for the students to successfully complete the activity, but also difficult enough for them to find the activity challenging.

Another variation might include giving each student a different short text. For example, each student gets a different poem. Students would read aloud and summarize their text, and then the group would evaluate the reader’s performance.

Sample Annotated Read-Aloud

The Tell-Tale Heart

Edgar Allen Poe

It’s true! Yes, I have been ill, very ill. But why do you say that I have lost control of my mind, why do you say that I am mad? Can you not see that I have full control of my mind? Is it not clear that I am not mad? Indeed, the illness only made my mind, my feelings, my senses stronger, more powerful. My sense of hearing especially became more powerful. I could hear sounds I had never heard before. I heard sounds from heaven; and I heard sounds from hell!

Suggested summary:

The person has been sick, but is not crazy. The sickness made the person smarter and improved his hearing. He heard wonderful sounds and horrible sounds.

Making predictions in reading and listening activities is a great way to develop learners’ critical thinking skills. In order to make predictions, learners need to evaluate the components of the information they have while also making reasonable judgments about possible outcomes.  Evaluating, reflecting, and making judgments are all part of the critical thinking skills needed for learners to fully engage in learning and to use what they learn beyond the classroom.

In this Teacher’s Corner activity, students use the first part of a comic strip as a starting point for creating their own endings. This activity is simple and fun, and can be used with any age group at any level. As you work through the activity, think about possible variations in addition to those offered below.

Beginning and above

During this activity, students will be able to do the following tasks:

• Read a comic strip and make a reasonable prediction about an ending.
• Plan, write, and draw their own version of the comic strip’s ending.
• Comic strip from American English: Why English? Comics for the Classroom (see Appendix A)
• Comic strip template (see Appendix B)
• Paper, pencils, or any drawing materials available
• Print enough copies of the comic for each student in the class.

1.     Begin class by asking students to describe a comic strip.

• Let students offer suggestions, but also ensure that they know comic strips are short stories presented through pictures and words.

2.     Write the title of the comic strip on the board, “Lost in the Desert.” Ask learners what they think the comic might be about, based on the title.

3.     Tell students that they will read the first part of the comic strip in class and then write new endings.

4.     Hand out a copy of the comic strip to each student in the class.

5.     Tell learners to look at the pictures and read the language silently.

6.     After giving learners time to work individually, read the comic as a group by calling on different students to read aloud.

7.     Check learners’ reading comprehension by asking the following questions of the whole class:

• Where is the person in the comic?
• What problem does the person have?
• What does the person try to do to solve the problem?

8.     Once the story has been discussed, begin a group brainstorm.

• Ask learners to think about what happens next in the comic strip.
• Encourage students to share some of their ideas with the class.
• Write students’ ideas on the board for everyone to see. Spend at least 5-7 minutes listening and writing their ideas on the board so that students have a chance to hear from their classmates and refine their own ideas.

9.     Tell students that it’s now their turn to write and draw the rest of the comic.

• Give them a blank comic strip template (Appendix B) and any additional drawing materials you have available.
• Tell students to use all six squares to complete the story. All six squares must have a drawing. At least three squares must include language.

10.  After students have finished their comics, put students into pairs by having students work with the person sitting to their left.

11.  In the pairs, students will read the comic with their new endings to their partners.

Instead of having students finish a comic strip, students can make their own comic strips. Then they give the first half of their comic strip to a partner. The partner will then write their own endings to their classmate’s comic strip.

Another alternative is to give students short stories or poems to finish. American English has both poems and short stories available for free to teachers and learners. 

Academic writing teachers try to help learners understand and imitate the various rhetorical styles used in academic texts. Understanding academic writing involves careful and repeated reading, analysis, and evaluation of many texts.  It then requires further analysis, synthesis, and creation to imitate the writing style. All of this work involves using critical thinking and language skills. One way to engage learners in this process and support the acquisition of advanced writing skills is to use students’ existing critical thinking skills in an activity that analyzes the components of academic writing.

This Teacher’s Corner offers a strategy to introduce learners to academic writing through the familiar task of outlining. Writers use outlining as a way to plan and organize their ideas at the beginning of the writing process. In this activity, learners use the outline in reverse as a way to break down and analyze the structure of an academic text. This process is called a reverse outline and is explained in detail here. Keep in mind that a reverse outline can be adapted to fit the needs of intermediate writers as well, as long as the reading is selected to meet learners’ language level.

Advanced (university level)

• Read an academic text to identify the organization and structure of ideas.
• Organize the information presented in an academic text into an outline template in order to recognize the structure and organization of an academic text.
• Reading:   “Helping Students Develop Coherence in Writing” by Icy Lee
• Outline Template in Appendix A
• Paper and pencils or pens
• Print enough copies of the reading for each student.
•  Print enough copies of the outline template for each student.

1.     Start class with a warm-up discussion to elicit ideas about the structure of academic writing. Use these questions as a guide:

• What are the important parts of an academic essay?
• What do we call the first paragraph(s)? The main paragraphs? The final paragraph(s)?
• What have you been told to include in the first paragraph(s) of an essay?
• What is included in the main paragraphs?
• What is included in the final paragraph(s)?

2.     Hand out the outline template (Appendix A) to students. (The outline template can be adapted and adjusted to meet the needs of essay writing in your specific class. Feel free to add components to this outline or delete components that are unnecessary.)  Ask learners to review the template for similarities between what they said in the discussion and what the template lists as components of academic writing.

• Is there anything on the outline template that was not mentioned in the discussion? If so, what are the differences? Is there anything that students think the outline template needs to include that is not listed?

3.     Explain that this outline is a model of the structure, but that every article differs slightly as to how each of the core parts is structured. For example, one essay might have 10 body paragraphs but another essay might only have 4.

4.     Tell students they are now going to use the outline to read an academic article. They will complete an outline, using the template as a model, based on the information from the article they read.

5.     Give everyone a copy of the article. Explain that before trying to complete the outline, they should read the article once and make notes. Reading once will help them process the article, ask questions, and get an overview of the structure of the article.

6.     Have learners read, make notes, and complete their outlines. While they are working, circulate to answer any questions they have.

7.     After learners have completed the outlines, bring the class back together as a group.

8.     Place students in pairs by dividing the class in half and counting off each group (for example: 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.). The two students who are assigned 1 will work together, the students assigned 2 will work together, etc.

9.     Once learners are in their pairs, ask them to read over their partners’ outlines, paying attention to similarities and differences.

10.  While they are reading, write these directions on the board.

• Compare the two outlines and identify any areas where the information is different or where information is on one outline but not the other.
• Work together to complete a new outline that combines the information from both outlines.
• Work together to decide how to include information that is different on personal outlines.

11.  Then give each pair a new outline template. Explain that students will work together to create a new outline, using the directions on the board.

12.  When pairs have finished, bring the class back together to discuss what they learned from the outline activity.

• What information on the outline did they expect to see? What information was unexpected in the article’s structure? What else did they learn about how academic writing is structured?

One simple variation is to have students read the text at home and take notes before working on the outline in class. This variation allows students to read at their own pace so that when students come to class, they are all familiar with the text.

Another alternative to this assignment is to have students work in pairs from the beginning of the process. After everyone in the class reads the article, put students in pairs and have them work together to complete the outlines. This variation ensures that learners will vocalize, discuss, and negotiate what is included on the outline and what is not.

A possible extension to this activity is to revisit the reverse outline when students are writing their own essays. During the revision process students could complete a reverse outline of their own work or complete reverse outlines of their classmates’ work. For example, if students have written a first draft of an essay, before they revise it or write a second draft, they could do a reverse outline of their first draft. By doing so, they could recognize areas in their writing to improve. Then, students could use their reverse outline for help in preparing and writing a second draft.

Outline Template

      I.         Introduction

• Attention grabbing device
• Background/Contextual information
• Thesis statement

     II.         Main Paragraphs (repeat for each paragraph)

• Topic statements/ideas
• Supporting evidence (data, anecdotes, stories, definitions, etc.): paraphrase, summary, quotes
• Connections to thesis

   III.         Conclusion

• Final thoughts
• Implications and areas for future analysis
• Suggestions for next steps
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Critical Thinking and English Language Teaching Pt. 1

• By Anthony Schmidt

Critical Thinking And English Language Teaching Pt. 1

Critical thinking has been a buzzword for some time now. In fact, judging by the research, it has been a buzzword for over a decade. The problem with buzz words is that, over time, they lose a lot of their original meaning and begin to stand for almost anything new or progressive. In addition, it has become an empty rallying cry (“We must teach critical thinking in English language teaching!”) devoid of the very thinking it purports to support .

Why does hearing the cry above make people cringe? Why does reference to Bloom’s taxonomy often cause negative reactions? One reason is because these terms are overused. But is there something more? Are people (rightly) skeptical of these concepts?

There is no doubt that “critical thinking” is buzzworthy. And, if it’s buzzworthy, it must have some importance. So, what exactly is critical thinking and why is it important? I believe the answer to these questions can be framed through the arguments of those who are critical of critical thinking. This article will briefly consider the research on critical thinking and argue that critical thinking should play a central and explicit role in English language teaching.

Can Critical Thinking Be Defined?

There are those who feel that critical thinking can only be defined in broad, subjective terms that are too various to unify. How do you teach something if you can’t even define it? The literature on critical thinking – coming from psychology, education, and philosophy, agrees somewhat with this point. It seems that critical thinking is not readily reducible. It is, rather, multidimensional, or, polysemous. Nevertheless, while the idea of critical thinking may be expressed in various ways, Moore found that these are typically well-articulated and clearly conveyed to students. Moore claims that the variety of meanings may be discipline-based, meaning that psychology prefers certain aspects of critical thinking more so than history, which prefers others. Still, Moore was able to identify some common features which can define the concept more clearly.

According to Moore’s research, critical thinking is:

• A judgement of whether something is good, bad, valid, or true
• rational, or, reason-based
• skeptical thinking
• productive thinking – not only challenging ideas but producing them – coming to conclusions about issues
• carefully reading beyond a text’s literal meaning
• awareness of the entire process
• ethical or activist – in other words, not neutral

Although Moore is not the sole and final authority on what is means to be a critical thinker, it’s clear that critical thinking can be somewhat defined as a concept, though we must accept that its meaning – like many other concepts – “is its use in the language” (Wittgenstein, cited in Moore, p. 508).

Can Critical Thinking Be Taught?

If critical thinking can be defined (as Moore and others have done), then can it be taught? Certainly, it’s important to think critically. No one is arguing it is not. However, many claim that it must be organically developed, or it is a skill that can be encouraged but not learned. The literature, however, shows the opposite. Not only can critical thinking be taught, it can be practiced and refined!

First, we have to understand that critical thinking is hard. Experimental research by Kuhn (1991) shows that a majority of people cannot demonstrate critical reasoning skills. That is, they cannot often justify their beliefs and opinions with evidence.

Van Gelder and Mulnix, mulling over the question of how to teach critical thinking, found some practical advice, much of which is based in cognitive science.

• Examples of critical thinking are not enough – students need to engage in critical thinking.
• There needs to be deliberate practice to master the skill. This includes full concentration, exercises aimed at improving the skills, engaging in increasingly difficult exercises as easier ones are mastered, and guidance and feedback.
• The practice must be repetitive throughout a course.
• Students must practice transferring critical thinking skills to other contexts.
• Students must eventually become aware of the actual idea of critical thinking, including its terminology.

Empirical research on critical thinking shows that it not only can be taught but must be taught. As teachers, we should develop exercises, strategies, and assessments that seek to improve this skill. Mulnix concludes rather poignantly, “To do any less is not only to let our students down, but it is to fail at that very skill we are trying to teach”.

One exercise that has been shown to be effective is argument mapping, in which arguments (including claims, warrants, evidence, etc.) are visually displayed in a diagram. This makes it easy to understand, analyze, and evaluate arguments. Argument maps start with a central premise (i.e. thesis) at the top and include below it evidence or reasons, co-premises (co-reasons), counterarguments and rebuttals, with lines and arrows to show the connections between the ideas.

As a classroom activity, argument maps can first be given as templates that students fill in. Once familiar with argument mapping, they can then begin to construct their own based on analyzing textual sources (readings or lectures) or for forming their own logical conclusions (for discussions, debates, and presentations). By analyzing the arguments written, students can then begin evaluating reasons, evidence, and counterarguments. They can begin questioning the validity of these arguments and suggest their own conclusions or justification. In this way, they are deliberately engaging in critical thinking practice, which, as shown above, is key for developing good critical thinking skills.

Argument map examples:

Wait! What About Bloom’s Taxonomy?

Bloom’s taxonomy is perhaps the most well-known example of critical thinking. It is an orderly, visually-pleasing representation of, as we have seen, quite a large concept – and this is perhaps one reason why it has held educational weight since the late 50s. However, it has come under much scrutiny both for the way it has been organized and the way it has been employed. There is poor empirical basis for the organization of the hierarchy and its implications for task sequencing. “Lower order skills” are not necessarily easier than “higher order skills” and vice-versa. In addition, these “lower” skills are often used in conjunction or even after using the “higher order skills”.

Nevertheless, Bloom’s (revised) taxonomy is still quite common in the scientific literature. A search for “bloom’s taxonomy” on Google Scholar reveals a great deal of peer-reviewed research which utilized Bloom’s taxonomy. So, why the persistence? While the hierarchy may have its weaknesses and its organization may not always represent reality, the levels of the taxonomy do include most conceptions of what critical thinking is, and there is evidence from neuroscience that supports the taxonomy itself. In the video, “ What can Neuroscience Research Teach Us about Teaching? ”, neuroscientist Daniel Kaufer points to Bloom’s taxonomy as an example of active learning in which, as one moves up the hierarchy, more and more areas of the brain become dynamically activated. In other words, when more areas of the brain “fire together” they typically “wire together” . So, working on higher order skills may not be more difficult than lower order skills, but it may lead to stronger reinforcement of learning.

One of the alternatives to the taxonomy Case proposes is very much aligned with what we have read above about the pedagogical ideas behind teaching critical thinking:

“Understand that inviting students to offer reasoned judgments is a more fruitful way of framing learning tasks than is the use of verbs clustered around levels of thinking that are removed from evaluative judgments”. [jbox title=”Reference List”]

Atkinson, D. (1997). A critical approach to critical thinking in TESOL.  TESOL quarterly ,  31 (1), 71-94.

Case, R. (2013). The Unfortuate Consequences of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Social Education ,  77 (4), 196-200.

Dalton, D. F. (2011, December). An investigation of an approach to teaching critical reading to native Arabic-speaking students. Arab World English Journal, 2 (4),58-87.

Davidson, B. W. (1998). Comments on Dwight Atkinson’s” A Critical Approach to Critical Thinking in TESOL”: A case for critical thinking in the English language classroom.  TESOL quarterly ,  32 (1), 119-123.

Hernandez, M. L., & Rodríguez, L. F. G. (2015). Transactional Reading in EFL Learning: A Path to Promote Critical Thinking through Urban Legends. Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal ,  17 (2), 229-245.

Halpern, D. F. (1998). Teaching critical thinking for transfer across domains: Disposition, skills, structure training, and metacognitive monitoring. American Psychologist ,  53 (4).

Moore, T. (2013). Critical thinking: seven definitions in search of a concept. Studies in Higher Education ,  38 (4), 506-522.

Mulnix, J. W. (2012). Thinking critically about critical thinking.  Educational Philosophy and Theory ,  44 (5), 464-479.

Nezami, S. R. A. (2012). A critical study of comprehension strategies and general problems in reading faced by Arab EFL learners with special reference to Najran University in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Social Sciences and  Education, 2 (3), 306-317.

Parrish, B., & Johnson, K. (2010, April). Promoting learner transitions to post-secondary education and work: Developing academic readiness from the beginning. CAELA

Network Briefs. Retrieved June 1, 2015 from http://www.cal.org/caelanetwork/resources/transitions.html

Ramanathan, V., & Kaplan, R. B. (1996). Some problematic” channels” in the teaching of critical thinking in current LI composition textbooks: Implications for L2 student-writers.  Issues in Applied Linguistics ,  7 (2).

van Gelder, T. (2005). Teaching critical thinking: Some lessons from cognitive science.  College teaching ,  53 (1), 41-48.

Wong, B. L. (2016). Using Critical-Thinking Strategies To Develop Academic Reading Skills Among Saudi Iep Students.

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• Critical Thinking
• English language
• Neuroscience
• Presentations

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6 Responses

Thanks for this really well researched and written article, Anthony. I particularly liked your suggestion of 'argument mapping'. I think it could be a great way for students to plan their academic assignments. I'd like to discuss some possible computer tools which may be useful for students to use when argument mapping. One could be the Microsoft Word SmartArt function. Another could be this mindmapping website: I'd love to hear about any other suggestions. Sam

Thanks Sam. I think argument mapping has a lot of uses, and it is a technique that has not been utilized much in ELT. This is likely because few of us have little experience or knowledge of it. Thanks for sharing the mindmap website. It's really cool and I can see a lot of uses well beyond argument maps. Vocabulary lists were the first thing to pop into my mind. Again, really cool! Thanks again.

Karl Millsom

Eagerly awaiting part 2. Indeed, buzzwords pick up debris as they popularise, and too often eventually they get cast out entirely, the core and sound principles included. This article does a good job of extracting the baby from the bathwater. The argument mapping is something I use a lot here in Indonesia when teaching how to write essays to post graduates who have often not encountered the concept of structured academic writing at all in all their years of schooling. Your examples are very well presented.

Thank you for sharing this primer defining, questioning, and contextualizing "critical thinking" in ELT. While many English majors usually choose the essay as the place to teach argument and critical thinking, our EFL and ESL classrooms provide many other opportunities too. Argument mapping is an excellent, flexible technique. In teaching adult education, community college, university, and graduate students, it's also often helpful to deploy problem-solution assignments to develop critical thinking. It can be personal challenge and crucial life skill (staying healthy, choosing a major) or a common social problem (affordable housing, reducing pollution). You can also scale up the vocabulary to fit the situation with risks/benefits, trade offs, and stakeholders. Likewise, asking students to write consumer reviews often works. Consumer reviews provide students with a chance to present facts, express opinions, and provide supporting evidence. Students can also share movie reviews, product reviews, and restaurant reviews online with authentic English-speaking audiences. I've found many ESL and EFL students far more receptive to critical teacher feedback when they plan to share their consumers with the "public" at large, and rewrite class assignments to reach higher standards. Amazon, Yelp, and other review sites have opened up exceptional possibilities and new audiences for student writing. Unfortunately, as the declining level of political discourse in several elections around the democratic world show, critical thinking remains in short supply. Sometimes a powerful slogan - Make America Great Again - can seduce many voters. Would it be helpful for the word "great" to be defined? Would it be useful to know, in some detail, what proposals were being advocated to reach that objective? How will the proposal be implemented? What are the probable costs? What are the likely benefits? What's the timeline? Critical thinking at some level asks students to go from vague generalizations to accurate, detailed suggestions. Numbers add precision. Sources provide credibility. Example illuminate. From my perspective, teaching critical thinking also often requires teaching students to go from the language of false certainty to possibility and probability. Deploying frequency adverbs and hedging language often helps. Thank you, again, for sharing your experiences and research with EFL Magazine readers.

Thanks for the reply Eric. You raise many interesting points, all of which I agree with. I find that finding ways of making the audience authentic - not an easy task - paired with critical thinking makes for excellent assignments and student practice. I really like what you said here: " Numbers add precision. Sources provide credibility. Example illuminate." It's a good way to put it and can easily be explained to students in this manner.

I'm finding argument mapping to be more and more useful. I have not actually used it for outlining but have used it for breaking down readings, and using the information in the map to inform new writings.

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Common Core State Standards Initiative

English Language Arts Standards

The Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects (“the standards”) represent the next generation of K–12 standards designed to prepare all students for success in college, career, and life by the time they graduate from high school.

The Common Core asks students to read stories and literature, as well as more complex texts that provide facts and background knowledge in areas such as science and social studies. Students will be challenged and asked questions that push them to refer back to what they’ve read. This stresses critical-thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills that are required for success in college, career, and life.

The standards establish guidelines for English language arts (ELA) as well as for literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects. Because students must learn to read, write, speak, listen, and use language effectively in a variety of content areas, the standards promote the literacy skills and concepts required for college and career readiness in multiple disciplines.

The College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards form the backbone of the ELA/literacy standards by articulating core knowledge and skills, while grade-specific standards provide additional specificity. Beginning in grade 6, the literacy standards allow teachers of ELA, history/social studies, science, and technical subjects to use their content area expertise to help students meet the particular challenges of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language in their respective fields.

It is important to note that the grade 6–12 literacy standards in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects are meant to supplement content standards in those areas, not replace them. States determine how to incorporate these standards into their existing standards for those subjects or adopt them as content area literacy standards.

The skills and knowledge captured in the ELA/literacy standards are designed to prepare students for life outside the classroom. They include critical-thinking skills and the ability to closely and attentively read texts in a way that will help them understand and enjoy complex works of literature. Students will learn to use cogent reasoning and evidence collection skills that are essential for success in college, career, and life. The standards also lay out a vision of what it means to be a literate person who is prepared for success in the 21 st century.

• Key Design Consideration
• Students Who are College and Career Ready in Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, & Language
• How to Read the Standards
• College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading
• College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Writing
• College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Speaking and Listening
• College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Language
• Introduction for K-5
• Kindergarten
• Introduction for 6-12
• Grade 11-12
• Introduction
• Language Progressive Skills
• Measuring Text Complexity: Three Factors
• Range of Text Types for K-5
• Texts Illustrating the Complexity, Quality, & Range of Student Reading K-5
• Staying on Topic Within a Grade & Across Grades
• Range of Text Types for 6-12
• Texts Illustrating the Complexity, Quality, & Range of Student Reading 6-12
• English Language Arts Appendix A
• English Language Arts Appendix B
• English Language Arts Appendix C

• Corpus ID: 151365267

Critical thinking handbook : a guide for remodelling lesson plans in language arts, social studies & science

• Richard W. Paul , Moral Critique
• Published 1993
• Linguistics, Education

27 Citations

Rèn luyện tư duy phê phán cho học sinh qua dạy học chủ đề nhị thức newton (chuyên đề dạy học toán 10), creative-critical thinking stimulation of pre service teachers by socratic questions and chemical representation, a study on the relationships between teachers’ critical thinking dispositions and their perceptions of occupational professionalism, an analysis of the units "i'm learning my past" and "the place where we live" in the social studies textbook related to critical thinking standards., improving the critical thinking skills of learners in a grade six history classroom: an action research approach, investigating the relationship between critical thinking skills and the quality of iranian intermediate tefl students' writing, a study of senior students’ critical reading competence via analyzing their reading reports, assessing the efficacy of argument diagramming to teach critical thinking skills in introduction to philosophy, seeing the forest through the trees: some renewed thinking on dispositions specific to social studies education, critical thinking training for army officers. volume three. development and assessment of a web-based training program, related papers.

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Description and Features

This fun, colorful 352-page book can be used as a textbook or a comprehensive workbook with your textbook to teach reading, writing, grammar, and punctuation skills and concepts that students are expected to know in second grade.  They also develop critical thinking, vocabulary, and several other skills and concepts normally taught in third grade. The engaging lessons include easy-to-follow explanations, examples, and charts for visual learners—and there is no lesson preparation!  Each lesson is followed by a variety of fun, colorful, mind-building activities that use different genres. Level C (Grade 2) Content

Product Details

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SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT

IMPORTANT-READ CAREFULLY

This is a legal agreement between you (a single entity, company, or educational institution) and The Critical Thinking Co.™ for the software accompanying this agreement, which includes computer Software and associated Documentation. By installing this Software on a computer, you agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. If you do not agree to the terms of this agreement, promptly erase all copies of the software in your possession and return any Software packaging associated with this order within sixty (60) days of purchase to the place from which you obtained it for a full refund.

The Critical Thinking Co.™ hereby grants to you a non-exclusive license to use the software product identified above (the "Software") and the accompanying printed materials and User Manual (the "Documentation") on the terms set forth below.

1. GRANT OF LICENSE. The Critical Thinking Co.™ grants you the right to install and use this Software Product, provided that this software will be installed only in the quantity and for the computer system(s) indicated at the time of your order for the Software.

2. COPYRIGHT. The Software Product and Documentation are protected by copyright laws and international copyright treaties as well as other intellectual property laws and treaties. Therefore, you must treat the Software Product like any other copyrighted material. You may not remove, modify, or alter any of The Critical Thinking Co.'s™ copyright or trademark notices from any part originally contained in or otherwise created by the Software Product, including any notices contained in the Documentation.

3. RESTRICTIONS. You may not modify, translate, reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or create derivative works based on the Software, or any portion thereof. The Software Product is licensed as a single product. This Software Product can be installed on a computer as a whole and shall not be separated in parts or disassembled to parts or pieces. You may not rent, lease, or lend the Software or Documentation to any other party without the written permission of The Critical Thinking Co.™. The License is in effect until terminated. The License will terminate automatically if you fail to comply with the limitations described herein. On termination, you must destroy all copies of the Software and Documentation.

4. WARRANTIES. The Critical Thinking Co.™ expressly disclaims any warranty for the Software Product. The Software and Documentation is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the implied warranties or merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. The entire risk arising out of use or performance of the Software remains with you. If media within this package is defective, remove the software application from your device(s) and return any software packaging associated with this order to The Critical Thinking Co.™ within 60 days of the date of purchase, and they will replace it at no charge.

5. NO LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES. In no event shall The Critical Thinking Co.™ or its suppliers be liable for any damages whatsoever (including, without limitation, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information, or any other pecuniary loss) arising out of the use of or inability to use this Software Product, even if The Critical Thinking Co.™ has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Because some states/jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, the above limitation may not apply to you.

6. MISCELLANEOUS. This Agreement represents the complete agreement concerning this license between the parties and supersedes all prior agreements and representations between them. This Agreement may be amended only in writing executed by both parties. The acceptance of any purchase order placed by you is expressly made conditional on your assent to the terms set forth herein, and not those contained within your purchase order. If any provision of this Agreement is held to be unenforceable for any reason, such provision shall be reformed only to the extend necessary to make it enforceable and the remainder of this Agreement shall nonetheless remain in full force and effect. If you acquired this product in the United States, the laws of the State of California govern this Agreement. If this product was acquired outside the United States, then local laws may apply. Should you have any questions concerning this Agreement, or if you desire to contact The Critical Thinking Co.™ for any reason, please write to The Critical Thinking Co.™, PO Box 1610, Seaside, CA 93950-1610, USA; send a fax to 831-393-3277; send email to [email protected]; call 800-458-4849; or refer to The Critical Thinking Co.™'s Website at http://www.criticalthinking.com/ .

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Language Smarts ™ guarantees top performance on assessment tests, including: Criterion Reference Test (CRT) Iowa Tests of Basic Skills® (ITBS®) Otis-Lennon Scholastic Abilities Test® (OLSAT®) California Achievement Test (CAT) and many more!

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Arts Academy

in the Woods

How Art Education Fosters Critical Thinking and Why It Matters

These days, the ability to grasp the logical connection between ideas is a necessary skill.

Unless you’re a hermit living in a cave, there is so much information coming at all of us at any given moment.

Being able to discern which information is of worth – and which is not based in reality – requires critical thinking.

So What Exactly Is Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking is often synonymous with reflective and independent thinking. It means knowing how to take in the data and then come to a reasonable conclusion. 

Those who engage in critical thinking are constantly questioning ideas and assumptions rather than just accepting what’s being peddled to the masses.

Critical thinkers want to know that the incoming information is representative of the bigger picture. If they determine that it’s not, they’ll take the necessary measures to get that additional information.

Critical Thinking Versus Being Critical

Critical thinking is not the same thing as being argumentative or critical/judgmental of other people. Sure, critical thinking can expose errors or poor reasoning.

But it’s also crucial for cooperative reasoning and then moving toward constructive tasks. Because acquiring more knowledge improves and strengthens one’s theories and arguments. And this subsequently leads to enhanced work processes.

How Art Improves Critical Thinking

Because critical thinking tends to incorporate logical and rational thinking and veers from instinct, many people see it as a hinderance to creativity.

After all, creativity requires breaking the rules, right? (Well, yes and no .)

Still, critical thinking truly requires out-of-the-box thinking. Rather than just taking popular approaches and swallowing them whole, critical thinkers challenge the consensus. This means they often have to pursue less popular thoughts or approaches.

So if you think about, critical thinking is an absolutely necessary component of creativity. Without it, how can the creative person continue to evaluate and improve upon his or her ideas?

It’s this very process of observation and study that teaches students of the arts to more intensely observe and analyze the world. And it gives them the skills that build the foundation of critical thinking.

But Why Does It Matter?

You might think that if your path leads you to work in research, law, education, management, finance or medicine, then you’ll absolutely need this skill. And you’re right.

But no matter what you   choose to do with your life, the ability to think clearly and rationally is important.

Knowing how to receive information, clearly consider it and then use it to systematically solve problems is an asset for any career. Especially in light of this new knowledge economy. To be successful in such an economy requires one to able to handle changes quickly and effectively.

There is an increased demand for workers to be able to analyze a lot of information from diverse sources, then integrate it in order to find solutions. Critical thinking promotes these skills.

It also enhances language and presentation skills. The simple act of learning to think in a more systematic and logical fashion can also improve the way one expresses ideas.

Furthermore, in having to analyze the structure of different information sources, critical thinking also improves one’s ability to comprehend.

And as we mentioned above, critical thinking actually promotes creativity. Coming up with creative solutions is more than just having new ideas. There has to be an understanding that the new ideas are useful and relevant to the required task.   Critical thinking plays an important role in this.

That’s right. Critical thinking is even important for this. It’s nearly impossible to structure a meaningful life without the ability to justify and reflect on our own values and decisions. And critical thinking provides the tools for this process.

So yeah, it’s safe to say that critical thinking definitely matters.

Learning Critical Thinking with an Arts Integration Education

Arts integration education merges the important skill of critical thinking achieved through art education and blends it in with academics.

There’s no disputing the importance of STEM. The above mentioned knowledge economy requires students to understand facets of science, technology, engineering and math.

With arts integration though, there’s the added importance of art – hence the term STEAM. Arts integration isn’t looking to bypass STEM. It strives instead to create an integrated program that includes all of those, while teaching the application of skills learned through the arts – such as critical thinking.

Arts integration helps students see the world from multiple angles, and to take a design-thinking approach in finding solutions.

Teaching young people to be careful and deliberate observers can go miles toward expanding their worldview. And this, in turn, can create a stronger democracy.

Do You Want to Explore An Arts Integration Education?

So take a look at what our students have to say . And/or request a tour of our school and see what we have to offer.

Then get ready to put those critical thinking skills toward a higher purpose.

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