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Toolkit

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Essential Questions These are questions which touch our hearts and souls. They are central to our lives. Most important thought during our lives will center on such essential questions. What does it mean to be a good friend? If we were to draw a cluster diagram of the Questioning Toolkit, Essential Questions would be at the center of all the other types of questions. All the other questions and questioning skills serve the purpose of "casting light upon" or illuminating Essential Questions. Most Essential Questions are interdisciplinary in nature. Essential Questions probe the deepest issues confronting us . . . complex and baffling matters which elude simple answers: Life - Death - Marriage - Identity - Purpose - Betrayal - Honor - Integrity - Courage - Temptation - Faith - Leadership - Addiction - Invention - Inspiration. The greatest novels, the greatest plays, the greatest songs and the greatest paintings all explore Essential Questions in some manner. Why do we have to fight wars? Related:  IL

6 Great Videos on Teaching Critical Thinking Critical thinking is a skill that we can teach to our students through exercise and practice. It is particularly a skill that contains a plethora of other skills inside it. Critical thinking in its basic definition refers" to a diverse range of intellectual skills and activities concerned with evaluating information as well as evaluating our thought in a disciplined way ". All of our students think in a way or another but the question is , do they really think critically ? are they able to evaluate the information they come across ? Critical thinking is part and parcel of what is called critical theory and hence critical literacy. 1- A Quick Guide to 21st Century Critical Thinking Skills for Teachers2- What Does Critical Thinking Mean in Education3- Great Critical Thinking Poster for your Class4- 7 Great iPad Apps to Improve Kids Critical Thinking5- A Clever Tip to Easily Develop Students Critical Thinking What we have for you today is a great series of videos on critical thinking.

Critical Thinking Model 1 To Analyze Thinking We Must Identify and Question its Elemental Structures Standard: Clarityunderstandable, the meaning can be grasped Could you elaborate further? Could you give me an example? Could you illustrate what you mean? Standard: Accuracyfree from errors or distortions, true How could we check on that? Standard: Precisionexact to the necessary level of detail Could you be more specific? Standard: Relevancerelating to the matter at hand How does that relate to the problem? Standard: Depthcontaining complexities and multiple interrelationships What factors make this a difficult problem? Standard: Breadthencompassing multiple viewpoints Do we need to look at this from another perspective? Standard: Logicthe parts make sense together, no contradictions Does all this make sense together? Standard: Significancefocusing on the important, not trivial Is this the most important problem to consider? Standard: FairnessJustifiable, not self-serving or one-sided Think About... State the Question

Question Families Connecting the Dots In 2009 I outlined this approach in "Connecting the Dots," an article that first appeared in Knowledge Quest, a publication of the American Association of School Librarians. A class exploring the question of what they should do about floods starts with a simple diagram like the one below. But it soon becomes much more complex. Questions are grouped and organized to emphasize causes and effects as well as past efforts and planning issues. This is unlikely to happen unless the teacher helps the group to recognize that questions work best when arranged conceptually. Going Beyond Brainstorming Simple listing generates seemingly unrelated questions. All too often students are asked to learn about important people from the past in ways that encourage scooping. This image is used with permission from Paul Foreman. Dynamic Mind Mapping Few teachers have enjoyed a 2-3 day workshop showing them how to conduct such a planning session. The Importance of Defining Terms Early

10 Interactive Lessons By Google On Digital Citizenship 10 Interactive Lessons By Google On Digital Citizenship Added by Jeff Dunn on 2012-07-22 YouTube has a firm place in the current classroom. Google (which owns YouTube) built the lessons to educate students about YouTube’s policies, how to flag content, how to be a safer online citizen, and protect their identities. Below is a list of lessons, and the recommended flow for delivery. Or you can download the Full Teacher’s Guide or the Full Set of Slides in PDF . The killer feature for this curriculum is the extra features that come with each video. Category: Videos Tags: digital citizenship , guide , How To , presentations , Videos You may also like Second Grader Shows How She Uses Evernote For Fluency Added by Jeff Dunn 1 week ago 10.04K Views 3 Comments 0 Likes If you're learning a language or trying to organize your learning, check out this second grader sharing how she uses Evernote for fluency and organization. How Flipping The Classroom Is Working In Turkey Added by Katie Lepi 2 weeks ago

Critical Thinking On The Web Top Ten Argument Mapping Tutorials. Six online tutorials in argument mapping, a core requirement for advanced critical thinking.The Skeptic's Dictionary - over 400 definitions and essays. What is critical thinking? Nobody said it better than Francis Bacon, back in 1605: For myself, I found that I was fitted for nothing so well as for the study of Truth; as having a mind nimble and versatile enough to catch the resemblances of things … and at the same time steady enough to fix and distinguish their subtler differences; as being gifted by nature with desire to seek, patience to doubt, fondness to meditate, slowness to assert, readiness to consider, carefulness to dispose and set in order; and as being a man that neither affects what is new nor admires what is old, and that hates every kind of imposture. A shorter version is the art of being right. More definitions... Program for Critical Thinking Program for better decision making Our umbrella site. Latest additions 6 Dec The Idea Emporium Zany.

Chapter Four - Curiosity Order McKenzie books online with a credit card Bring Jamie to your school or district for a great workshop. Vol 25|No 1|September 2015 Chapter Four - Curiosity (about author) This is a sample chapter from Jamie's new book, The Great Report. The Great Report will start shipping in December of 2015. Order through the mail with a check, click here for the order form. From Now On is published by FNO Press mckenzie@fno.org 1121 N. FNO Press Bookstore

S.O.S. for Information Literacy Critical thinking Critical thinking is a type of clear, reasoned thinking. According to Beyer (1995) Critical thinking means making clear, reasoned judgements. While in the process of critical thinking, ideas should be reasoned and well thought out/judged.[1] The National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking defines critical thinking as the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.'[2] Etymology[edit] In the term critical thinking, the word critical, (Grk. κριτικός = kritikos = "critic") derives from the word critic, and identifies the intellectual capacity and the means "of judging", "of judgement", "for judging", and of being "able to discern".[3] Definitions[edit] According to the field of inquiry [weasel words], critical thinking is defined as: Skills[edit] In sum:

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