Assessment Assignment 10 21st Century Skills: Critical Thinking for 5th Grade

Kathleen Austin

Outcome: Students will use various types of reasoning to think and reflect critically and solve problems in both conventional and innovative ways. Assignment: Students will listen to U2s Pride-In the Name of Love, and use the lyrics to answer questions that require analysis, inference, and critical thinking. - This assignment will be one lesson in the 5th grades Ballad Project, in which students listen to ballads from different genres in order to identify the elements of a story from the text. The analysis is then taken a step further with critical thinking in class discussion as to the social and historical implications of the text, bringing in information about the artist and the songs role in history and politics. These questions would be given on paper to each student following class discussion to assess each students grasp of the content matter through his or her ability to make inferences and reach original, critical conclusions regarding the text of the lyrics.

Questions: 1) U2 wrote this song as a tribute to which person in history? What in the text gives us that information? 2) What other kinds of heroes could the words one man apply to? 3) Why do you think U2 chose the word pride to repeat throughout this text? What kind of pride were they talking about? 4) What kind of emotion do these lyrics make you feel? 5) Do you hear that emotion in the music as well? If so, how? If not, what other emotion did you hear? 6) How could these lyrics create change or promote social justice in the world? 7) If you could chose a person or a cause to write about, what would it be? 8) How can you, as a 5th grader at Taylor Mills promote social justice?

Rubric: Criteria Evidence of Critical Thinking Shows Understanding of Terms from Class Discussion Demonstrates analysis and comprehension of song lyrics Shows understanding of social/historical context Demonstrates fluency in fully thought out responses Present Not Present