Critical Thinking

With our Youngest Learners

 #pk115
@hellojenjones
 “close, attentive reading”…”critical
reading”… “reasoning and use of
evidence”… “comprehend, evaluate,
synthesize”… “understand
precisely…question…assess the
veracity” …. “cite specific evidence”
… “evaluate others’ point of view”…
“reading independently and
closely”…
Teaching is NOT Telling Kids What to Think...
Where in the day could
critical thinking occur?
Where Are You With T his?

Are Your Kids T here?

 Clearly Understanding
Lower vs. Higher Level T hinking

the answer is already known

instead of asking kids…

Is 10 bigger
or smaller
than 7?
Or, instead of asking kids…

Which is
bigger,
10 or 7?
Ask students this…

Why is 10
bigger
than 7?
Are we Clearly
communicating this
Understanding
language WITH
Lower vs. Higher Level T hinking
students?

the answer is already known

$
….followed
by our
evidence
based
thinking,
tells others
the
rationale
for our
thinking.
Critical T hinking
Rubric
 First
We must be Critical

Thinkers…

Form an opinion
and justify it!
Agree or disagree.
Image: http://www.1vigor.com/brain-power/Clear-Thinking/index.html
 Justifying Our Opinions

Build
Community
Communication Clubs
 Daily Analogies

Analogy Poster

“Mrs. Jones, this is hard!”

“I don’t know.”
Who Remembers DOL?

www.greatsource.com
: :: :
: :: :
: :: :
: :: :
: :: :
: :: :
D : d :: H :
D : d :: H : h
Venn Diagrams
Making Inferences with…
Picture of
the Day
 Pictures
*are*
Informational text
RIT.7 “Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and
formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.”
observing

describing

AnaLyzing

Inferring
Describing & Inferring Pictures
is most like…
Reading ReaL Life.
*and* research-based
.65
.5566012 .04
.34 .7054 .765
.123 .003 .9
.10 .2000 .888
Pictures = Brain-based

cat
Making Inferences with…
Picture of
the Day
What Do You What Do You

See? Think?
observing details

describing details

AnaLyzing details

Making inferences
about the details $
$
Justifying Scientific Claims
Sorting, Classifying & Ranking
 Character Analysis
With Text Based Evidence

Images: www.julieballew.com
 The Take-Aways

Image: D. Garland
Thank You!