Cultivating Critical

Thinking in ClassroomSaima Abedi

OVERVIEW OF THE PRESENTATIONDefinition of Critical Thinking

Traits of Critical Thinkers

Bloom's Taxonomy

ABCD of Learning Objectives

Tool to Cultivate Critical Thinking Skills

WHAT IS CRITICAL

THINKING?

C R I T I C A L T H I N K I N GD E F I N I T I O N S :

Critical thinking means correct thinking in the pursuit of relevant and reliable knowledge about the

world. (By Steven D. 1991)

Reasonable

Responsible

Reflective

gathers relevant information, efficiently

sorts through this informationreasons logically by

determining what are the factscomes to reliable and

trustworthy conclusions

A PERSON WHO THINKS CRITICALLY

TRAITS OF CRITICAL THINKERSelf-

disciplinedSelf-

guided

Inquisitive

Fair-minded

Creative

Self-Confident

Intellectual

Well-informed

Courageous

Flexible

MISCONCEPTION CHECK 1. Critical thinking should be limited to one

group of students.

2. It is difficult to change a person’s perception of why things happen the way they do.

3. Teachers need to practise critical thinking skills with their students once a week.

I agree with this because

………………

I disagree with this because

………………

I think that

……………

HIT IT!

TO BLOOM THINKING…………

“GOOD TEACHING”

“Cha l lenges the s tudents ’ fixed

be l ie fs and get t ing them to d i scuss

i ssues .”

BLOOM’S TAXONOMY: NEW VERSION

http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/4719

LOTS

HOTS

Lead your students up the ladder

Example: Reading an article Questioning by Level

What other arguments might support the author’s position?

Is the supporting evidence sufficient and adequate?

Can you identify four different arguments in the article?

How might you apply the information to your experience?Can you explain the author’s main point in this article?Who? What? Where? When?

BLOOM’S TAXONOMY

Question Stems

Column A Column B

A. Remembering 1. How might you use this story to teach

children about safe behavior?

B. Understanding 2. What is the value of teaching this story to young children?

C. Applying 3. How might the bears tell this story?

D. Analyzing 4. What did Goldilocks do when she got to the bears’ cottage?

E. Evaluating 5. What’s another possible ending for this story?

F. Creating 6. How might you compare this fairy tale to a fairy tale from your culture?

Think, Pair and Share

3-Minute Pause Making connections to prior knowledge or

experience, and seeking clarification.

• I changed my attitude about…

• I was surprised to know that…

• I felt….. • I related it to…..

The Red Wheelbarr

owWilliam Carlos Williams

So much depends Upon

A red wheel barrow Glazed with rain

WaterBeside the white

Chickens.

Tic-Tac-Toe

What is the color of the

wheelbarrow?

Is the wheelbarrow

clean or dirty? How do you

know?

Are the chickens clean or dirty?

How do you know?

What is a wheelbarrow

used for?

Look at the first line of the poem.

Why does so much depend

upon these two objects after a

rain?

What did the water do to the wheelbarrow?

Can you choose two objects that

“so much depends upon”?

What does this poem mean to

you? 

If you were to create a short

video about this poem, what

would it be like? 

• What are objectives and why

do we write objectives?

• What information do

critical thinking

objectives contain?

BehaviorWhat do you expect them to be able to

do?

ConditionHow? Under what circumstances or context will the learning occur?

DegreeHow much will be

accomplished (minimum acceptable response)?

ABCD of Learning Objectives

AudienceWho are your

learners?

Audience• Students• Teachers• Workshop participants

BehaviourObservable behavior • State• Discuss• Compare• Compose

Condition• Given a list of words• Without the aid of

dictionary• Equipment utilized in

completion of the behavior

• Environmental conditions may also be included

Degree• Time limit (in 20

minutes)• Accuracy (7 out of 10

or with 80% accuracy or measured by a checklist, without error)

• Word Limit

SAMPLE INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVE WRITTEN ACCORDING TO THE ABCD

METHOD

2) Given the ABCD method of objective writing, the workshop participants will be able to compose 2-3 clear and measurable objectives for a recently taught lesson.

Bloomʼs: Cognitive (Analysis & Understanding)

1) Given two articles about social issues, the students will be able to deconstruct (analyse) the author's points of view, and summarize them in no more than 100 words, free of grammar errors.

Bloomʼs: Cognitive (Analysis & Understanding)

READ THE FOLLOWING OBJECTIVES AND LABEL THE

PARTS:

A, audience; B, behavior ; C, condition; and D, degree

Given a practical problem, the student will be able to generate several (3-5) feasible solutions.

Working with peers from different nations, the student will be able to demonstrate growing cultural sensitivity as measured by a checklist.

THINK PAIR SHAREWhat’s wrong here? Make necessary changes.

1) Students will identify parts of speech, classify them accurately in a graphic organizer.

2) After reading several articles on a course topic, students should summarize the main ideas well.

Tools for Developing Critical Thinking

Misconception CheckHit

it!Tic-Tac-ToeThink Pair &

ShareInside-Outside Circle K-W-

LGallery WalkReQuest/

Reciprocal Questioning Talk a Mile a

Minute

Exit Card

“Critical thinking is a desire to seek, patience to doubt, fondness to meditate, slowness to assert,

readiness to consider, carefulness to dispose and set in order; and hatred for every kind of imposture.” 

~ Francis Bacon (1605)

How far do you agree to this statement? Justify your answer with logical reasoning and supporting details.

REFERENCES:• Critical Thinking and English Language Teaching by DEANNA GAMEL HOCHSTEIN

AGNIESZKA ALBOSZTA. Retrieved fromhttp://educapes.capes.gov.br/bitstream/capes/62888/1/Critical%20Thinking%20and%20English%20Language%20Teaching.pdf

• LEADING YOUR CLASS TO ENGLISH LANGUAGE AWARENESS THROUGH QUESTIONING Presented by Christina Chandler and Kelli Odhuu