Thinking Skills

If students are actively engaged, have their own sense of direction and spirit of enquiry, they…

learn faster;take in more;gain deeper understanding;recall more.

Lessons should give our students the following:1. A feeling of security, so that they are comfortable to voice their ideas. 2. Challenge. 3. The opportunity to wonder.4. Self-confidence.

Skills-focused learning

What am I going to teach today?

What do I want students to learn today?

What skills can they use to help them learn today?

It would be interesting to conduct a study to gain an idea of how often teachers impart information, whether it be through demonstration, oral explanation or asking students to read some text, without first communicating with students how they are going to actively participate in the exercise. Surely, if there is no mental challenge identified, the only intrinsic motivation left is the content of the material itself together, with the assumed extrinsic motivation that this must be something they need to learn. However, by incorporating a skills-focused goal, not only are we raising awareness of the skill being practised and subtly acknowledging its importance, but the task itself becomes more loaded with intrinsic motivation, students have an additional reason for applying themselves and more mental faculties are being exercised. "Knowing" the factual content of the material itself doesn’t always need to be stated as the primary goal for students initially. This will happen naturally due to the very fact that the task requires them to think and assess the information in some way or do something with it.

WonderIntrigueEnquiry

The Student as Questioner

Factual: how big/expensive/ old etc?Change?Impact?

Right or wrong?Expand: what if…?

Amazing Facts

• How big?• How deep?• How wide?• How expensive?• How many?• How old?

Change

• What change can you spot in your topic over time?• How were things different in the

past compared to the present?• How might things continue to

change in the future?

Impact

• Where would we be without..?• Whose lives have been changed?• What difference has been made by..?

Right or Wrong?

• Are there any moral issues associated with your topic?• What might people argue about?• Is it right to..?• Is it wrong to..?

Expand

• Don’t limit your thinking to just your own personal experience…

• Think about other countries, different cultures, even other planets!

Move pupils in every lesson in which you do pair work and team work.

Possible class instructions:

• Find someone you haven’t worked with this week.• Find someone from your ‘partner’ House.• Find someone with a name near/far away from

yours in the alphabet.• Find someone at the opposite side of the classroom

to you.

The True Team Task

1. It is not possible for an individual student to do the task on their own.

2. Students must rely on each other and communicate for the task to be completed.

3. Individual roles within the task must be self-evident to the students or designated by the teacher.

“I really enjoyed working with people in my class whom I wouldn’t normally talk to.”

“I realised that when I speak, people will listen to me.”

“I felt quite shy at first but our team really bonded and it turned out to be great fun.”

Independent Learning

Building confidence through thinking skills. How can the teacher help pupils to explore and

research independently?

To develop skills in resourcefulness:

• Group the questions into those that are likely to have a definite answer and those which are debatable.

• Talk about where you might go to find the answer or get an opinion.

• Share out questions and turn them into a research task– the person who asked it will give their opinion on the answer.

LinksAsk pupils how many smaller topics can they think of that are related to their topic?

What other aspects within their topic might they consider?

To develop skills in strategic reflection:

• How would you check and double check your answer?

• If it was an open-ended question, how would you ensure you had a variety of viewpoints?

De Bono’s Six Thinking HatsUsing some of the hats in discussion stops people from

applying the same thought patterns over and over again.

• White hat• Red hat• Yellow hat• Black hat• Green hat• Blue hatWhat do you think about school league tables?Discuss, using a W, Y, B, G, R pattern.

Activities to promote thinking

Lists: rank orderFrom the list below, put in rank order the

qualities needed to be a good teacher.HumilityHonestyCourageKindnessInitiativeEmpathy

Odd One Out

Kingswood King Edward’s Prior Park

Clifton College Dean Close Monkton Combe

Downside Wycliffe Royal High

In partnership – guess the words

In pairs, one person has their back to the board, whilst the other faces the board and watches the slideshow. Each slide shows a key word or words connected to the topic which the person facing the board has to help the one with their back to the board guess. They can swap halfway through, keep their scores and see which pairs have been the most successful at the end. Great for testing a learning or reading prep!

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Albertus Magnus

Maps from Memory

1. In pairs, one goes up to the front of the class, memorises map/diagram for 20 seconds and then goes back to impart knowledge and demonstrate through drawing, labelling etc.

2. Then roles are swapped and the other person goes to the front, and so on.

3. Opportunity for teacher to lead discussion on metacognition at end of exercise.

Certainty of Response IndicatorWhat date marked the beginning of the Battle of the Somme?

4 fingers held up if completely confident that you know the answer, down to 1 for not a clue!

Teacher targets those holding up 2 or 3 fingers and asks them what they think they know, what it is that they can remember and what they are trying to work out. Pupils have insight into others’ thought processes and evaluate them.

Multiple Answers using Connectives

• Plants need water to live…………

because; therefore; thus; accordingly; in the same way; nevertheless; moreover; in conclusion; certainly; despite this; on the other hand; specifically; above all; as with; especially; whereas; and; as well as.

Plus, Minus, Interesting

• What if the earth was two million miles nearer the sun?

Interesting ?

Minus -

Plus +

Spot the Errors and Explain Why They’re Wrong

• Focus on spelling, grammar, punctuation and style:

• Jane will need to practice essay writing techniques much oftener if she is going to be succesfull.

• She often has’nt finished her work form the previous day and I’m sick to death with her lasy habits.

• Jane will need to practise essay writing techniques much more often if she is going to be successful.

• She often hasn’t finished her work from the previous day and this is most frustrating.

Post-Its

1. In pairs or groups, write down all your ideas on a topic on post-its.

2. Decide how to categorise them.

3. Prioritise the categories.

Using Metacognition to Guide Lesson Content

At the beginning of the lesson, announce the topic: Characteristic features of a travel writing article

Give pupils time to fill in 1 and 2 in the first few minutes whilst you wander round so that you can get a feel of what they think that they know and what they think that they need to know. Then your lesson can focus on the latter. At the end of the lesson they can fill in 3.

1. What I Know 2. What I Want to Know 3. What I’ve Learnt

Benefits of encouraging thinking skills:

• stimulates the explorer’s mindset;• demonstrates the scope and depth of possibilities;• stops closed-minded thinking and simplistic

assumptions;• allows room for more able students to stretch

themselves;• gives students the sense that their role in the lesson

is a vital one;• encourages skills in perception, analysis, scrutinising;• continues and enforces a great habit.