Mike’s Blog
Strategies, Ideas and Insights for Teachers and Leaders
Tag: critical thinking
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Channel the power of the Ancients and get your learners sharpening their skills of evaluation every time you teach
A long, long time ago … Back in Ancient Greece, philosophers of the time pressed each other for justification. A claim could be made, but it would then face scrutiny.…
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Leverage the top two levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy to bring critical and creative thinking into your planning, your activities and the lessons you teach
Critical and Creative Thinking Skills We can seek to directly improve the critical and creative thinking skills of our learners by providing challenge supplements that focus on these. A challenge…
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Ready-to-Use Classroom Evaluation Questions for Primary and Secondary
These questions are ready-to-use. They are evaluation questions, based on the top level of Bloom’s Taxonomy. You can use the questions as part of verbal questioning or as written questions.…
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Ready-to-Use Classroom Analysis Questions for Primary and Secondary
These questions are ready-to-use. They are analysis questions, based on the fourth level of Bloom’s Taxonomy. You can use the questions as part of verbal questioning or as written questions.…
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Ready-to-Use Classroom Application Questions for Primary and Secondary
These questions are ready-to-use. They are application questions, based on the third level of Bloom’s Taxonomy. You can use the questions as part of verbal questioning or as written questions.…
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What does a problem-solving discussion look like and how can you use it to develop learners’ critical thinking?
Problem-Solving Discussion Strategy: Explanation This activity asks learners to work together to solve a problem (or two). They must discuss whatever is at issue, exploring solutions as a group before…
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Why is putting a work discussion in your lesson plan a good way to help learners develop their speaking and listening skills while also getting them to think more critically?
Work Discussion Discussion Strategy: Explanation The teacher sets learners a major piece of work. Examples of what this might entail include an extended piece of writing, an independent project or…
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An overlooked activity that gets learners defending a position, building their confidence, and developing their ability to justify their ideas
‘Defend Your … X’ Discussion Strategy: Explanation Defending something orally or in writing takes a high level of skill. You need to persuasively advance your own arguments and critique the…
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Socratic Dialogue is over 2500 years old, yet still retains the power to create wonderful discussion opportunities today
Socratic Dialogue Discussion Strategy: Explanation Socrates was an ancient Greek philosopher. He is known to us through the writings of his pupil, Plato. In Plato’s books, Socrates discusses ideas with…
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Unlock the potential of one of the UK’s longest running TV programmes to create engaging discussion activities for your learners
Question Time Discussion Strategy: Explanation This activity is based on the long-running BBC television programme of the same name. It is best used when there are a series of different…