Mike’s Blog
Strategies, Ideas and Insights for Teachers and Leaders
Tag: developing critical thinking
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Subject-specific stingray questions designed to turn your learners’ thinking on its head
Stingray questions pack a punch. They jolt or surprise learners. They might turn things upside down, remove familiar assumptions, or ask learners to think from a completely different persepective. You…
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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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Take your questioning down a meta path with two activities that get learners thinking critically about how to answer, and make sense of, the questions they see and hear
Questioning the Question When learners answer a question or complete a task, it is always of benefit if they first question that which is being asked or requested of them.…
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Bring the Apprentice into your classroom with the Big Pitch questioning activity, or turn your focus to the deeper, more profound aspects of philosophical questioning
The Big Pitch Divide learners into groups of four. One of these groups is designated the ‘executive board’. The rest of the groups, the pitchers, are set a problem for…
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Four ways to turn the questioning tables and have your learners develop questions for you
Make it clear to pupils that you welcome their questions. Provide a variety of routes by which they might ask you questions. Three such routes are: putting your hand up,…
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Using questions to draw out and develop reasoning (and five strategies any teacher can use to achieve this)
Reasoning is central to education. It underpins almost the entire curriculum. It is a tool that is integral to our understanding of the world and of our own selves. If…
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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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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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Use this simple discussion activity to get every learner in your classroom engaged in debate and refining their thinking
Speed Debating Discussion Strategy: Explanation Present learners with a statement related to the topic of study. Divide the class in two. Explain that one half of the class will be…