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ESL forum >
Techniques and methods in Language Teaching > Critical - creatine thinking!!
Critical - creatine thinking!!
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nashaider2
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Critical - creatine thinking!!
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 Hellloooooooooooooooooo teacher,
I would like any one to help me to find EX and tchniques of how to use critical and creative thinking in a class room. i am teaching englishm as a forigh language for intermediate students agaes 12 - 15. need new techniques specially on critical thinking to improve my students ability!!
Appreciate your Help!!!
THANK YOU |
9 Jun 2011
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redcamarocruiser
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The short answer is probably to use open ended, compare and contrast,or evaluation questions and also projects, especially interdisciplinary, that make the students synthesize information instead of only rote drills and yes or no questions (They test recall, but not higher order thinking).
You can make immediate changes by using webquest worksheets, debates, and essays where a student has to pressent or defend a point of view. Also you can try to get yourself and your students in the habit of asking question types that require students to perform thinking tasks from the higher order thinking taxonomy.
There is a hierarchy of question types based on Bloom �s taxomony to incorporate in your teaching. This site has a short overview of the types of questions and which skills they address. It also has the question words to use when you formulate your questions.
http://www.coun.uvic.ca/learning/exams/blooms-taxonomy.html
I would be interested in input on this question, too, as I am sure that advances have been made in the field since my grad school days.
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9 Jun 2011
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nashaider2
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dear Redcamarocruiser,thanks for your help i really need sample of exercises or a lesson plan i read about bloom theory and others but i need a thing which is applied in a class room to understand the consept more. thank you |
9 Jun 2011
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redcamarocruiser
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I used 2 pictures of a city as it looked many years ago and how it looks now. The grammar point was "There is, There are". The students had to compare the old and new. Transportation had changed (formerly horses and carriages were used), housing had changed (now ther were many more high rise buildings, clothing had changed, smoking habits had changed.
"What changes do you see? What is different?" are low level questions that only require observation and are good for introducing the vocabulary. A question like, "Which city would be nicer to live in (old or new) and why would you like that one better than the other one?" would be an example of a higher level (more abstract) question because it requires the student to compare, contrast and evauate the information in addition to making observations. Having to support his choice causes the student to make inferences, weigh the benefits and minuses, and organize his thoughts in order to communicate his choice intelligently to the class.
"Why did they build so many high rises? What has been the impact on the environment of the rapid expansion in population?" These questions cause the student to activate his prior knowledge in order to apply what he knows, and assess what he needs to learn to fill the gaps in his knowledge. One could talk about crime in the city then and now, and the level of pollution. Students might need to do research or further reading to inform themselves before forming an opinion to share.
This research develops to information literacy skills and promotes critical thinking. I didn�t make a research project out of the topic. I just asked them which city they preferred (modern or olden day) and they answered in informal conversation.
I think it was better than them describing only what they saw in the pictures: "There are many single homes, but not many high rises, there are people smoking in the restaurant, there are no bikinis."
I would like to live in the olden day city because there were fewer people, so it was not so stressful and over crowded. I prefer the olden day city because people could still afford single homes before the real estate boom, traffic was not a problem, there was ample parking."
The students still used the structure we were studying (there is there are), but they used it in sentences in which they were communicationg their thoughts. The pictures became personally meaningful to the students becasue they had to think about a choice for their preference.
I hope this helps a little.
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9 Jun 2011
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