Critical Thinking

Critical thinking pieces are a big part of our reading follow ups this year. What's nice about having this piece is it allows you to see how the students are interpreting what we've read on a deeper level. So far, I've really enjoyed their quick critical thinking responses in whole and small group reading. In the beginning of the year, I was a little worried how I would make the transition from kindergarten critical thinking skills to third grade critical thinking skills. It turns out it's not so difficult once you get the hang of it. In our class, we typically have 1-2 books per week in whole group reading. The first follow up is usually a graphic organizer for the students to organize their thoughts for a writing piece. The second follow up is using the graphic organizer to complete said writing piece. The third follow up is a critical thinking brief constructed response (BCR). 


For example, we just completed Race to the South Pole, a nonfiction account of two explorers' expeditions to the South Pole. One of the explorers was successful, the other was not. After a couple days of follow ups, the final critical thinking piece was a letter from the successful explorer offering tips on how to make it to the South Pole and back. The letter was addressed to the explorer who didn't make it. Having to sit down and plan out a letter of this nature allows the students to use several details and events from the story. They had to sequence the story and think about all the preparations the successful explorer put in place. They had to choose what they felt were the most important decisions the successful explorer made, and they had to put all their support together in a cohesive paragraph.  In small group reading, I usually have a critical thinking question for an end-of-the-book BCR. We recently read a book about a family at a camp out. After the full week of reading and different follow ups, the question was: "List the items the family needed for their camp out. Put a star next to the item you think is the most important. Using details and evidence from the story, explain why you think the starred item is the most important." Critical thinking questions allow me to see their comprehension on many different levels. The added bonus is that the kids often get a kick out of a question asking them to choose or explain what they think is best (go figure). For more critical thinking resources visit The Critical Thinking Co., a site with different grade level materials to implement critical thinking lessons in all subject areas. 


How do you use critical thinking in your classroom?