Rational, Scientific, and Reflective Thinking

For Children and Youth

Lessons from The Teacher Press
Lesson plan ideas for Thinking About The "Mysterious"

Additional resources:

Improving Your Child's Thinking Skills
 

The Critical Thinking Community

  The Center for Critical Thinking and Moral Critique and the Foundation for Critical Thinking work closely together to promote essential change in education and society through the cultivation of fair-minded critical thinking. The work of the Foundation is to integrate the Center's research and theoretical developments and to create events and resources designed to help educators improve their instruction. Materials developed through the Foundation for Critical Thinking include books, guides, videos, and other teaching resources.

Teachers and parents will particularly find the following resources of the Foundation for Critical Thinking very useful in developing critical thinking skills:

• Children's Guide to Critical Thinking by Linda Elder. The essence of critical thinking concepts and tools written in language accessible to children.
• Teachers Manual: The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking for Children by Linda Elder. The manual is designed to provide teachers and parents with strategies for using The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking for Children.
• Think About Fran and Sam: Which One is Better at Thinking? This story about Fairminded Fran and Selfish Sam is the first in a series of stories which help children explore important concepts such as fairness, selfishness, and intellectual empathy. At the end of the story, children are asked to relate the concepts of fairness and selfishness to their own thinking and behavior.
• Masks of Fairminded Fran, Selfish Sam and Naïve Nancy -- for Student Role-Playing. These hand-held masks are designed for use with The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking for Children. Using the masks, children enjoy role-playing the characters introduced in this mini-guide, Fairminded Fran, Naïve Nancy and Selfish Sam. Through these characters, teachers can focus on the important implications of fairmindedness, intellectually naivety, and selfishness in human life.

The Foundation and Center for Critical Thinking sponsor an annual International Critical Thinking Conference as well as advanced academies and international academies in Europe. For additional information: www.criticalthinking.org/

Encouraging Critical Thinking Skills in Children

Several simple but effective ideas which should be incorporated into every lesson plan:

• Encourage students to ask questions -- and keep asking more questions.
• Always respond to their questions enthusiastically.
• Remember the difference between drill-type questions that recall information and thought-provoking questions.
• Guide students toward discovering answers on their own.
• Make the atmosphere open to ideas so that students are willing to question everything.
• Consider a "wrong answer" as a learning opportunity.
• Respect your students opinions and encourage them to have their own ideas.
• Help students to be well informed about a topic before coming to any conclusions.

Source: Googol

Maybe Right, Maybe Wrong: A Guide for Young Thinkers

by Dan Barker. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. 1992.
Dan Barker affirms a child's ability to think, to seek information, and to ask ""Why?" By using factually based information and the tools of critical thought, without recourse to dogma or holy books, the book's main character, Andrea, learns vital moral lessons. Her most important insight: Regardless of one's own beliefs, you should respect everybody's human rights.

Maybe Yes, Maybe No

by Dan Barker. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. 1991.
Few books help children to order their thoughts or to use questions in a structured way. In this book, Wanda investigates her friend's tales of ghosts, following the rules of a scientific inquiry. The cartoon story in accompanied by a simple text and followed by ideas on how to disprove or prove a theory.

Thinking the Web: A Moral Issues Curriculum for High School Youth.

This resource builds on a heavy framework of critical thinking skills. Developed by Jeff Liebmann, Student Minister, First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh. Descriptions and ordering information are available at www.pitt.edu/~jdl1/UUcurric.htm

How Do You Know It's True? Discovering the Difference between Science and Superstition

by Hyman Ruchlis. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. 1991

Ruchlis takes young readers (ages 11 – 14) through the key principles of the scientific method. The book demonstrates the folly and potential dangers of superstitions and pseudo-sciences such as astrology. The author explains how scientists test ideas against reality, conduct experiments, establish theories and how the great discoveries of the past have shaped our modern world. He concludes with a look at environmental problems created by industrial society and discusses how we can work toward realistic solutions through rational, scientific means.