Lumen Learning
Lumen: Success Skills: Critical Thinking
This activity focuses on critical thinking including a definition, examples, a video of critical thinking in action, logic in critical thinking, questions a critical thinker asks, guidelines for critical thinking, problem-solving, and...
PBS
Pbs News Hour: Column: Can Librarians Help Solve the Fake News Problem?
Was it only a matter of time that people would begin buying into any news, even when it was actually fake? This writer felt it was no surprise. Find out why and how a librarian can help educate students how to best vet resources for...
Lumen Learning
Lumen: Analysis: Putting It Together: Analysis
This lesson focuses on analysis including an understanding of what analysis is, the keys to effective analysis, and the types of analytic assignments.
Lumen Learning
Lumen: Analysis: What Is Analysis?
This lesson focuses on analysis including defining analysis and listing the essential skills of analysis.
Lumen Learning
Lumen: Analysis: Overcoming Barriers to Analysis
This lesson focuses on understanding and overcoming barriers to analysis: Barrier 1: Analysis might challenge my worldview, Barrier 2: Analysis kills fun, and Barrier 3: Analysis invents meaning.
Lumen Learning
Lumen: Analysis: Suspend Judgment
This article focuses on the need to suspend judgment and keep an open mind while analyzing a situation or researching a topic.
Teachers.net
Teachers.net: Lesson Exchange for Corduroy
This site is an online lesson plan exchange on "Corduroy" by Don Freeman.
Goodwill
Gcf Global: Problem Solving and Decision Making
Learn strategies for solving everyday problems and making thoughtful, well-informed decisions.
Other
Csicop: Field Guide to Critical Thinking
This article, originally published in Skeptical Inquirer, outlines some of the key components of the scientific problem-solving process while addressing the many reasons for the popularity of paranormal beliefs in the U.S. (Published in...
Other
Radcab: Your Vehicle for Information Evaluation
How do you know you are using a trustworthy source when writing a research paper? Use this acronym for easy questions to ask yourself to make sure you have a reliable source. Click on each one for further details.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: S'mores Limiting & Excess Reactants
Students will use manipulatives that represent the ingredients for S'mores (graham crackers, marshmallows, chocolate bar) to determine the limiting and excess reactants (reagents) for making S'mores. The students will extend this to...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Science Is a Wonderland
This is an inquiry lesson to teach students critical thinking skills. The student will learn through discovery what inquiry skills are and how they are used. They will learn how scientists use these skills in the scientific method to do...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Post Colonialism in Papuan Culture
Read the passage "Post-Colonialism in Papuan Culture" and complete the related six-question quiz.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Puritan Society
Read and analyze the passage "Puritan society" and complete the related six-question quiz.
Childnet
Childnet: Online Safety: Trust Me
This resource which is designed to support teachers in exploring critical thinking online. The "Trust Me" resource has been created with teachers in mind after hearing from schools that they wanted a resource which would start the...
Harvard University
Harvard Univ.: Project Zero: Agency by Design: Parts, Purposes, Complexities
This thinking routine helps learners slow down and make careful, detailed observations by encouraging them to look beyond the obvious features of an object or system. This thinking routine helps stimulate curiosity, raises questions, and...
Harvard University
Harvard University: Project Zero: Agency by Design: Parts, People, Interactions
This thinking routine helps learners slow down and look closely at a system. In doing so, young people are able to situate objects within systems and recognize the various people who participate - directly or indirectly - within a...
Harvard University
Harvard University: Project Zero: Agency by Design: Parts, Perspectives, Me
This routine helps students explore complexity by encouraging them to look closely at the details of something, considering its various viewpoints, users, and stakeholders, and reflecting on their own connections and involvement with it.
Harvard University
Harvard University: Project Zero: Agency by Design: Mapping Systems [Pdf]
The practice of mapping allows learners to build and demonstrate their understanding of the parts, people, and interactions that comprise a given system.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Transformation Creations
The students will use critical thinking skills and artistic abilities to "transform" an image into something completely different. The original images can be taken with a digital camera and printed out or cut from old magazines.
FNO Press
From Now On: Graphical Organizers as Thinking Technology
From Now On explains the purpose and advantages of graphic organizers such as converting complex information into meaningful displays, helping students plan their research, and sometimes acting as mind maps. There are several examples...
Joe Landsberger
Study Guides and Strategies: Problem Solving and Decision Making
Learn step-by-step problem solving skills with this free and user-friendly study guide. Integrate the strategies into your lesson plans or use the actual study guide to each your students about problem solving and decision making.
Scholastic
Scholastic: The Lookout Mountain Tunnel
Reproducible activity about drawing conclusions that provides a reading passage and comprehension questions. Also includes a link to a key at the bottom of the page.
Other
Teaching Critical Thinking Skills
It is increasingly important to teach students how to develop their critical thinking abilities. This site lists some ideas and strategies that can help teach them to improve their critical thinking skills.