Critical thinking techniques in elementary school

Is more effective thinking possible? Yes, it, like other properties and qualities of the mind, can be developed. In this case, the ability to think is implied. Especially for this, critical thinking technology is used in elementary school. What is she like? What is her purpose? What are the features of the implementation?

The Purpose of Critical Thinking Technology

It is to help develop the mental skills of students who will be useful to them not only in school but also in life. So, the skills are developed to make informed decisions, analyze various aspects of phenomena and processes, and work with available information. In short, the critical thinking technology in school allows you to implement an integrated approach in the upbringing and education of children. An important advantage is the student’s control. Based on his goals, he can influence the direction of development and the final result.

Stages

It is recommended to use the three stages of teaching the method in the lesson:

1. Call. On this issue, it is necessary to force the student to ask himself the question of what exactly he knows.
2. Comprehension. At this stage, the student, under the guidance of the teacher (often also with the help of classmates) answers the questions that were posed in the first stage.
3. Reflection. The child reflects and summarizes the knowledge that relates to this problem.

Now let's look at the techniques of critical thinking technology. It should be noted that there are much more of them and, despite the amount of information reviewed, this collection can still be supplemented.

Reading - Summing in Pairs

This technique can equally well be used to explain new material or to consolidate the studied. It is best to apply this technique in the third or fourth grades. Children are offered several different texts on the same topic. After reading on a large sheet, you need to fix the summary. Then, in front of the whole class, you need to reproduce the text, based on your notes. Other students are allowed to ask clarifying questions. After each text, it is necessary to make a collective conclusion about what is their main idea and which of them learned. This technology of critical thinking through reading and writing allows you to develop analytical abilities and memory.

Five

The name of this method is determined by the number of stages in it. What can be the use of critical thinking technology of this type? Here is a strategy that can be implemented by reading. We analyze the theme of Russian folk tales:

1. We describe using adjectives: magic, household.
2. Expression in one word: a fairy tale.
3. We describe the actions that you have to do: read, retell, learn, remember.
4. A phrase with the help of which the student's attitude to the topic can be expressed: a fairy tale is a lie, but there is a hint in it.
5. We select a synonym: fiction, fantasy.

Stop reading

The application of critical thinking technology in this case is recommended in the presence of a narrative text. So, initially it is necessary to invite students by their name to determine what will be discussed. During the lesson, the text must be read in parts. After each passage, students need to be encouraged to suggest how the plot will develop in the future. The teacher must choose the best places to stop. This technology of critical thinking in elementary school contributes to the fact that students develop a careful attitude to the statements of other people and the possibility of rejecting what he himself proposed without various bickering (if weak argumentation is selected, for example).

Do you believe that ...

This is an exceptionally creative technique. The class must be divided into two teams. The first should make some assumptions in which fantasy is intertwined with reality. And the second team analyzes the data provided. For example, the first team tells the following story: "We left school, saw a large leaf of oak. We sat on it and flew up. Geese accompanied us in flight. We landed at the edge of the forest. There were a lot of mushrooms, we all gathered them." The second team analyzes: leaving school is possible. Oak is real. Flight is impossible (and why). About the edges and mushrooms - the truth.

Work with the questionnaire

This technique is desirable to apply when introducing new material, when it will be necessary to conduct independent work with the textbook. Children are asked questions to the text, to which they need to find answers. Moreover, they can be given not only in direct but also in indirect form, which will stimulate analysis and reasoning and force them to rely on their own experience. When the work is done, it is necessary to check the accuracy and correctness of the answers that were found.

I know, I know, I want to know

This technique is suitable for the stages of explanation and consolidation of the material. So, its meaning is to compile a table that has two columns: the first is written what the children knew about something, and the second - the information received as part of the lesson. It can be supplemented with those data about which there is a desire to find out. When using this technique, you must be prepared to go beyond the scope of the lesson and encourage the children themselves to look for information for which there were no answers or time.

Brainstorm

Allows you to activate thinking when solving problems and forms the possibility of the expression of "unusual" thoughts. This technique does not provide for the division of answers into correct and incorrect. The student can express any thought that may turn out to be a way out of the current situation or lead to it.

Corners

Used to characterize a character of an arbitrary literary text. The class must be divided into two groups. The first will prepare information about the positive characteristics. In this case, the text and their life experience are used to prove that this is so. Another group prepares information about negative qualities. Everything again must be confirmed by text. It is recommended to use this technique when the work is fully read. At the end of the discussion, a joint conclusion is needed. This technique will allow children to learn dialogue and communication culture.

Creative Writing

This technique is used to consolidate the material covered. For example, children can be invited to write a continuation of the text that they liked. You can also write a poem based on the work.

Create a questionnaire

This technique can be addressed when the topic is studied (or their group). Using educational texts, children are invited to independently prepare questions on the literature they have studied. They then need to be identified in groups and competitions. In each of them, a “connoisseur” is chosen — the one who answered the questions best of all. And in the end, a competition is organized between the winners.

Logical chain

This technique helps prepare for retelling of texts. After a certain text has been read, students are invited to build all the events that were in it in a logical sequence. This method is designed for general class work.

Bunch

This technique of critical thinking is used in literary reading. It is necessary to highlight the semantic units of the text, and then graphically arrange them in a certain order. Moreover, the final result should look like a bunch. An important advantage of this method is that it can be in almost any component of the lesson: strategy, challenge, reflection or reflection. But how is this graphic method of organizing and processing the material carried out? First you need to highlight the center. The topic is entered into it. Rays depart from her. Large semantic units act in their quality. And already from them come the learned concepts and terms. Because of this, some people call the constructed drawing a model of the sun. You can develop work gradually. So, for the first few lessons, students can be given blanks where the main topics and, possibly, rays will be identified. Everything else will need to be added to the students. Over time, the task may become more complicated, and after 2-3 times the process will be more technological, and it can be taken to a new level. But here a lot depends on the teacher. So, it is necessary to evaluate the text with which the work will be conducted. Work on the issues of separation into small and large semantic units. It will also be necessary to take an active part in the processes themselves during their allocation, when it will be necessary to resolve the doubts of the student. Also, an additional technique is applied as a complication, the essence of which is that it is necessary to explain the connections that have arisen.