Critical (& Creative) Thinking in the EFL classroom

Monica Wiesmann-HirchertSenior English Language Fellow

IBEU - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Uses For…

Think of at least 10 original uses for the items you’re about to see. (That is, you cannot list things that the item is already used for.) The uses can be fanciful, but should at least approach practicality.

Describe each use in a sentence or two.

Uses for a steak knife

Use the wood or plastic handles of two or three to make a hot pad for serving casseroles or soup in hot containers.

Use it to measure a spot for a new sofa, so when you go to the store you will know how many "steak knife units" long your new sofa can be.

Use it to drill holes in plasterboard walls.

.:VirtualSalt

What does critical thinking mean to you?

The Griney Grollers Thinking Skills Test

1.What kind of grollers were they?

2.What did the grollers do?

3.Where did they do it?

4.In what kind of gak did they grangle?

5.Place one line under the subject and two lines under the verb.

Critical thinking skills…

means to study the problem from all angles, and then exercise your best judgment to draw conclusions.

Critical Thinking SkillsCritical Thinking Skills

oProblems and solutions should be looked at from different perspectives

oRelying on different sources for information

oThere may be more than one correct answer

oNot automatically accepting conventional views

oCritical thinking is effective problem solving

Critical & Creative Thinkingin the ESL / EFL Classroom

To become proficient in a language, learners need to use creative and critical thinking through the target language (Kabilan, 2000).

How did you come to that conclusion? What is the source of your information? What assumption has led you to that conclusion? Why did you make that inference? Why is this issue significant?

To learn is to think. To think poorly is to learn poorly. To think well is to learn well.

Socratic Questioning

Hurricane Andrew was a hurricane that formed from a tropical wave that moved off of the west coast of Africa on August 14, 1992. Originally it was classified as a strong category 4 hurricane. After additional evaluations and research, it was upgraded to a category 5. It caused catastrophic damage to south Florida near Homestead. Hurricane Andrew at the time was the costliest hurricane on record with 26.5 billion dollars in damage.

What can I do differently?

What is my role?

What activities should I include?

Inquiry – process of discovery through questioning, reflecting, and research

Problem-solving – life situations and realities are turned into problem-solving situations

Inquiry & Problem-Solving

These are active processes – learners remember better what they do rather than what they receive passively.

Where

to go

for ideas?

FILLING THE

TOOL BOX

Six Thinking Hats

SDSU WebQuest Page

Brain Boosters

What is the one thing shared by all three

items in the same

group?

a cow

a shoe

a baby

a river

a person

a cave

a zipper

a shark

a comb

restaurant goer

a bird

the Senate

a tongue teeth

a mouth

a bill

YOURT

U

R

N

Task

Your group’s task is to brainstorm and list the professionals needed for the organization and completion of the project; explain why!

1. Discuss with your group

2. Take notes

3. Prepare a brief oral summary

4. Write a proposal

5. Research similar projects

6. Write a report of your findings

Skills IntegrationSkills Integration

Optimal communication occurs when skills are interwoven during instruction

The Camels

An Arab sheikh tells his two sons to race their camels to a distant city to see who will inherit his fortune. The one whose camel is slower will win. The brothers, after wandering aimlessly for days, ask a wise man for advice. After hearing the advice they jump on the camels and race as fast as they can to the city.

What does the wise man say?

http://oelp.uoregon.edu/shaping.html