Search results | Subject area | Grade range | Implementation support
Educational goals |
Intellectual tool
Promoting thinking |
Amener la pensée critique en avant-scène
Roland Case critique l'enseignement actuel de la pensée critique et propose une approche plus productive, inséré dans le curriculum.
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Bringing critical thinking to the main stage
Roland Case critiques current teaching of critical thinking and proposes a more productive, curriculum-embedded approach.
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Considering the need for critical thinking at the core of history curriculum
Garfield Gini-Newman explores the challenge for students today: selecting and using relevant information for a purpose.
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Critical, creative and collaborative thinking: A three-sided coin?
Beate Plance and Roland Case describe four ways to fortify widely used “thinking” activities to better support C3 thinking among educators and students.
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Engagement in learning: Finding the depth beyond diligence
Bruce Beairsto discusses the active student engagement required for learning that will help students thrive in the modern world.
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Introduction to the TC² conception of critical thinking
Roland Case explains that critical thinking involves making reasoned judgments in problematic situations.
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Preconceptions of critical thinking
Roland Case and LeRoi Daniels invite educators to reconsider their perceptions of critical thinking in this analysis of many common misunderstandings.
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Reading as thinking: “Critically” constructing meaning of text
Mary Abbott tells how critically thoughtful readers approach text with an inquisitive mindset when teachers nurture self-regulated use of intellectual tools.
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Reconciling learning the ‘basics’ and inquiry teaching
In this article, the staff of The Critical Thinking Consortium seek to explain how learning the basics and inquiry teaching can be reconciled.
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Taking seriously the teaching of critical thinking
In this article, Roland Case and Ian Wright use numerous examples to describe ways of effectively promoting critical thinking in social studies.
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The unfortunate consequences of Bloom’s taxonomy
Roland Case discusses major flaws in popular interpretations of Bloom’s taxonomy and suggests three principles for effectively promoting critical thinking in all student tasks.
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Thinking about thinking in social studies
Roland Case tells how an “embedded tools” approach to teaching critical thinking can avoid the pitfalls of traditional approaches.
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“C3” thinking —Critical, creative and collaborative
Garfield Gini-Newman and Roland Case explain the interrelated nature of three dimensions of thinking—critical, creative and collaborative.
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Building voluntary teacher networks
Roland Case and Walt Werner explore key factors in building and sustaining teacher networks to support instructional change.
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Developing critically thoughtful e-learning communities of practice
Philip Balcaen and Janine Hirtz discuss strategies for developing successful professional communities of practice through online and face-to-face learning based on critical thinking.
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Developing critically thoughtful, media-rich lessons in science: Process and product
Philip Balcaen describes a collaborative e-learning approach to professional development and a conceptual framework to support the teaching of critical thinking in science.
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A math pedagogy designed to empower learners
Laura Gini-Newman outlines a new pedagogical approach to the teaching and learning of mathematics that is focused on building student capacity to reason mathematically through critical inquiry.
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Does project-based learning teach critical thinking?
In this article from the Buck Institute for Education, John Mergendoller explores the link between project-based learning and critical thinking.
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Enseigner et apprendre avec la pensée critique
Les composantes du guide électronique pour chaque niveau sont structurées en fonction de plusieurs enquêtes d’analyse critique. Ces enquêtes visent à regrouper l’enseignement de plusieurs composantes spécifiques autour d’une idée centrale. Le terme critique signifie que l’enquête est axée sur des questions ou des enjeux nécessitant un jugement critique.
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From “finding out” to “thinking about”: Changing research assignments into critical challenges
Patricia Finlay shares her experiences as a teacher-librarian who shifted from teaching traditional research skills to supporting students with information problem solving.
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Making critical thinking an integral part of electronic research
Roland Case considers inadequacies in efforts to support critical thinking about technology and the Internet and offers helpful ideas developed by teacher-librarians working with TC2.
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Nurturing critical thinking: A note to parents
Roland Case explains what critical thinking involves, why it is important, and how parents might help their children develop this life skill.
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Critical thinking in kindergarten
Teacher Heidi Pacquette tells how she used critical thinking to help her young students with reading.
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Opportunity knocks! An engaging math discussion
Kendra Preston-Brooks explains how she made the most of a “teachable moment” to promote critical thinking in mathematics in her primary classroom.
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The popcorn project: Service learning meets critical thinking
Jennifer Pardee describes how the student council enhanced a fundraising project with critical thinking.
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An experience to share
Preeti Sharma describes students’ responses to critical challenges in her computer class in India.
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But will it also work in math?
Sarah Sommers describes what happened when she and her teaching partner took a critical inquiry approach with their grade 5 students during a math patterning unit.
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Heritage fairs
In this interview, teacher Romy Cooper explains how she uses critical thinking to help her students develop the strong inquiry questions that drive their impressive projects.
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How do we measure up?
Yvonne Denomy, vice principal and teacher librarian, describes an inquiry into children’s rights with grade three and four students that left her in awe as they were able to determine, locate, analyze, interpret, infer and judge from primary data.
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The spirit of inquiry
Roland Case remembers sitting in on a grade four class as the students were engaged in a discussion to determine the quality of life of First Nations people prior to European contact.
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Transformed teaching
Ingrid Phare describes how infusing critical thinking has resulted in an elementary school where spirited discussion, conversations and debates are the norm.
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Canadian history comes alive through inquiry and technology
Giovanna Longhi describes how a topic in Canadian history – the collective rights of First Nations peoples and the numbered treaties - came alive through her students’ use of inquiry and technology.
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Engaging with the War of 1812
Teacher Chris Good illustrates the effects of using a simple critical challenge to engage students’ curricular understanding during a debate about a historical topic.
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With the help of a crocodile
Courtney Johnson describes how she helped her ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) students think critically about imagery in poetry.
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Gingerbread math: A sticky investigation
Secondary teacher Kristine Woodford takes us on a mathematical journey involving proportion and scale in which critical thinking enhances engagement and learning.
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Let’s do lunch: A critical, creative and collaborative process
Jessica Raslack tells how students in her Food and Nutrition course used creativity and critical thinking while running their own “restaurants” to cater school events.
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Telling the story of a graph
Duff Porteus tells how one critical thinking activity involving linear relations completely transformed his math class.
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The power of critical thinking
Teacher Stephan Stipp describes the engaging effect on his grade 9 students of critical challenges that have real life connections to career choices.
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Adding value to the university classroom experience
Dr. Rosalind Warner describes how attendance and participation in her classroom increased significantly after she started to deliberately encourage critical thinking in her students.
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Taking critical thinking “below the wings”
Dorothy MacDonald tells how critical inquiry transformed a training course for “below the wing” airline workers in ways that can inspire all educators.
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A school of critical thinkers
Andrea Williams describes how her staff at Elmdale Public School have embedded critical thinking into their teaching practices.
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Our journey into critical thinking
John Weinshel tells how teachers at Benjamin Banneker Middle School worked with TC2 staff on a professional development project to enhance their students’ thinking and understanding.
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Powering up to critical thinking
Staff at École Meridien Heights School discuss their pursuit of critical thinking as a school goal, looking for powerful ways to make critical thinking an everyday part of their teaching.
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The power of sustained professional learning
Warren Woytuck describes his experiences as an instructional leader with elementary teachers as they begin to infuse critical thinking across subject areas.
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Looking for English language arts resources?
This two-page guide describes and provides links to resources on the TC2 website that will help infuse your English language arts instruction with critical thinking.
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Looking for resources?
This one-page guide includes links to specific TC2 resources that will help you bring critical thinking to your classroom.
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Resources to get started: Primary teachers
This two-page guide describes and provides links to classroom-proven, ready-to-go lessons and tips for embedding critical thinking in your daily practice.
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Taking advantage of your Partner benefits
This one-page checklist describes readily available resources for informing teachers about the benefits of your partnership with TC2.
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Tools for Thought: Eight great tools
Use the tools on this one-page list to help your students think more deeply about the topics they are studying.
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Tools for Thought: Summary of tools
This three-page summary will help you plan to embed critical thinking tools in every lesson.
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Tools for Thought: Tools for specific tasks
This resource will help you identify students’ needs and systematically develop the thinking tools they require for specific tasks.
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Critical thinking with early primary students
This two-page guide explains how to lay a foundation with young children by introducing a handful of intellectual tools, creating a supportive climate and encouraging independent thinking.
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Développer les outils intellectuels pour la pensée critique
Aider les élèves à développer le répertoire d’outils nécessaire à la pensée critique.
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Dix modifications à vos questions
Inviter les élèves à approfondir leurs réponses habituelles et à réfléchir en profondeur aux sujets étudiés.
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La pensée critique chez de jeunes élèves au primaire
Pour établir une base chez les jeunes, présenter un ensemble d’outils, créer un climat de soutien et les encourager à penser par eux-mêmes.
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Ten tweaks for your questions
By comparing common questions to their “tweaked” alternatives, this one-page tip sheet suggests ways to encourage students to think more deeply about the topics they are studying.
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U-shaped discussion
With teacher tips, student recording sheets, and assessment materials, this six-page document shows how you can encourage students to participate in a thoughtful, constructive alternative to the traditional two-sided debate.
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Critical thinking in elementary mathematics. What? Why? When? And How?
This four-page guide uses classroom examples to explain how you can invite students to make reasoned decisions about virtually every aspect of mathematics.
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Deepening mathematical reasoning
By comparing common goals and tasks with enriched alternatives, this two-page document reveals changes in your instruction that can foster strong reasoning in mathematics.
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Seven ways to frame a math problem
By re-framing a typical word problem in various ways, this two-page document demonstrates how different types of critical challenges can be used to invite students to think critically about mathematics.
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Promoting critical thinking in science
This five-page guide uses practical examples to explain how you can invite students to make reasoned judgments about virtually everything they do in science.
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Tweaking questions and tasks to deepen thinking in science
By comparing common tasks and questions with “tweaked” alternatives, this two-page document highlights changes in your science instruction that can lead to significant growth in student thinking.
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Enriching projects with historical thinking concepts
This two-page guide explains how your students can frame inquiry project questions around core concepts that will help them explore deeper historical meaning.
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Critical thinking takes too much time
Roland Case responds to concerns about finding time to cover course content when using a critical thinking approach. (3:45 minutes)
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Embedded skill development
This video explains ways to enhance students’ understanding and develop their ability to think and learn effectively by integrating skill and content learning. (6:32 minutes)
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Embedding critical thinking throughout project-based learning
In this webinar, sponsored by the Buck Institute for Education, Roland Case explores ways to “tweak” project and lesson design with critical challenges and “fortify” students with explicit teaching of thinking tools. (57:25 minutes)
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Explain the image
This video focuses on using visual clues to develop informative explanations of images. (1:55 minutes)
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Fostering entrepreneurial thinking
This video is #10 of a series of 12 brief interviews with Garfield Gini-Newman. In this video, he discusses what learning looks like for a student with an entrepreneurial spirit. (2:19 minutes)
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Introducing critical thinking
This video is #1 of a series of 12 brief interviews with Garfield Gini-Newman. In this video, he defines critical thinking and discusses why it is important. (2:28 minutes)
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Linking creativity and critical thinking
This video is #11 of a series of 12 brief interviews with Garfield Gini-Newman. In this video, he discusses the relationship between critical and creative thinking. (3:00 minutes)
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Recognizing bias
This video explains how to distinguish biased perspectives from those that are unbiased or impartial. (2:38 minutes)
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The three Cs
Garfield Gini-Newman discusses critical, creative and collaborative thinking with the host of CTV’s Ottawa Morning Live. (5:23 minutes)
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Two prongs of the TC² approach
Roland Case explains how to embed critical thinking in subject matter and teach intellectual tools. (4:03 minutes)
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Understanding critical thinking
This video, prepared with support from The Learning Network, explains the core features of the TC2 definition of critical thinking. (4:32 minutes)
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Using Criteria
This video focuses on using criteria as the basis for deciding what to think or how to act. (2:26 minutes)
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What is important in a classroom that supports critical thinking?
Garfield Gini-Newman discusses ways to infuse critical thinking into the university classroom through assessment and curriculum delivery. (3:11 minutes)
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An Effective Strategy for Launching the School Year
Garfield Gini-Newman shares a strategy for launching the school year in a way that invites and promotes thinking in the classroom. (2:05 minutes)
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Building a Thinking Community in the Math Classroom
Laura Gini-Newman shares a few strategies for building a thinking community in the math classroom. (1:00 minute)
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Classroom example of investigating pictures (15 clips)
This 15-part series features an elementary school classroom with students in grade 1 and 2 as they carry out an “Investigating pictures” lesson.
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Classroom example of investigating pictures-Additional challenge
This video is #12 of a 15-part series. In this section, students work in pairs or small groups to investigate a new picture and record their responses on a chart. (7:44 minutes)
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Classroom example of investigating pictures-Assessment
This video is #15 of a 15-part series. In this section, the teachers discuss possible assessment strategies. (4:29 minutes)
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Classroom example of investigating pictures-Demonstration picture study
This video is #5 of a 15-part series. In this section, the teachers scaffold instruction to help students distinguish between clues and conclusions. (3:19 minutes)
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Classroom example of investigating pictures-Introduce clue and conclusion
This video is #4 of a 15-part series. In this section, the teachers introduce the lesson by activating students' background knowledge. By watching the teacher role play to express an emotion, the students are able to identify clues and conclusions. (6:48 minutes)
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Classroom example of investigating pictures-Introduction
This video is #1 of a 15-part series. In this section, the teachers provide background information about their school, classroom, students and philosophy of teaching. (2:45 minutes)
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Classroom example of investigating pictures-Overview
This video is #2 of a 15-part series. In this section, the teachers describe the plan for the lesson as well as the previous experience of the students. (1:06 minutes)
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Classroom example of investigating pictures-Practice challenge
This video is #6 of a 15-part series. In this section, students work in pairs to examine a new picture to find clues and draw conclusions. Then students share their responses with the whole class. (2:26 minutes)
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Classroom example of investigating pictures-Preplanning
This video is #3 of a 15-part series. In this section, the teachers describe the types of pictures they will show the students, the charts they will use to record the information, and the procedure the students will follow. (0:46 minutes)
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Classroom example of investigating pictures-Roland Case comments (1)
This video is #11 of a 15-part series. In this section, Roland Case of the Critical Thinking Consortium reflects and comments on his observations of the one-on-one verbal assessment. (4:12 minutes)
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Classroom example of investigating pictures-Roland Case comments (2)
This video is #14 of a 15-part series. In this section, Roland Case reflects and discusses his observations regarding the whole-class sharing session. (1:12 minutes)
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Classroom example of investigating pictures-Share findings
This video is #13 of a 15-part series. In this section, the students share their findings with the whole class as the teacher records the information on a summary chart. (3:46 minutes)
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Classroom example of investigating pictures-Student assessment part A
This video is #8 of a 15-part series. In this section, the teacher works with small groups of students to assess how well they apply their learning to the study of a new picture. (5:51 minutes)
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Classroom example of investigating pictures-Student assessment part B
This video is #9 of a 15-part series. In this section, the students are asked to reflect on their learning. (4:55 minutes)
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Classroom example of investigating pictures-Teacher debrief
This video is #7 of a 15-part series. In this section, the teachers discuss their observations from the first session, where students investigated pictures independently. (4:16 minutes)
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Classroom example of investigating pictures-Teacher reflections
This video is #10 of a 15-part series. In this section, the teachers reflect on teaching and learning by answering a series of questions regarding the formative assessment of the students. (4:05 minutes)
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Critical thinking in action: Example lessons
This video is #3 of a series of 12 brief interviews with Garfield Gini-Newman. In this video, he shows how a primary science and a secondary history lesson can be framed to invite critical thinking. (2:11 minutes)
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Developing competencies in a digital world
This video is #9 of a series of 12 brief interviews with Garfield Gini-Newman. In this video, he discusses using 21st century competencies as criteria for choosing how technology is used in the classroom. (2:38 minutes)
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Experiencing the power of positive comments
A teacher and her students reflect on the feelings and lessons learned from an Our Hidden Heroes activity about the effect positive and negative comments can have on others.
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Framing instruction for critical thinking
This video is #2 of a series of 12 brief interviews with Garfield Gini-Newman. In this video, he introduces two ways of framing instruction to invite critical thinking. (2:20 minutes)
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Getting started with critical thinking
This video is #8 of a 12-part series. In this section, Garfield Gini-Newman discusses how teachers can start their work with critical thinking in different ways. (1:52 minutes)
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Nurturing a Thinking Classroom: Strategy #1
Usha James shares the first of five strategies to help nurture a thinking classroom. (1:00 minute)
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Nurturing a Thinking Classroom: Strategy #2
Usha James shares the second of five strategies to help nurture a thinking classroom. (1:00 minute)
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Nurturing a Thinking Classroom: Strategy #3
Usha James shares the third of five strategies to help nurture a thinking classroom. (1:00 minute)
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Nurturing a Thinking Classroom: Strategy #4
Usha James shares the fourth of five strategies to help nurture a thinking classroom. (1:00 minute)
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Nurturing a Thinking Classroom: Strategy #5
Usha James shares the fifth of five strategies to help nurture a thinking classroom. (1:00 minute)
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Our hidden heroes are super heroes
Grade six students from Georgia Avenue Community School introduce heroes among their family and friends; and their teacher explains the comic book project that inspired them.
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Our school-wide program made a difference
A teacher and principal from Woodbank Elementary describe the positive effects on student social responsibility that resulted from their school-wide use of the Our Hidden Heroes program.
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Our secret mission
Teachers from Chemainus Elementary explain a “secret mission” project and students talk about their most important learning after undertaking a “hidden heroes” assignment to help others.
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Three effective strategies for building a thinking classroom: Strategy #1
Maria Vamvalis shares the first of three top tips for how to build a thinking classroom. (1:00 minute)
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Three effective strategies for building a thinking classroom: Strategy #2
Maria Vamvalis shares the second of three top tips for how to build a thinking classroom. (1:00 minute)
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Three effective strategies for building a thinking classroom: Strategy #3
Maria Vamvalis shares the third of three top tips for how to build a thinking classroom. (1:00 minute)
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Using critical thinking to choreograph project-based learning
This video is #12 of a series of 12 brief interviews with Garfield Gini-Newman. In this video, he discusses conditions that are important for problem-based and project-based learning to be successful. (2:18 minutes)
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