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Critical (& Creative) Thinking in the EFL classroom. Monica Wiesmann-Hirchert Senior English Language Fellow IBEU - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Uses For….
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Critical (& Creative) Thinking in the EFL classroom Monica Wiesmann-Hirchert Senior 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.
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.
The Griney Grollers Thinking Skills Test • What kind of grollers were they? • What did the grollers do? • Where did they do it? • In what kind of gak did they grangle? • 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 Skills • Problems and solutions should be looked at from different perspectives • Relying on different sources for information • There may be more than one correct answer • Not automatically accepting conventional views • Critical thinking iseffective 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).
Socratic Questioning • 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.
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
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 teeth a tongue a mouth a bill
YOUR T 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! • Discuss with your group • Take notes • Prepare a brief oral summary • Write a proposal • Research similar projects • Write a report of your findings
Skills 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?
