Smart Thinking: Ideas and Resources to Drive them to Think

If you are a SCAN user, by now you have heard the bad news that the SCAN technology tool at TregoED is going offline in June.  The good news is that SCAN is more than an online tool, SCAN is a process for helping your kids be better thinkers.  You don’t need no stinkin’ computer for that!  Your brain is the best and most complex piece of technology you will ever own.  And just like any technology, you can always learn to use it better.

SCAN, simply put is an acronym for 4 questions that can help take a complex problem with different perspectives and break it down into manageable pieces:

1.        Stop and look at the situation….what are the most important issues? What are people concerned about?

2.       Clarify those issues – What do you mean by that?  When you ask a student to explain themselves you make them dig deeper than the facts.  What are the arguments for and against these issues?

3.       Ask what is most important.  Again, this step makes your students evaluate arguments and prioritize issues, a process that requires critical thinking.

4.       Now what?  The last step of this critical thinking strategy asks students to determine what should be done, synthesize a solution, make a plan. Use this graphic organizer to get them thinking with any scenario!

Drive them to think! 

So here are some recent hot topics (culled from Izzit.org and Newsela) that just beg for some SCAN critical thinking:

Would it be a bad thing to wipe out a species…if it was a mosquito?  http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/02/20/467094440/would-it-be-a-bad-thing-to-wipe-out-a-species-if-its-a-mosquito

Do you think we should switch to Universal time? https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/02/12/the-radical-plan-to-destroy-time-zones-2/

Do you think we should stop having Daylight Savings Time?

http://www.standardtime.com/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/10/daylight-saving-time_n_4936224.html

http://news.discovery.com/human/health/why-do-we-have-daylight-savings-time.htm

 Should Apple have to give the government the code to open their iphone? http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-fbi-apple-20160220-story.html

https://newsela.com/articles/apple-encryption/id/15082/

Does google make us smarter or keep us from thinking? http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/02/05/465699380/ok-google-where-did-i-put-my-thinking-cap

Should we keep the $100 bill? http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-plot-to-kill-the-100-bill-1455667926?mod=djem10point
Should parents have their child's permission before they post their pictures online?
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/03/08/dont-post-about-me-on-social-media-children-say/?_r=1

Have students read the article, research a point of view, develop an argument, determine which issues are most important and devise a plan of action.  Let them work in groups, debate, collaborate and negotiate.  Check out this easy SCAN graphic organizer - smart thinking!

Simple Questions lead to Complex Learning

Watching the news this morning there was a story about a baby panda growing stronger in the zoo.  Isn't it ridiculously cute?  As usual, it got me to thinking about zoos and breeding programs and endangered species….and off I go!

With the new Common Core, teachers can turn their focus from “the test” to teaching students to think for themselves.  Sometimes it just takes a simple question.  That seems to be the basis of “Problem-Based Learning.”  Think about the question posed by the NYCDOE Nonfiction Reading and Opinion/ Argument writing task for 5^th grade:  “Should zoos exist?” or for older students, Room for Debate’s “Does Captive Breeding Distract from Conservation?”  These simple questions can be the basis for some great informational reading and research-based writing and some great critical thinking.  

Check out these resources that provide different perspectives on the debate on zoos:

The Swazi Eleven

Life span of elephants in zoos vs. the wild

10 Facts about Zoos

How do zoos help endangered species?

What zoos do

http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/endangered_species/zoos/index.asp?article=whatzoosdo

Don’t zoos help to preserve endangered species?

Room for Debate:  Does Captive Breeding Distract from Conservation?

The same resources can be found here, all neatly arranged in this “live binder” – a digital binder that will allow you to share all of these resources with your students in one easy place.  Have your students do the research and use this great persuasion map from readwritethink.org to get their writing started!

Jumpstart their thinking!

Having a discussion before students start writing can help them understand new perspectives and gain a deeper understanding of the issues.    The SCAN tool  at TregoED.org has a great new scenario “Should Zoos Exist?” (always free) complete with scenario, four perspectives, resource links and a private discussion format to get them started.

CCSS lesson: Arguing the School Calendar

It’s easy to get kids writing an argument when they are passionate about a subject and who is not passionate about the school calendar?  Just open up the discussion on year round schools or what religious holidays will be observed can spark a debate.  Adjusting the school calendar for emergency days adds the complexity of previous plans and often emotions run high.  With the recent Hurricane on the East Coast, many schools have been closed to two full weeks.  Why not have your students do some critical thinking and problem solving around the topic of Emergency School Closings?

Perspectives

To get the argument started have students take on the role of parent, Board of Education, teacher and student and read the articles below:

Informational text Resources:

Parents Debate How to Fix the School Calendar

Chester Schools Debating Calendar Change

Schools Across NJ Juggle Calendar

Charter School Holds Online Classes during Power Outage

NJ School Boards:  Guidance on Rescheduling School – the 180 Day Requirement

See the Issues

As an individual, have students list the issues they come across for their point of view as they are reading.  List all class issues.

Clarify the issues:

Ask students to clarify the issues that have been posted.  Students should refer back to the articles to see if there is an explanation as to why the issue is important. 

Ask what’s Important

As a class determine what issues are most important to consider when coming up with a solution.

No, what should be done? 

Work as a class to determine what should be done to adjust the school calendar keeping the most important issues in mind. 

Get them writing:  Ask students to describe and defend the new plan making sure they acknowledge other options and points of view.

Online SCAN Tool:

Increase student engagement and participation in this discussion using the SCAN tool at TregoED.  The private online discussion tool walks students through these steps, allows them to comment and collaborate on the solution.  “School Calendar and Emergency Days” is a free SCAN scenario this month featuring these points of view and including links to the articles. 

I guess if you live in a sunny spot with no weather issues you may never have to face the problem of emergency school closings…perhaps you may want to have your students look at the issues involved in the “Year Round School” Scenario. 

This same problem solving strategy can be used at the administrative level.  Check out “5 Steps to Help Your School with Post-Disaster Management” to see how this strategy can work for you.