HW 4.5 Developing Students' Thinking Skills

Desigining Learning Activities That Teach Content and Language And Develop Thinking Skills

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Learning Outcome Pedagogical Intent Student Position

Employ a variety of strategies, materials and resources in standards-based ESL and content instruction..

Assessment: 50 pts.

Due: Session 5

Teachers can use their knowledge of teaching second language learners and their knowledge of content and their development of literacy to design and enact activites that promote thinking skills 

Students have developed knowledge of how to promote ELLs language and literacy development in their regular classroom and content knowledge and how to design activity centers. They are positioned to learn about how to promote thinking skills through learning activities. 

Instructions:

  1. In this homework, we ask you to read and consider short readings about developing and promoting thinking skills in your learning activities. One of the literacy skills is "thinking" and part of becoming a lifelong learner is being a good thinker. Take notes on the things you think are relevant to your teaching and to designing your MSDLA for this course. 
  2. Begin by reading the list of 8 skills that students need to develop to improve their thinking. After reading the article, take notes about how you might design activities that will help develop one or more of these skills.
  3. Skim the Blog post by Lavonne Botcher on developing critical thinking skills. As you read, take notes about ideas you find compelling or interesting and then consider how you might adjust your learning activities.
  4. This web site https://equitypress.org/-gbx provides specific strategies for teachers to use in promoting critical thinking. As you skim, take notes about ideas you find compelling or interesting and then consider how you might adjust your learning activities.
  5. This link to a Colorin Colorado article https://equitypress.org/-gdV provides information about using a visualization strategy in your lessons. As you skim, take notes about ideas you find compelling or interesting and then consider how you might adjust your learning activities.
  6. The purpose of this actiivity is to support you in increasing the ways your activities promote and expand thinking as well as develop content knowledge and language and literacy development.

* WARNING--we have reviewed the content of these readings; but they come from websites sponsored by educational and business consulting firms.The ideas are congruent with our own research of cognition but you should be the critical thinkers and determine their usefulness for you.

This content is provided to you freely by EdTech Books.

Access it online or download it at https://edtechbooks.org/language_integration/hw_13_family_school_tAY.