Critical Thinking Handbook, K-3

This handbook, designed to help teachers of kindergarten through third grade remodel their own lesson plans, has one basic objective: to demonstrate that it is possible and practical to integrate instruction for critical thinking into the teaching of all subjects. The handbook thoroughly discusses the concept of critical thinking and the principles that underlie it and shows how critical thinking can be taught in language arts, social studies, and science. The book's first section contains nine chapters which: (1) provide an introduction to critical thinking and its importance for education as well as an introduction to lesson remodeling; (2) discuss making critical thinking intuitive by using drama, examples, and images; (3) go deeply into the question of what education for critical thinking requires of teachers; (4) explain the 35 remodeling strategies and their importance, with suggestions on how to teach for them; (5) present 69 remodeled lessons for language arts, social studies, science, and math, and describe some frequently encountered flaws in textbook approaches; and (6) focus on remodeling lessons into thematic units. The handbook's second section, which contains seven chapters, compares didactic and critical views on education, outlines the changes in curriculum required by a shift toward education for critical thought, provides practical ideas for facilitating staff development in critical thinking, presents short writings on critical thinking by teachers after a workshop on the subject, and considers the problem of defining critical thinking. The seventh chapter is an analytic glossary of key words and phrases relevant to critical thinking and education. A list of recommended readings and critical thinking resources is appended. (SR)