A website has been designed to foster creative and critical thinking in kids of all ages. We believe that when critical thinking is consistently and carefully applied to our understanding of life, it often results in the secular worldview.
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Latest Blog Entries
The writing process at the grade 4 level follows the standard recursive stages that proficient writers use: prewriting (planning), drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. This is emphasized in standards where students produce clear, coherent writing appropriate to task, purpose, and audience across opinion, informative/explanatory, and narrative pieces. Typical Steps for 4th Grade Teachers often teach […]
Lego Robotics (such as LEGO Education SPIKE Prime) makes an excellent team project for 6th graders because it is hands-on, engaging, age-appropriate, and integrates multiple skills in a fun, collaborative way that feels more like play than traditional schoolwork. Why It’s a Strong Fit for 6th Grade Team Projects Types of Learning Involved Lego Robotics […]
Socratic questioning is a way of asking leading questions that was made popular by the Philosopher Socrates. You start with a big idea and lead the student to it with questioning steps rather than just saying the big idea outright. It is about active student thinking rather than passive rote learning. You often see this […]
Think, Pair, Share is an excellent teaching strategy to expand student thinking and reduce anxiety. You ask a question and tell the class to reflect on it, pair them to discuss their ideas, then share their collaborative thinking with the class. Here’s an example with a fourth grade class: Ms. Rivera’s Fourth-Grade Class: Think, Pair, […]
Edward de Bono created CoRT thinking! He’s the smart guy (a doctor from Malta) who invented it. He made the CoRT program (which stands for Cognitive Research Trust) to help people — especially kids in school — learn better ways to think. He also invented “lateral thinking” (thinking in creative, sideways ways instead of straight […]
Hey kiddo! Imagine that being “smart” isn’t just one thing, like getting all the answers right on a spelling test or a math quiz. A smart guy named Howard Gardner says there are lots of different ways to be smart — like having different superpowers in your brain! Here’s how he explains it, super simple: […]
I’ve been outlining some instructional strategies that effective teachers use to encourage student learning. Mind Maps and Concept Maps are good because we are mostly visual learners. Mind Maps are a fun, creative way to organize ideas around one main topic. They start with a central idea in the middle and branch out like a […]
The 6+1 Traits of Writing is a popular framework used in schools (especially in the U.S. and Canada) to teach and assess good writing. It breaks writing down into seven key qualities. The 6+1 Traits: Grade 4 Example Writing Prompt: Write about your favorite season and why you like it. Strong Grade 4 Example (using […]
Bloom’s Taxonomy is a framework used by teachers to classify different levels of learning objectives and thinking skills. It helps educators design lessons, activities, and assessments that move students from basic knowledge to higher-order thinking. The most commonly used version today is the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy (2001): Fourth-Grade Example: Topic – “The Water Cycle” Imagine […]
De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats is a simple method created by Edward de Bono to help people think more clearly and solve problems better. Instead of everyone arguing or thinking in a jumbled way, the group “puts on” a different colored hat one at a time. Each hat stands for a different kind of thinking. […]