8th grade critical thinking worksheets

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Critical Thinking Worksheets

• Brain Teasers - A great way to stimulate thinking. Don't worry, they come complete with answer keys.
• Compare and Contrast - Students examine differences and similarities in a variety situations.
• Dictionary Practice Worksheets - Practice your dictionary skills.
• Fact And Opinion - Students determine the validity of a body of work.
• How Many Are There? - Fun activities for examining patterns.
• Internet Search Worksheets - Fun Internet searches for students.
• Logic Puzzle - Each scenario is thought provoking. Lots of brain power needed here.
• Making Predictions - A good warm-up for inferences.
• Mazes - Your run-of-the-mill start and finish mazes.
• Name People That ...- Good creative thinking exercises.
• Name Places That ...- Good creative thinking exercises.
• Name Things That ...- Good creative thinking exercises.
• Secret Code - Students answer riddles through secret codes.
• Study Skills Worksheets - Great for test preparation.
• Sorting and Classifying - Great for meeting national standards.
• What Do You Remember? - A visual memory activity.

Activities That Improve Student Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is perhaps the most important skill we need. It is paramount not just for job success but also for making the best decisions in crucial life matters.

As an educator, you should explain to your students that almost all our mistakes can be attributed to a lack of critical thinking. You can pick just about any big blunder you made in the past. You will invariably find that it transpired because of a failure to think critically.

Remember, the best thing you can do as a teacher is to inculcate a strong sense of critical thinking in your students.

Here are the activities that will help students to develop critical thinking.

Discuss Cognitive Biases

There are myriad cognitive biases.

The fact of the matter is we succumb to these biases at some point in our lives. Hence, it pays to study these biases.

You can pick those biases you think are the most detrimental and insidious. You should then explain them to your students to learn to identify and avoid these biases.

Perhaps the most dangerous bias by far is the Optimism bias. It may sound rather innocuous because of the word ‘optimism’. However, it is far more sinister in reality.

Optimism bias tends to think that bad things won't happen to us - they will happen to others only. For example, many think they won't suffer a fatal car crash. Hence, some get involved in overspeeding and texting while driving despite knowing their perils. No wonder these two reckless acts are the main reasons for fatal car crashes.

Writing About Biases

After elucidating various biases and providing simple examples to help them grasp these concepts, you can instruct your students to write about adverse events in their lives when they succumbed to these biases.

What did you learn? What were the consequences? These are further questions you can ask.

Talking about one’s mistakes is never easy. It is hard to concede that we are wrong at times. However, if we want to become better human beings and find success, we must learn from our mistakes. But the first step entails admitting one’s mistakes.

This will also instill humility and reduce overconfidence.

Avoiding Biases – The Easy Way 

All biases and ensuring blunders are avoidable with one simple trick.

It just takes one word to get smarter – “why”. That is, you should question everything. As simple as that.

In particular, you should question all that you do and think.

Write it down first whenever you are about to take action or form an opinion about something. Then in front of it, just write “why?” You can then brainstorm and write for and against the idea in logical points.

If you make this a regular habit, you will avoid many mistakes and regrets. You will also maximize positive returns from your decisions.

Explain It to a 6-Year Old

This is something that can greatly benefit students in their academic endeavors.

We are inclined to think that we understand what has been just said. But just nodding along is not enough. You should be able to explain it to others.

The good news is that this goes far beyond altruism. In truth, it is self-empowerment. When you explain an abstruse concept to others, you bolster your own understanding of the same. Reiterating something embeds it more deeply into your long-term memory.

The social factor may also be beneficial and fruitful.

Do Your Research

Teach students to challenge common perceptions and conventional wisdom.

Explain carefully that this entails walking a fine line. You don't want to be dismissive, nor do you want to be naive. Instead, you should have an open mind and a willingness to do your research carefully.

Inform students about consulting reliable online sources. Explain that it is best to consider multiple authentic sources. Don't be satisfied with just the first entry in Google search results.

Here's how you can instill the importance of research in your students.

Instruct your students to research air pollution in the US. Those who do their research more meticulously will find that indoor air pollution is far deadlier than outdoor air pollution.

Tell them that they found out this key health fact courtesy of research. You can further instruct them to find ways of mitigating these risks.

Motivate your students to do research by telling them that they will be pleasantly surprised at the wealth of knowledge that they can uncover via dedicated research.

Beware of Disinformation

Disinformation is ubiquitous these days. It has become a weapon of choice for bad actors ranging from rogue states to unscrupulous individuals.

Critical thinking can help dispel misinformation and prevent you from becoming its victim.

You should help kids to detect and deal with weapons of mass distraction.

There was a time when fake news was disseminated largely via social media.

It is being spread by state-sponsored groups masquerading as legitimate media outlets on the internet. The scope and scale of these fake news campaigns are staggering to say the least.

One such fake news campaign involved no less than 750 fake sites posing as media outlets. Disinformation from this notorious racket reached millions around the globe and even found its way to UN and European Parliament meetings.

You can instruct kids in your class to do a project on internet disinformation, complete with case studies. You should also tell them to write about all possible ways to spot fakes and scams.

Bottom Line

Shown above are the activities to develop critical thinking in students.

You might agree that cultivating this key ability in your students is one of the best things you did for them. 

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5 Critical Thinking Skills Every Kid Needs To Learn (And How To Teach Them)

Teach them to thoughtfully question the world around them.

Little kids love to ask questions. “Why is the sky blue?” “Where does the sun go at night?” Their innate curiosity helps them learn more about the world, and it’s key to their development. As they grow older, it’s important to encourage them to keep asking questions and to teach them the right kinds of questions to ask. We call these “critical thinking skills,” and they help kids become thoughtful adults who are able to make informed decisions as they grow older.

What is critical thinking?

Critical thinking allows us to examine a subject and develop an informed opinion about it. First, we need to be able to simply understand the information, then we build on that by analyzing, comparing, evaluating, reflecting, and more. Critical thinking is about asking questions, then looking closely at the answers to form conclusions that are backed by provable facts, not just “gut feelings” and opinion.

Critical thinkers tend to question everything, and that can drive teachers and parents a little crazy. The temptation to reply, “Because I said so!” is strong, but when you can, try to provide the reasons behind your answers. We want to raise children who take an active role in the world around them and who nurture curiosity throughout their entire lives.

Key Critical Thinking Skills

So, what are critical thinking skills? There’s no official list, but many people use Bloom’s Taxonomy to help lay out the skills kids should develop as they grow up.

Source: Vanderbilt University

Bloom’s Taxonomy is laid out as a pyramid, with foundational skills at the bottom providing a base for more advanced skills higher up. The lowest phase, “Remember,” doesn’t require much critical thinking. These are the skills kids use when they memorize math facts or world capitals or practice their spelling words. Critical thinking doesn’t begin to creep in until the next steps.

Understanding requires more than memorization. It’s the difference between a child reciting by rote “one times four is four, two times four is eight, three times four is twelve,” versus recognizing that multiplication is the same as adding a number to itself a certain number of times. Schools focus more these days on understanding concepts than they used to; pure memorization has its place, but when a student understands the concept behind something, they can then move on to the next phase.

Application opens up whole worlds to students. Once you realize you can use a concept you’ve already mastered and apply it to other examples, you’ve expanded your learning exponentially. It’s easy to see this in math or science, but it works in all subjects. Kids may memorize sight words to speed up their reading mastery, but it’s learning to apply phonics and other reading skills that allows them to tackle any new word that comes their way.

Analysis is the real leap into advanced critical thinking for most kids. When we analyze something, we don’t take it at face value. Analysis requires us to find facts that stand up to inquiry, even if we don’t like what those facts might mean. We put aside personal feelings or beliefs and explore, examine, research, compare and contrast, draw correlations, organize, experiment, and so much more. We learn to identify primary sources for information, and check into the validity of those sources. Analysis is a skill successful adults must use every day, so it’s something we must help kids learn as early as possible.

Almost at the top of Bloom’s pyramid, evaluation skills let us synthesize all the information we’ve learned, understood, applied, and analyzed, and to use it to support our opinions and decisions. Now we can reflect on the data we’ve gathered and use it to make choices, cast votes, or offer informed opinions. We can evaluate the statements of others too, using these same skills. True evaluation requires us to put aside our own biases and accept that there may be other valid points of view, even if we don’t necessarily agree with them.

In the final phase, we use every one of those previous skills to create something new. This could be a proposal, an essay, a theory, a plan—anything a person assembles that’s unique.

Note: Bloom’s original taxonomy included “synthesis” as opposed to “create,” and it was located between “apply” and “evaluate.” When you synthesize, you put various parts of different ideas together to form a new whole. In 2001, a group of cognitive psychologists removed that term from the taxonomy , replacing it with “create,” but it’s part of the same concept.

How To Teach Critical Thinking

Using critical thinking in your own life is vital, but passing it along to the next generation is just as important. Be sure to focus on analyzing and evaluating, two multifaceted sets of skills that take lots and lots of practice. Start with these 10 Tips for Teaching Kids To Be Awesome Critical Thinkers . Then try these critical thinking activities and games. Finally, try to incorporate some of these 100+ Critical Thinking Questions for Students into your lessons. They’ll help your students develop the skills they need to navigate a world full of conflicting facts and provocative opinions.

One of These Things Is Not Like the Other

This classic Sesame Street activity is terrific for introducing the ideas of classifying, sorting, and finding relationships. All you need are several different objects (or pictures of objects). Lay them out in front of students, and ask them to decide which one doesn’t belong to the group. Let them be creative: The answer they come up with might not be the one you envisioned, and that’s OK!

The Answer Is …

Post an “answer” and ask kids to come up with the question. For instance, if you’re reading the book Charlotte’s Web , the answer might be “Templeton.” Students could say, “Who helped save Wilbur even though he didn’t really like him?” or “What’s the name of the rat that lived in the barn?” Backwards thinking encourages creativity and requires a good understanding of the subject matter.

Forced Analogies

Practice making connections and seeing relationships with this fun game. Kids write four random words in the corners of a Frayer Model and one more in the middle. The challenge? To link the center word to one of the others by making an analogy. The more far out the analogies, the better!

Learn more: Forced Analogies at The Owl Teacher

Primary Sources

Tired of hearing “I found it on Wikipedia!” when you ask kids where they got their answer? It’s time to take a closer look at primary sources. Show students how to follow a fact back to its original source, whether online or in print. We’ve got 10 terrific American history–based primary source activities to try here.

Science Experiments

Hands-on science experiments and STEM challenges are a surefire way to engage students, and they involve all sorts of critical thinking skills. We’ve got hundreds of experiment ideas for all ages on our STEM pages , starting with 50 Stem Activities To Help Kids Think Outside the Box .

Not the Answer

Multiple-choice questions can be a great way to work on critical thinking. Turn the questions into discussions, asking kids to eliminate wrong answers one by one. This gives them practice analyzing and evaluating, allowing them to make considered choices.

Learn more: Teaching in the Fast Lane

Correlation Tic-Tac-Toe

Here’s a fun way to work on correlation, which is a part of analysis. Show kids a 3 x 3 grid with nine pictures, and ask them to find a way to link three in a row together to get tic-tac-toe. For instance, in the pictures above, you might link together the cracked ground, the landslide, and the tsunami as things that might happen after an earthquake. Take things a step further and discuss the fact that there are other ways those things might have happened (a landslide can be caused by heavy rain, for instance), so correlation doesn’t necessarily prove causation.

Learn more: Critical Thinking Tic-Tac-Toe at The Owl Teacher

Inventions That Changed the World

Explore the chain of cause and effect with this fun thought exercise. Start it off by asking one student to name an invention they believe changed the world. Each student then follows by explaining an effect that invention had on the world and their own lives. Challenge each student to come up with something different.

Learn more: Teaching With a Mountain View

Critical Thinking Games

There are so many board games that help kids learn to question, analyze, examine, make judgments, and more. In fact, pretty much any game that doesn’t leave things entirely up to chance (Sorry, Candy Land) requires players to use critical thinking skills. See one teacher’s favorites at the link below.

Learn more: Miss DeCarbo

This is one of those classic critical thinking activities that really prepares kids for the real world. Assign a topic (or let them choose one). Then give kids time to do some research to find good sources that support their point of view. Finally, let the debate begin! Check out 100 Middle School Debate Topics , 100 High School Debate Topics , and 60 Funny Debate Topics for Kids of All Ages .

How do you teach critical thinking skills in your classroom? Come share your ideas and ask for advice in the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook .

Plus, check out 38 simple ways to integrate social-emotional learning throughout the day ..

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30+ Awesome Career-Readiness Activities That Teach Soft Skills

Students need these skills to succeed in the workplace. Continue Reading

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Critical Thinking Activities For Middle Schoolers: PBL, Outdoor Ideas, Discussions, Games, And More

January 17, 2024 //  by  Lesa M.K. Bullins, EdS

Critical thinking is the process of using higher-order thinking skills in which students observe, conceptualize, apply, evaluate, and synthesize information that they learn in order to solve problems and make decisions effectively. Critical thinking is crucial for middle school students to be equipped to respond to academic, social, and emotional challenges successfully.

As an educator, developing critical thinking in students is paramount. Critical thinking skills are built through exploration, inquiry, questioning, discussion, and collaboration. Below are my top 20 classroom activities to transform your middle school students into critical thinkers!

1. Service Projects

Service projects support the development of global-mindedness in addition to building creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving. Service projects allow students the opportunity to engage their interests, apply learning to real-world situations, and actively problem-solve. Service projects could relate to classroom topics, holidays, or community areas in which students have concerns.

Learn More: Kid Activities

2. Project-Based Learning

Project-based learning builds creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving while creating opportunities for student motivation and engagement. You can learn about how to execute project-based learning here.

Learn More: PBL Works

3. Problem-Based Learning

The other “PBL” of education is problem-based learning. Problem-based learning activities are critical to the development of problem-solving skills. You can learn how to implement problem-based learning approaches here.

Learn More: Educators for Social Change

4. Get Outside the Classroom

Take learning outside the classroom. Applying learning to the world around them will support students in making crucial connections that build critical thinking. Check this video for ways to bring the outdoors to your classroom!

Learn More: Edutopia

5. Promote Inquiry

Inquiry-based learning is a cornerstone of critical thinking skills that creates in students an avid thinker of creative solutions. Instead of giving students the questions and then the answer, flip it! Give students information and have them build questions from their own thinking, or give students questions then allow them the space needed to find comprehensive solutions. Inquiry builds analytical skills.

Learn More: Taylor & Francis Online

6. Incorporate Turn and Talks

Turn and talks allow students to briefly share, review, and make connections to things they are learning. It is one of the top critical thinking resources when executed effectively in the classroom. Turn and talks allow for the exploration of an array of topics.

Learn More: Smekens Education and The Thinker Builder

7. Group Work Galore

While group work teaches cooperation, it also provides an opportunity for building critical thinking attributes like task deconstruction, planning, and explanation of thinking.

Learn More: Mrs. Spangler in the Middle

8. Bring Centers Back

Centers are not just for elementary students. Centers create a diverse learning interaction that allows opportunities for students to be more expressive in the learning process. Critical thinking skills come out of such active learning. It is also a great way to leverage resources, especially teacher one-on-one time!

Learn More: Rachel Mccollum

9. Revive Reader’s Theatre

Using a reader’s theatre gives students a more enriching reading comprehension experience due to the highly engaging and interactive approach. Read more here about why you should use this reading approach to support critical thinking.

Learn More: Mrs. Beers

10. Hold Debates

Debate is an opportunity for individuals to consider, discuss, and analyze a controversial topic. Middle school students have ideas that they want to express and discuss. Giving them healthy opportunities for expression not only builds their critical thinking but also their confidence and sense of self.

11. Provide Creative Choices

Choice prompts critical thinking because it allows students to practice in a safe learning environment. Student choice can enhance the learning environment through deeper interest and engagement as well. Providing choice is a very effective opportunity for differentiation, and can even support metacognitive development.

Learn More: The Modern Classrooms Project

12. Promote Invention and Innovation 

Creating inventions and innovations involved analyzing situations, considering outcomes, developing processes, and making connections to prior and related knowledge. Innovation and invention are essentially complete critical thinking activities.

Learn More: Invention and Education

13. Make Opportunities for Students to Teach

The deepest learning occurs when we teach others. Your kids will really be able to tap into their critical thinking skills in this exercise where you’ll invite them to play teacher! It’s a fantastic way to deepen their understanding of concepts as you’ll encourage them to reteach learning material to their peers.

Learn More: ASCD

14. Always Make Time for Reflection

Reflection is indispensable to the critical thinking process. Reflection empowers students as learners and prompts deeper thinking. Reflection allows students to tackle higher levels of thinking resulting in better consciousness of self and learning. You can provide opportunities for silent reflection, exit tickets, journals, etc.

Learn More: Responsive Classroom

15. Create Mysteries

Critical thinking hinges significantly on students interpreting, analyzing, and drawing conclusions. Mystery activities are exciting ways to engage these elements of critical thinking in a variety of subjects! Check out the example of a classroom mystery lesson here to inspire the use of mysteries in your own classroom subjects.

Learn More: Engaging Effective Teaching

16. Create Escape Rooms

It is not just mysteries that present logical thinking challenges and encompass the elements of critical thinking for practice in the classroom! Escape rooms are exceptional critical thinking activities. For some ideas on how to create escape rooms for different subjects in your class, check here.

Learn More: 23 Escape Room Games for Kids of All Ages

17. Prompt Class Discussions

Class discussions are the most naturally occurring critical thinking resources, so just harness the power by guiding and building skills for class discussion processes in your classroom. Class discussion fosters enhanced articulation, deep thinking, stronger connections to prior knowledge, deeper connections across content, and much more!

Learn More: University of Waterloo

18. Create a Job Board

Application of critical thinking skills in real-life scenarios like work is essential. Having classroom jobs is a practical way to put skills into practice. Classroom jobs can build a sense of community and responsibility in the classroom culture. I suggest using a job board approach and incentives for taking jobs such as free choice activities, extra time, etc. instead of assigned jobs. You can also make the job board a game similar to the popular Among Us game (minus the killing of course), to grab student interest.

Learn More: The Literary Maven

19. Encourage Habits of Mind

Habits of Mind are the same skills that make up the critical thinking concepts. Habits of Mind prompt analytical thinking, build strong learning habits, and sufficiently change patterns of thinking for students to truly become critical thinkers.

Learn More: Increasing Autonomy with Habits of Mind

20. Push a Growth Mindset

In conjunction with the skills of habits of mind, a growth mindset also presents students with an avenue to build lasting change in thinking patterns to become skillful critical thinkers. Students with a strong growth mindset have the power of resiliency.  Resilience is a crucial aspect of critical thinking as it helps us to manage stress and adapt to change. Analyzing and solving problems requires adaptability.

Learn More: In Control Middle School SEL

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8th Grade Critical Thinking

8th Grade Critical Thinking - Displaying top 8 worksheets found for this concept.

Some of the worksheets for this concept are The critical thinking, Critical thinking, Career exploration lessons for eighth grade, 81 fresh fun critical thinking activities, 8th grade common core state standards flip book, Critical thinking, 8th grade reading comprehension success, 8th grade science plate tectonics earthquakes.

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1. THE CRITICAL THINKING

2. critical thinking, 3. career exploration lessons for eighth grade, 4. 81 fresh & fun critical-thinking activities, 5. 8th grade common core state standards flip book, 6. critical thinking, 7. 8th grade reading comprehension success, 8. 8th grade science: plate tectonics & earthquakes.

Free Printable Identifying the Main Idea Worksheets for 8th Grade

Identifying the Main Idea: Discover an extensive collection of free printable worksheets for Grade 8 Reading & Writing teachers, focusing on helping students recognize and understand the central theme in various texts.

Recommended Topics for you

• Identifying the Main Idea in Fiction
• Identifying the Main Idea in Nonfiction

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Explore printable Identifying the Main Idea worksheets for 8th Grade

Identifying the Main Idea worksheets for Grade 8 are essential tools for teachers looking to enhance their students' reading and writing skills. These worksheets provide engaging and age-appropriate content that challenges students to analyze various texts and determine the central theme or message. By incorporating these worksheets into their lesson plans, teachers can effectively teach Reading Comprehension Strategies, which are crucial for success in higher-level education. Additionally, these worksheets can be easily integrated into various Reading activities, ensuring that students have ample opportunities to practice and develop their critical thinking and analytical skills. In conclusion, Identifying the Main Idea worksheets for Grade 8 are valuable resources for teachers who want to foster a strong foundation in reading and writing for their students.

Quizizz is an innovative platform that offers a wide range of educational resources, including Identifying the Main Idea worksheets for Grade 8, to help teachers create engaging and interactive learning experiences. By utilizing Quizizz, teachers can access various Reading & Writing materials that cater to different learning styles and abilities, ensuring that all students have the opportunity to excel in their studies. Furthermore, Quizizz offers various Reading Comprehension Strategies that can be incorporated into lesson plans, allowing teachers to effectively teach essential skills such as summarizing, making inferences, and drawing conclusions. With its user-friendly interface and extensive library of resources, Quizizz is an invaluable tool for teachers looking to enhance their students' reading and writing abilities while making learning fun and engaging.

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Critical Thinking

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Young economists engage in a series of activities designed to develop their critical thinking skills including identifying the main idea of a passage, cause and effect relationships, and making generalization based on the data included in charts and graphs. 

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8th Grade Critical Thinking

Displaying all worksheets related to - 8th Grade Critical Thinking .

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1. THE CRITICAL THINKING

2. critical thinking, 3. career exploration lessons for eighth grade, 4. 81 fresh & fun critical-thinking activities, 5. 8th grade common core state standards flip book, 6. critical thinking, 7. 8th grade reading comprehension success, 8. 8th grade science: plate tectonics & earthquakes.

85 Fun Critical Thinking Questions for Kids & Teens

Have you ever thought about using fun questions to practice critical thinking?

Students may need a little guidance to think their way through questions that lack straightforward answers.

But it is that process that is important!

How the Right Questions Encourage Critical Thinking

Every parent knows how natural it is for children to ask questions. 

It should be encouraged. After all, asking questions helps with critical thinking.

As they grow older, however, training them to answer questions can be equally beneficial.

Posing questions that encourage kids to analyze, compare, and evaluate information can help them develop their ability to think critically about tough topics in the future. 

Of course, critical thinking questions for kids need to be age-appropriate—even better if you can mix a little fun into it!

That’s what I hope to help you with today. I’ve organized the questions below into three different ages groups:

• Upper elementary
• Middle school
• High school 

Get a Question-Based Critical Thinking Exercise—Free!

Introduce critical thinking gently & easily with thought-provoking exercises.

Upper Elementary

Students in upper elementary grades can be reluctant to put themselves out there, especially with answers that seem weird. 

In some cases, such hesitancy is actually fear of differing from their peers (and a barrier to critical thinking ). 

But that’s exactly why it’s important to practice answering ambiguous questions. 

We want our children to stand firm for their beliefs—not cave to peer pressure. 

Additionally, students may feel uneasy about answering serious questions, uncertain of tackling “big” problems. 

However, with careful use of creative questions for kids, it’s possible to engage even the most reluctant children in this age group. 

The idea is to simply get them interested in the conversation and questions asked.

If you have an especially reserved student, try starting with the funny critical thinking questions. 

Humor is a natural icebreaker that can make critical thinking questions more lighthearted and enjoyable. 

Of course, most younger kids just like to be silly, so playing upon that can keep them active and engaged.

With that said, here are some great questions to get you started:

1. Someone gives you a penguin. You can’t sell it or give it away. What do you do with it?

2. What would it be like if people could fly?

3. If animals could talk, what question would you ask? 

4. If you were ice cream, what kind would you be and why?

5. Do you want to travel back in time? If yes, how far back would you go? If no, why not?

6. What could you invent that would help your family? 

7. If you could stay up all night, what would you do?

8. What does the man on the moon do during the day?

9. What makes something weird or normal? 

10. Can you describe the tastes “salty” and “sweet” without using those words?

11. What does it feel like to ride a rollercoaster?

12. What makes a joke funny?

13. What two items would you take if you knew you would be stranded on an island and why?

14. Do you have a favorite way of laughing?

15. What noise makes you cringe and cover your ears? Why?

16. If you could be the parent for the day, what would you do?

17. If you could jump into your favorite movie and change the outcome, which one would you pick and why?

18. If you could be invisible for a day, what would you do?

19. What makes a day “perfect”?

20. If you owned a store, what kind of products would you sell?

21. If your parents were your age, would you be friends with them?

22. Would you still like your favorite food if it tasted the same as always, but now had an awful smell?

23. What would you do if you forgot to put your shoes on before leaving home?

24. Who would you be if you were a cartoon character?

25. How many hot dogs do you think you could eat in one sitting?

26. If you could breathe under water, what would you explore?

27. At what age do you think you stop being a kid?

28. If you had springs in your legs, what would you be able to do?

29. Can you describe the color blue to someone if they’re blind?

Middle School

At this point, students start to acquire more complex skills and are able to form their own conclusions based on the information they’re given. 

However, we can’t expect deep philosophical debates with 12 and 13 year olds. 

That said, as parent-teachers, we can certainly begin using more challenging questions to help them examine and rationalize their thought processes. 

Browse the fun critical thinking questions below for students in this age range. 

You might be surprised to see how receptive middle school kids can be to such thought-provoking (yet still fun) questions .

30. What would happen if it really did rain cats and dogs?

31. What does it mean to be lucky?

32. If you woke up in the middle of a dream, where would you be?

33. Is it ever okay to lie? Why or why not?

34. If you were solely responsible for creating laws, what one law would you make?

35. What makes a person a good friend?

36. What do you think is the most important skill you can take into adulthood?

37. If you had to give up lunch or dinner, which would you choose? Why?

38. How much money would you need to be considered rich?

39. If you knew you wouldn’t get caught, would you cheat on a test?

40. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be?

41. What is your greatest strength? How is that an asset?

42. If you had an opportunity to visit the International Space Station, would you do it?

43. Is it better to keep the peace or speak your mind?

44. Imagine yourself as your favorite animal. How would you spend your day?

45. Would you be friends with someone who didn’t have the same values as you?

46. How much screen time do you think is too much?

47. Can you describe your favorite color without naming it?

48. If you suddenly became blind, would you see things differently?

49. Would you ever go skydiving?

50. Describe the time you were the happiest in your life. Why did this make you happy?

51. If you had a million dollars, what would you do?

52. If you had to move to a new city, would you change how you present yourself to others?

53. What do you need to do in order to be famous?

54. If you could rewrite the ending of your favorite book or movie, what changes would you make?

55. How would you tackle a huge goal?

56. How would you sell ice to an eskimo in Alaska successfully?

57. What makes you unique?

High School

Critical thinking takes on an entirely different role once students reach high school. 

At this age, they have a greater sense of right and wrong (and what makes things so) as well as a better understanding of the world’s challenges.

Guiding teens to delve deeper and contemplate such things is an important part of developing their reasoning and critical thinking skills. 

Whether it’s fun questions about hypothetical superpowers or tough critical thinking questions about life, older teens typically have what it takes to think their way to a logical conclusion . 

Of course, use your discernment as you choose discussion topics, but here are some questions to help get you started:

58. How can you avoid [common problem] in the future?

59. Do you think it’s okay to take a life in order to save 5, 10, 20 or more people?

60. If you could go back and give your younger self advice, what would it be?

61. Is it better to give or receive a gift?

62. How important is it to be financially secure? Why?

63. If it was up to you, what one rule would you change in your family?

64. What would you do if a group of friends wanted to do something that you thought was a bad idea?

65. How do you know that something is a fact rather than an opinion?

66. What would it take to get you to change your mind?

67. What’s the most important thing in your life?

68. If money were of no concern, what job would you choose and why?

69. How do you know if you’re happy?

70. Do you think euthanasia is moral?

71. What is something you can do today that you weren’t able to do a year ago?

72. Is social media a good thing or not?

73. Is it right to keep animals in a zoo?

74. How does your attitude affect your abilities?

75. What would you do if you found out a friend was doing something dangerous?

76. If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Why?

77. What will life on Earth look like in 50 years?

78. Which is more important, ending world hunger or global warming?

79. Is it a good idea to lower the voting age to 16? Why or why not?

80. If the electrical power went out today, how would you cook if using wood wasn’t an option?

81. If you could magically transport yourself to any other place, where would that be and why?

82. When should teenagers be able to stay out all night?

83. Does the number zero actually exist?

84. What defines a generous person?

85. Does an influential person influence everyone?

Feel free to print out these fun critical thinking questions and incorporate them into your homeschool week!

will your children recognize truth?

About the author.

Jordan Mitchell

Educircles.org

Critical Thinking Lesson Plans PDF for Middle School / High School vs ChatGPT

CRITICAL THINKING LESSON PDF – March 11, 2024: ChatGPT makes it so easy not to think.

Sure, we can ban ChatGPT from schools. But how will we learn how to think critically about artificial intelligence if we’re not exposed to it?

Critical Thinking involves helping students to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information objectively so they can form an informed perspective.

Help your students out with these 24 fun lessons on critical thinking.

They’ll learn how to spot fake news and wrong information, so they can make smart choices and solve problems in the real world.

Here are 24 critical thinking lessons to engage your Middle School and High School Students!

• Where does bias come from?
• What is fake news?
• How reliable are citizenship journalism posts on social media?
• Can we trust Mainstream Media (MSM Traditional News)?
• Should we trust state-funded news organizations to tell the truth?
• When is social media better than the news?
• Are alternative news sources trustworthy?
• Can students take the time to see things from different perspectives?
• BONUS: Should ChatGPT be allowed in schools? Or, is this cheating?

FREE, NO-PREP Chat GPT debate lesson

ChatGPT has completely changed the game.

Did you know that Artificial Intelligence (AI) sometimes “hallucinates” and says things that are completely made up?

The problem is that the AI chatbot doesn’t realize it’s hallucinating until you point out the error (if you’re able to spot the fake news!)

This just means we have to double check the things ChatGPT and AI tells us.

• Even lawyers don’t realize that ChatGPT can invent information (i.e. AI hallucinations).

What about our students? Will our students realize that AI can completely make up answers?

Here’s a FREE NO PREP Chat GPT debate lesson on YouTube so you can have an informed debate with your students.

Yes, ChatGPT can be exciting and scary. Should we panic? No.

Watch the video lesson on YouTube .

Should Chat GPT be allowed in schools? Or is this cheating?

• ChatGPT Critical Thinking Debate
• Writing Reflection Assignment

As easy as 1, 2, 3:

• Print the worksheets : You can get the worksheets here .
• Watch the video lesson on YouTube.  There are two versions: 1) a  SHORTER  version and 2) a  FULL LESSON  with handout instructions.
• Moderate Class Discussion

Hi, I’m Mike! Your Virtual Support Teacher

The Virtual Support Teacher video lesson provides all the information your students need to have an informed debate.  

• No independent research is required.
• Play the video in class and then moderate the discussion.

CHAT GPT and Google Magi (artificial intelligence) has completely changed the way students can learn and cheat.

But a lesson on ChatGPT is really about developing  21st-century learning skills  and  social-emotional learning skills  to survive and thrive in a changing world.

It’s not enough to say don’t cheat. We need to help students understand how to use this tool.

After all, you’re at a competitive disadvantage if you can’t keep up with major technological revolutions.

Critical Thinking Topics explored by the FREE YouTube video lesson

• What is Chat GPT?
• Explain like I’m five years old: How well can Chat GPT summarize and find the main idea from complex texts?
• Include this list of personal information into your answer: Can Chat GPT really produce creative writing with personal examples?
• The Google Search Algorithm has learned to be sexist (and what you can do about it.)
• Should I panic about Chat GPT and Artificial Intelligence?
• Should I trust my robot friend?

Students fill out worksheets to document their learning  at multiple points in the lesson: (beginning, middle, and end)

• Evidence  from the text
• Explain  their own thinking

The ChatGPT debate lesson gives students an opportunity to collaborate and participate in small group and whole class conversations to develop a deeper understanding of the issue.

• These conversations can provide multiple opportunities to listen to students to see what they understand. (Anecdotal observation / assessment.)

Students brainstorm criteria to decide if Chat GPT should be allowed in schools or is this cheating. (Worksheet 5)

• What’s the point of school?
• What does cheating mean?

The long version of the video walks students through a FOUR CORNERS debate .

Finally, students fill out a written response: Should Chat GPT be allowed in schools? An optional rubric is included.

• Explain  how the evidence from the text proves their point using criteria.

The video lesson is FREE on YouTube

The optional worksheet handouts are on sale for $1.00 for a limited time. (The price will increase on Monday May 8, 2023)

Download the ChatGPT lesson handouts.

PS. Save time and money. The ChatGPT handouts have been added as a bonus in this 6Cs Critical Thinking unit .

It’s not April Fools anymore, but it’s still a good Critical Thinking Lesson

Now is the perfect time to do this April Fools’ Critical Thinking Lesson… Why? Because if you did this lesson on April 1, 2023, your students would be too suspicious.

Now, you can see if they notice the clues in the media text to determine if this is fake or not.

Can your students figure out if this is a real Google™ product?

60 minutes of engaging content divided into two parts:

• Part 1: Fake News vs Tulips + Exit Ticket (30 min)
• Part 2: Taking up the Answers + Student Reflection (30 min)

CRITICAL THINKING LESSON

Slideshow lesson teaches critical thinking concepts.

• Use the Five Ws (who, what, when, where, why/how) to analyze the video.
• Ask “Why” or “How” questions for deeper understanding.

EXIT TICKET

• Assessment for students to demonstrate their understanding.
• Marking Guide includes sample “look-fors.”
• Generic rubric categories for easy adaptation to different grades.

Check out the April Fools’ Joke and critical thinking lesson here .

We live in a time of fake news, misinformation, and school-yard gossip!

This means, students need to think critically pretty much all the time.

• They did what?!
• Is this true? Did it really happen like that?
• Does that even make sense? Am I in an echo chamber where my friends just agree with me?

What do our students do when they

• See viral posts on social media,
• Read a “fact” in a textbook or website,
• Hear rumors about classmates!

How can we use logic and reason to form opinions? What can we do to make decisions and solve problems in a controversial world?

Critical Thinking and making informed decisions is part of Social Emotional Learning.

This SEL resource includes Critical Thinking Lesson Plans (PDF), a detailed script, discussion questions, and sample student answers… you get it all!

Fake News Versus… A new series of Critical Thinking Lesson Plans (Middle School / High School)

I’ve just launched the first lesson in a series I call “Fake News versus”

The first one is called “Fake News vs The Five Ws.”

• I published it on March 28, 2022 and it will be free for a limited time.
• It’s been downloaded over 739 times!
• You can get it here .

Fight Fake News using the Five Ws!

Use the Five Ws (who, what, when, where, why/how) to think critically about the story  behind  the message.

60 minutes of content:

• Part 1:  Fake News vs The Five Ws & Exit Ticket  (30 min)
• Part 2:  Taking up the Answers & Student Reflection  (30 min)

Exit ticket assessment  gives students a chance to demonstrate their understanding of the lesson.

Marking Guide  includes sample “look-fors.”

• Incorrect answer
• Simple / straightforward answer
• Answers demonstrating increasing complexity
• A list of “Next Steps” is included on the exit ticket. You can choose one for the student, or they can self-select what they think they need to work on.

Generic rubric categories are used instead of numbers or marks:

• Epic, Great, Good, Okay, Needs Improvement, Major Misunderstanding.
• This way, you can use this activity with different grades – just shift the benchmark where you attach your grades.

The “Taking up the Answers” slideshow

• shows students how to take a simple answer and create a more complex idea using “idea volleyball.”

Social-Emotional Learning is built directly into the lesson and assessment:

The exit ticket is designed to help students develop  self-awareness skills .

After students see the correct answer, the “Taking up the Answers” slideshow walks students through the goal-setting process to improve:

• What did you do well?
• What ideas did you miss this time?
• What is your goal for next time?
• What might help you to improve?

The “Taking up the Answers” slideshow gives students examples of actions they can take to improve:

• Use a different  Strategy
• Apply more  Effort .
• Optimize  results (by looking at previous work to see if there are patterns.)
• Tinkering  with new ideas

Transferrable learning skills can help students make informed decisions to solve problems

(even when angry or when things aren’t fair).

We live in crazy times. People have very strong opinions on both sides of controversial issues:

• Systemic racism
• Religious freedom
• Freedom of speech
• Gun control
• Woke politics
• Parental rights in Education vs Gender Identity
• ChatGPT in Education

Before, we lived in a world where people might not have all of the facts. Or, the facts were inaccurate. (We call this mis information.)

Now, we live in a world where people are actively putting out propaganda and intentionally incorrect information. (We call this dis information.)

And then we have Artificial Intelligence (ChatGPT) that can hallucinate and completely make up facts… and tell you with confidence that these facts are true… until you point out to the AI why it’s incorrect.

And this is the world right now.

Our students will be facing a completely different world when they grow up.

We’re already seeing hints of what that world will look like with ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence powered Search Engines

And this chat based model with artificial intelligence is the way the world is heading.

• Microsoft Bing is powered by ChatGPT integration with current search results.
• Google has Gemini

The way we use the internet is changing and we need to think even more critically about the information we get from the internet gatekeepers – search engines.

Of course, Google has been exploring AI. But they haven’t implemented AI fully in their search engine. Why? Because AI results were generated false and biased statements.

 In recent years, Google has used large language models to improve the quality of its search results, but held off on fully adopting A.I. because it has been prone to generating false and biased statements. Source: New York Times – Google Devising Radical Search Changes to Beat Back A.I. Rivals

Can Google and ChatGPT be sexist or discriminate?

Machine Learning algorithms have been shown to give false information and sexist.

• Make sure to sign up for the Educircles Club newsletter.
• I have an incredible Chat GPT critical thinking video and lesson coming out.
• And you like freebies , don’t you?

Now, more than ever, we all need to understand how to think critically about the information we get.

Students need to have some basic tools to help them decide what’s right and wrong (for them.)

This Critical Thinking unit has everything to do with ChatGPT, Covid controversies, conspiracy theories, illegal occupations, war propaganda, and woke politics… without having anything to do with them.

• The critical thinking worksheets and lessons focus on transferrable skills without using examples from current controversies.
• There’s no mention of ChatGPT, Ottawa Protests, George Floyd, January 6, the war in Ukraine, or woke politics.
• That makes this resource timeless.

New and Improved UPDATE to my 6Cs Critical Thinking Curriculum Unit

Based on teacher feedback, I’ve made it a lot easier to find the files you need.

Make sure to look at the product preview for each resource. You can see full screenshots of exactly what you get in each critical thinking lesson package.

A. Lost at Sea (FREE!)

Download the FREE resource

Help students develop critical thinking skills by prioritizing a list of 15 items to help them survive if lost at sea.

• 5 pages of handouts,
• 23-page detailed critical thinking lesson plan (PDF).

Lost at Sea is a classic activity that can be found all across the Internet.

The original activity comes from  PACE , which published the “Lost at Sea” activity in the public domain. 

Instead of relying solely on emotional, intuitive responses, I’ve adapted this activity to highlight the importance of criteria-based thinking (critical thinking).

Ultimately, the goal is to begin a conversation about critical thinking and how to use criteria to make informed decisions.

B. Thinking about Thinking

Download the resource

Help students improve Self-Awareness and Social Awareness. Guide them through this series of Social Emotional Learning activities!

• By becoming aware of who we are,
• we can begin to think more critically to understand the perspectives of others –
• especially those from different backgrounds or points of view.

Students explore three activities to understand better how our emotions, thoughts, and values can influence our point of view.

Section B has 108 slides, 14 pages of handouts, and 30 pages of Critical Thinking Lesson Plans (PDF format)

C. Search Engine Bias Experiment

Help students improve Social Awareness and Responsible Decision-Making by understanding how search engines influence our bias and behaviour!

Students analyze an informational text (Google™ search engine results) and develop critical thinking internet skills!

• Should online dictionaries give the same definition for a given word?
• Should Google and other search engines give the same results for a given search phrase?

Search engines provide personalized results that can reinforce our point of view and bias. We know Netflix gives us personalized suggestions of what to watch next.

But did you know Google personalizes our results as well? 

We live in an invisible “search bubble” that filters the results we find on the internet.

• Search engine algorithms filter what shows up at the top of the list.
• Becoming aware of this search bubble is a way for students to think more critically.

Informational texts are things based on facts.

• In ELA, we often look at biographies, historical accounts, or textbook articles.
• But, a Search Engine Results Page (SERP) is also an informational text.
• Students explore the text form to analyze and identify potential bias.

In this 9 lesson package, students conduct experiments to see what happens if different people search for the same thing on the internet.

Section C has 117 slides, 14 pages of handouts, and 36 pages of detailed script and Critical Thinking Lesson Plan PDFs

D. Fake News

Help students improve Social Awareness and Responsible Decision Making by exploring fake news from multiple points of view!

Students compare the reliability of information from Social Media and Traditional News Media. 

Three critical thinking strategies help students make more informed decisions.

Students also reflect on how their attitudes change as they learn more information. 

In this lesson package, students try to

• be OPEN-MINDED  as they explore different points of view and examples.
• become FULL-MINDED  and explore how money is made online through ads before learning about Fake News websites during the Trump election.
• USE CRITERIA  to determine if local news anchors reciting the same script about the dangers of social media is an example of Fake News.

Media skills and understandings are embedded throughout the Common Core State Standards rather than treated in a separate section.

In this lesson, students will

• Cite the evidence  that supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly and implicitly.
• Determine and analyze different points of view.
• Analyze a case  where multiple sources provide conflicting information on the same topic (Sinclair incident.)

In this 6 lesson package, students explore how their perspective of social media and traditional news media might change as we learn more information about the Sinclair Script incident. (Essentially, a bunch of local news anchors read the exact same script word-for-word about the dangers of social media and fake news.)

Section D is hands down one of my favourite lessons because it walks students through different sides of a “fake news” issue.

There are 186 slides in the slideshow lesson. You also get 15 pages of handouts. Finally the Critical Thinking Lesson Plan PDFs walk you through 59 pages of detailed scripts and discussion points.

E. Videos F. Consolidation / Review

Help students improve Self-Awareness and Responsible Decision Making skills by using critical thinking to think about critical thinking!

Students analyze four videos to explore critical thinking: 12 cognitive biases, online filter bubbles, and unconscious bias.

After each video, students brainstorm strategies to 1) trick people and 2) help us think critically.

The slideshow lesson reviews three strategies to analyze the videos.

• Be OPEN-MINDED.  Consider alternate points of view.
• Be FULL-MINDED.  Seek out high-quality information.
• USE CRITERIA  to make an informed opinion.

Students also watch a fourth video  about critical thinking to explore other critical thinking strategies.

They then compare strategies  to develop a deeper understanding of how to trick people and think more critically. 

In the Consolidation/Review section, students use a vocabulary-building graphic organizer (Frayer model) to explore critical thinking.

Students brainstorm examples, non-examples, features, and must-have criteria.

Section E/F is the consolidation chapter of this Critical Thinking Unit. It has 50 slides, 12 pages of handouts. You also get 50 pages of Critical Thinking lesson plans PDF FORMAT.

Teach students HOW to think critically to solve problems

We live in a world filled with news media and social media focus on sensational topics.

This is especially true today with new information constantly coming to us about Coronavirus (Covid-19)

It’s easy to get overwhelmed. We’re constantly overloaded with information.

Also, it’s easy to get caught up and respond emotionally.

We all need to be able to think critically when we’re drawing conclusions.

How many of your students get caught up in these situations:

• something goes viral on social media.
• someone spreads a rumour on the school yard.
• something scary happens in the world.
• something unfair happened to them.

A lot of people might say that critical thinking skills and strategies are really just common sense.

But, as we all know from teaching in the classroom, there’s nothing common about common sense.

Explicitly teaching strategies help provide a foundation for critical analysis of everything we see, hear and learn.

Social-Emotional Learning includes critical thinking – whether we’re talking about

• helping students with responsible decision making
• figuring out how to resolve conflict and develop relationship skills
• having self-management skills to set (and work towards) personal goals
• being open-minded and embracing social awareness to ensure we have lots of high-quality information instead of relying on stereotypes
• having self-awareness and examining who we are, and how that might introduce prejudices, biases, and filter the way we see the world.

Sometimes, the News, Social Media, or Artificial Intelligence / ChatGPT can give us a skewed view of the world.

Critical Thinking skills help students work to use logic and reason instead of emotion and fear when making decisions or drawing conclusions. This is a lesson students need but don’t often realize they need.

Critical thinking lesson plans can help teachers empower students to make informed decisions in everyday life independently.

We can do this by giving students specific strategies on how to think critically in multiple situations. Whether you are:

• dealing with fake news
• trying to make an opinion or drawing conclusions
• trying to be fair

Teach students to have opinions based on high-quality information and to seek out opposing points of view to make an informed decision.

• Use criteria
• Be Full minded.
• Be Open minded

(Psst, want a free taste of these 3 critical thinking strategies? Check out this free slideshow lesson and worksheet package .)

Students are often told to find different points of view on an issue or in a story. But, students don’t always recognize that simply identifying the missing point of view is not the same as figuring out what that missing point of view would say.

This lesson package helps students to recognize different aspects of their identity, points of view that might be different from theirs, and the need to figure out those viewpoints to help us make an informed decision.

Sometimes, we don’t even realize we need to think critically!

Here’s an example:

Students often know we need to use the critical thinking process to make informed decisions about the information we receive.

But, did you know we also need to think critically about the information we are fed in the first place?

Notice how that sentence says “the information we are fed” and not “the information we find”?

That’s because computer algorithms are “curating” the content we receive:

• Search engines personalize your results.
• Social media personalizes your feed.
• Streaming media like Netflix personalizes suggestions for other shows you might like to see.

This means, we get information we want to see and not necessarily other points of view.

(Here’s a lesson to help teach students about this search bubble .)

Teaching critical thinking strategies to students is especially important right now to help students solve problems.

This can be in your language arts class, your homeroom, or beyond!

Critical Thinking High School – English

This lesson package would work well in a 9th Grade or 10th Grade English class.

I used to teach 8th Grade in a grade 7-12 High School. Here’s what I often heard from my secondary colleagues:

• Students coming up from elementary school often don’t know the basics.
• Their paragraph structure might be weak.
• Independent grammar and spelling skills have gone by the wayside in an era of spellcheck and Grammarly.
• Students often can’t infer deeper meaning and hidden points of view in a text.

The Common Core State Standards recognizes the importance of informational texts across subjects as students progress from elementary to middle to high school.

Good critical thinking skills are key in academic success as well as to help out when we are drawing conclusions in everyday life. Critical thinking strategies are transferable.

• Teach students HOW to think critically about search engines, news media or social media by putting the focus on the critical thinking strategies we use. Explicitly focus on different strategies…
• Then, when we teach subject-based content or explore informational texts in our English language arts classes, we can refer to these critical thinking strategies and draw back on our prior experiences when we analyzed search engines or debunked fake news.

Critical Thinking Middle School – English Language Arts / Homeroom / Advisory

These critical thinking activities for middle school work well if you teach in a 7th or 8th grade English Language Arts class. (Also, 6th grade if you teach at a grade 6-8 middle school or junior high school.)

Middle school is a great age! Students are old enough to delve into more complex issues, but still young enough to care. (They’re like giant marshmallows! Tough on the outside, but still sweet on the inside!)

Making the critical thinking process meaningful to students is one way to drive student engagement and participation in class.

• The search bubble lesson is interesting because students are collecting real-time data and comparing results. This isn’t a simple web quest where the answers are in the teaching manual. This is a real-world analysis of search results.
• The fake news lesson is a great way to teach point of view. The lesson walks middle school students through different perspectives of the Sinclair Script incident where 193 local news anchors said the exact same script about fake news.
• The invisible lens / thinking about thinking lesson is fun because students get to explore who they are and how that filters the world they see. Plus, your middle school students will be completely shocked that they’ve missed the bear . (Unless they’ve seen it before.)

Critical Thinking for Elementary Students

There’s a lot that older elementary students can get excited about.

One of my favourite parts in the critical thinking lesson plan (PDF) is when students analyze the differences between social media and traditional news media.

We often think that because citizen journalism in social media can be heavily biased because, well, anyone can post on social media.

Then the slideshow lesson asks students to analyze this video :

Crazy, right?

The critical thinking lesson plan PDF file provides a detailed script to help your students make an informed decision about social media vs traditional media.

Usually, we use the critical thinking process to help students realize not to trust everything they see on social media.

But, to be fair, we need to use that same critical thinking process regardless of where we get our information!

Critical Thinking Strategies When Reading

This critical thinking lesson unit ties in nicely with critical thinking reading strategies .

Sometimes students have difficulty using critical thinking strategies when reading.

But we evaluate stuff all the time in real life!

So, if we start our reading strategy lessons first by showing how we think critically all the time in real life, then we just tell our students that we use the same strategies when reading!

Here’s a free YouTube video lesson on the evaluating Comprehension Reading strategy. It goes nicely with this critical thinking unit:

5 weeks of Critical Thinking Lessons (ELA)

We spent over 120 hours of research and lesson development on this product so you wouldn’t have to. 

IMPORTANT: You will have to spend a little bit of time going through the slides and handouts to tweak them to fit your specific needs.

The teaching slideshow has been split into 6 smaller slideshows for each mini-unit.

This would be ideal for teaching critical thinking in English Language Arts as you get more options to divide the content throughout the year.

Note, the critical thinking lesson plans (pdf) include screenshots of each slide as well as slide numbers to help you get oriented. It’s a big file.

Slides 1 – 539: ALL

• Slides 1– 80: Lost at Sea
• Slides 81 – 189: Thinking about Thinking (Teaching Point of View in English Language Arts)
• Slides 190 – 306: Search Bubbles
• slides 307 – 492: Fake News
• slides 493 – 520: Videos
• slides 521 – 539: Understanding 

IMPORTANT DIGITAL LEARNING NOTE:

Digital learning – designed for google classroom (english language arts).

The lessons on hidden search engine bias (Slides 190 – 306: Search Bubbles) have been broken apart into smaller files that can be easily uploaded to separate Google Classroom assignments. 

In the Critical Thinking Search Engine Bias Informational Text section, you would set up 9 assignments. Each assignment would have 

• a lesson ( Google Slides file with the appropriate slides) – you share this VIEW ONLY
• a work handout (Google Doc) – you set the Google Classroom assignment to make every student their own copy of the work handout.

YOU GET 5 WEEKS (24 days) of Language Arts lessons  to do with your class to help them think more critically by using strategies: USE CRITERIA, BE OPEN MINDED, BE FULL MINDED.

IN THE ZIPPED FILE, you get…

• 543 slides  in GOOGLE SLIDE format
• 24 Critical Thinking Lesson Plans (PDF) – approx 45 min per lesson
• LOST at SEA activity ( CRITERIA BASED thinking )
• THINKING about THINKING activity (The invisible gorilla, The invisible lens, Aspects of Identity)
• Should SEARCH ENGINES and ONLINE DICTIONARIES give us the same results? (Two online experiments exploring filter bubbles)
• BREAKING NEWS examples on social media
• The MONEY behind FAKE NEWS (How websites make money online and what this had to do with FAKE NEWS in the US election.)
• LOCAL NEWS media and the Sinclair script from 6 different POINTS of VIEW. (Oh, not sure what the Sinclair script is?  Sinclair Broadcast Group Sinclair made local news anchors recite the same script, word for word . Check out  this video that went viral .)
• Vocabulary Building Graphic Organizer HANDOUT
• Critical Thinking Learning Skills SELF-EVALUATION handout
• Critical Thinking Review Assessment – What did you learn? (12 short answer questions and answer key)

If you want to teach CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS, we just saved you an incredible amount of prep work!

Critical Thinking Lesson Plans (PDF) Curriculum – Table of Contents

24 DAYS of Critical Thinking Lessons in 5 WEEKS.

You can use this Critical Thinking Curriculum as part of your English Language Arts class, homeroom / advisory / guidance class, or if you teach a Critical Thinking class.

PART 1. EXPERIENCE

• DAY/LESSON 1 – Introduction / Lost at Sea (slides 1-35) – 45 MIN
• DAY/LESSON 2 – Lost at Sea continued (slides 36-80) – 50 MIN
• DAY/LESSON 3 – Thinking about Thinking (slides 81-102) 45 MIN
• DAY/LESSON 4 – Thinking about Thinking cont (slides 103-145) 50 MIN
• DAY/LESSON 5 – Thinking about Thinking cont (slides 146-170) 50 MIN
• DAY/LESSON 6 – Thinking about Thinking cont (slides 171-189) 45 MINUTES
• DAY/LESSON 7 – Sources of Information (slides 190-225) 50 MIN
• DAY/LESSON 8 – Online dictionary experiment (slides 226-233) 45 MINUTES
• DAY/LESSON 9 – Online dictionary experiment cont (slides 234-236) 40 MIN
• DAY/LESSON 10 – Search engine experiment (slides 237-276) 50 MIN
• DAY/LESSON 11 – Search engine experiment cont (slides 277-302) 45 MIN
• DAY/LESSON 12 – Search engine experiment cont (slides 303) 50 MIN
• DAY/LESSON 13 – Search engine experiment cont (slides 304-306) 40 MIN
• DAY/LESSON 14 – Fake News (slides 307-334) 50 MIN
• DAY/LESSON 15 – Fake News continued (slides 335-363) 45 MIN
• DAY/LESSON 16 – Fake News continued (slides 364-398) 55 MIN
• DAY/LESSON 17 – Fake News continued (slides 399-430) 50 MIN
• DAY/LESSON 18 – Fake News continued (slides 431-455) – 45 MIN
• DAY/LESSON 19 – Fake News continued (slides 456-492) – 50 MIN

PART 2. WATCH

• DAY/LESSON 20 – Part 2 Videos (slides 493-500) – 55 MIN
• DAY/LESSON 21 – Part 2 Videos continued (slides 501-509) – 50 MIN
• DAY/LESSON 22 – Part 2 Videos continued (slides 510-520) – 50 MIN

Part 3 UNDERSTAND

• DAY/LESSON 23 – Vocabulary Builder (slides 521-537) – 50 MIN
• DAY/LESSON 24 – Self Evaluation / Review – (slides 538-539) – 50 MIN

This is the good stuff. No, seriously.  Check out the preview PDF to see everything that you’re getting.

HEADS UP WARNING! YOU MAY WANT TO MODIFY SLIDES FOR YOUR SCHOOL

(This warning is also in the critical thinking lesson plans PDF) 

Everyone has a different school reality: 

• Some of the examples we use in this resource may not be appropriate for all grades, school climates, and classroom realities.
• Sometimes, as much as we’d love to, we simply don’t have time to have our lessons derailed into teachable moments.  

We tried to come up with different examples from various perspectives, but of course, we are human and have an unconscious bias as well.  

PLEASE ASK US YOUR QUESTIONS. THIS IS A FANTASTIC HIGH-INTEREST MEGA LESSON ON CRITICAL THINKING in ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS.

Here are a few of the slides that we wanted to give you a heads up about. There may be other slides that you may want to modify. We suggest going through the material to make sure everything fits your needs.

NOTE: All of our slideshow files and handouts can be modified.

• Slide 170  looks at various protected grounds in Canada as a way to help students brainstorm different groups of people. The slide discusses race, ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity / expression, marital status, family status, disability, genetic characteristics and convictions for which a pardon has been granted or a record suspended.
• Slide 180  looks at possible answers for different aspects of identity. The slide lists: socio-economic status, nationality, language, colour, age, religion, orientation, gender, race, ability, and culture. 
• Slide 320-323:  Wikileaks release of alleged CIA documents showing CIA covert hacking program to listen through SMART TVs and other devices
• Slide 324-331:  Death of Osama bin Laden which was reported on Twitter first. 
• Slide 459:  The title of article is “We’re journalists at a Sinclair news station. We’re pissed.”
• Slide 481:  The title of article is “How I made a dumb video making fun of Sinclair Broadcasting and somehow started a media war”. 

NOTE: YOU CAN MODIFY, DELETE, and EDIT ALL of the lessons, handouts, and presentations.

• You get GOOGLE SLIDE and GOOGLE DOCS formats SO YOU CAN CHANGE THINGS FOR YOUR CLASS.
• The critical thinking lesson plans pdf is comprehensive and includes suggested talking points for each slide.

Critical Thinking Lessons about Hidden Bias in Search Engines

Informational text unit designed for google classroom.

A search engine is an informational text that we should think critically about. 

But, not everybody knows how to analyze the Search Engine Results Pages effectively to identify hidden bias. (Heck, most people don’t realize the search results we get in everyday life are very personalized and influenced by our search habits.) 

We need to think more critically before we draw conclusions- not only about the information we read online but also about the information choices we receive from our digital gatekeepers  (search engines, media streaming platforms, any other online service that provides a personalized experience based on algorithms.)

Informational texts are things that are based on facts. 

• They can include things like biographies, speeches, opinion pieces, and historical or technical accounts. 
• Informational texts can also include information that appears in graphs, charts, and maps. 
• All of these examples are different from fiction and literature which includes things like novels, short stories, drama, and poetry,

Here are 9 critical thinking lessons to help you explore search engine results.

This is the literacy lesson we should be teaching our students, but it’s a text form and topic that not everyone is familiar with. Search Engine results pages are informational texts that we can (and should) analyze.

Use these high-interest slideshows to help you teach and break down the following concepts. 

• critical thinking strategies and the concept of bias
• different search engines used around the world
• how search engines work
• how to read a Search Engine Results Page
• understanding form, conventions and techniques when it comes to this informational text 

The Google Slideshow critical thinking lessons will teach and walk students through two activities:

• an dictionary experiment to explore whether different dictionaries give the same results
• An search engine experiment to explore whether different search engines and search conditions (i.e. browser, geographic location, date) give the same results

The big guiding question for students to explore in everyday life: Are Search Engines biased? 

• Should different search engines give us different results for the same search phrase? Why or why not?

This unit can be taught in the classroom or for digital learning using Google Classroom.

• The Google Slides presentation has been cut into lessons so you can easily attach the mini lesson to your Google Classroom assignments

Get the Search Engine Bias critical thinking lessons

Note: this unit is included in our critical thinking chapter ..

What critical thinking lesson plans do you use in your classroom?

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Initially, students will learn about the parts of speech, like nouns, verbs, and adjectives. As they progress in their learning, they’ll explore things like irregular verbs and how to construct intricate sentences, phrases, and clauses.

If you’re a teacher or parent looking for printable and digital resources to help your student learn grammar, but you’re not sure where to start, TPT has got you covered. We’ve got a comprehensive collection of grammar resources, created by other teachers, that are designed to help with any need across grade levels — whether you're teaching grammar to 2nd graders or 11th graders. With plenty of TPT resources at your fingertips, you can make a grammar expert out of your students in no time.

Fun and engaging grammar activities to try

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Grammar Word Search

Use word search puzzles to have students locate words that relate to a specific grammar concept (for example, you could have students search for adjectives).

Grammar Bingo

This is a great way to engage the whole class and reinforce a grammar concept your students are learning. Simply call out various grammar rules, sentence examples, or parts of speech, and have students mark the corresponding grammar rule (or error!).

Escape Rooms

Using an escape room-style activity, students can solve grammar puzzles to "escape" within a given time limit. They’re also great for providing children with the opportunity to showcase everything they've learned with a competitive element.

Grammar Quizzes

Regular quizzes can reinforce learning, test students’ mastery of grammar, and help track their progress over time.

These (and other!) activities can help deepen your students’ appreciation for grammar and enhance their creative writing skills.

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