Thinking Skills Inset Oct 2006 Why Thinking Skills
- Slides: 7
Thinking Skills Inset Oct 2006
Why Thinking Skills? l l In the UK TS is now well enough established as a means of motivating students and raising attainment, that it is a compulsory component of the national curriculum documents for all subjects. TT is more than just using good teaching techniques – it is about helping pupils to become more aware of their learning, more able to discuss their own use of thinking strategies and more able to transfer their skills. It therefore takes teachers to a different level of operation.
National Curriculum Thinking Skills 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Information Processing Skills Reasoning Skills Enquiry skills Creative-thinking skills Evaluation skills
What do we mean by Thinking Skills? A Thinking Skills approach to lessons aims to: • Develop student’s knowledge of subject content. • Deepen their understanding of the major concepts that underpin the subject. • Improve their communication skills. • Help them become more aware of thinking and learning strategies that they can employ in their studies and everyday lives. • Give them an explicit opportunity to become more effective thinkers and learners.
Strategy Model l l l TS strategies are particular types of activities that can be adapted to suit a range of subjects and key stages. They are designed to be fun, distinctive and manageable. They can be introduced without to much fuss to single lessons, combined to enhance a unit of work or deliberately built into a scheme of work. Examples include: Relational diagrams *Concept maps Maps from memory *Mysteries Taboo *Most likely to……. Mind Movies *Living Graphs
Where do these ideas come from? l These ideas are based on the work of teachers collaborating with PGCE lecturers at the Univeristy of Newcastle upon Tyne & Durham, in the Thinking Through Geography Group. This work has resulted in the Thinking Through ……. series.
The 3 stage model of a thinking skills lesson. Stage One: Launching the Activity. Stage Two: The Activity Stage 3: Debriefing.
