An introduction to Thinking Skills

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An introduction to Thinking Skills James Hoyle
and Paul Wyton Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar
School
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A stroll and a chat!!!
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Neo cortex (Higher cognitive functions, Speech,
Reasoning)
Limbic system (emotions, feelings)
Amygdala and Reptilian brain Old brain! (Fear,
Survival, Mating instinct)
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Blooms Taxonomy classification of levels of
learning
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• Remember
• Thinking Skill activities tend to be typified by
• Being brave enough to allow them to struggle a
  bit!
• Avoidance of spoon feeding!
• Minimal teacher intervention!
• Collaboration working on challenging stuff
  together/finding team solutions!
• High emphasis on the spoken word/articulation of
  thoughts!
• High level of involvement/engagement!
• Reflection on how things went/how to improve
• And ... A Thinking Skills exercise can be short
  or extended!

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The skills and ideas-driven world we are
preparing our kids for....... a few thoughts

• A singing birthday card has more computer
  technology than existed in the entire world
  before 1950.
• A mobile phone has more computer power than
  there was used in the first ever space launch.
• Through nanotechnology we can build machines
  that are so small that you can barely see them.
• We are trialling a heat-seeking submarine which
  is just four millimetres long to deliver
  medicines, lasers and cameras into the
  bloodstream.
• If you wanted to buy bullet proof glass for your
  office through which you could fire out but
  no-one could fire in, you could.
• While it took the radio 38 years, and the
  television a short 13 years, it took the World
  Wide Web only 4 years to reach 50 million users.
• In 2007, Facebook.com was given an estimated
  value of 15 billion dollars! It began as a small
  project on the campus of Harvard University in
  2004!

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Science has opened the door but artistry and
creativity will take us through it. (- Paul
Allen, partner to Bill Gates in the Microsoft
story)
Thats all well and good but what about...
quadratic equations, verb endings, glaciation,
the suffragette movement, iambic pentameter,
perspective, dovetail joints, the periodic table,
gravity, life cycles, octaves, trapping and
volleying, baking cakes that we have to do?
Our conundrum The skills driven world versus
the content driven curriculum! - You have three
minutes in pairs ... the clock starts now!
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• A little task...
• Information processing
• Reasoning
• Enquiry
• Creative Thinking
• Evaluation

Using precise language - describe and draw!
Sequence
Locate information
Explain
Separate relevant from irrelevant
Predict outcomes
Test conclusions
Make judgments
Make decisions
Analyse
Apply imagination
Draw inferences
Ask relevant questions
Deduce
Suggest hypotheses
Compare and contrast
Classify
Find alternative outcomes
Judge value of what they read/hear
Dealing with unexpected restrictions or
constraints
Pose and define problems
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Robert ist ein kleiner, dicker, junger Mann! Er
isst jeden Tag viel Fast Food und hat grosse
Pickel! Seine Mutter ist besorgt und spricht mit
ihm
Mutti Robert Mutti Robert Mutti Robert Mutti Rober
t
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