Hayley Moir's slides on thinking skills

1. Higher Order Thinking
Haley Moir
Teacher of History & Modern Studies

2. Introduction
 Changing patterns of employment affect young
people’s future careers. To manage these
changes, young people need to leave education
equipped with the skills to adapt and continue
their lifelong learning.
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3. Studies have found that teachers who employ
‘thinking skills strategies’ believe that:
 Their own teaching benefits as well as their
pupils’ learning.
 Pupils are less de-motivated and bored about
their learning.
 Pupils develop greater responsibility for their own
learning
 Pupil’s confidence grows to the point they are
willing to suggest new ideas that make you, as the
teacher, say “I’ve never thought of that”
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4. Social Subjects
 Social Subjects can be brilliant & exciting subjects
that have a rightful place in the curriculum to
assist in the delivery of the four capacities.
 Our concerns as teachers are not so much with
the subject but with pupils’ learning. Our subjects
should assist learning, not simply be a load of
content to be delivered.
 Thinking skills represent a fresh perspective on
more traditional methods of teaching & learning.
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5. The Thinking Skills below complement the
key skills embedded in any Social Subjects
programme of study:
 Information- processing skills
 Reasoning skills
 Enquiry Skills
 Creative thinking skills
 Evaluation Skills
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6. SO, HOW DO I THIS IN MY
CLASSROOM?
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7. Taboo
 Taboo is a game involving describing key words
without being able to use words which are most
associate with them.
 Taboo has the advantage of not being dependent
upon high levels of literacy and is therefore
accessible to the poorer readers.
 Pupils have to think & talk about the meaning of
the specific word and in doing so, construct &
clarify deeper understanding of Social Subjects.
 Taboo is a very useful tool in Formative
Assessment. 7

8. 8
BIRMINGHAM
Television
Protest
Water Canon
Bombingham
Governor Wallace

9. This activity encourages pupils to:
 Use speaking & listening skills
 Define key terms
 Develop vocabulary
 Make connections
 Participate in a fun activity & gain self-
confidence
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10. Opinion Corners
 A national priority in education is to promote
citizenship by fostering a broad understanding of
society & the key issues which shape it. In order
to meet this aim, it is essential that pupils have
the opportunity to engage in these issues,
allowing them to form opinions and come to their
own conclusions.
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11.  Put your name on your post-it and give one reason to explain
your thinking!
 Stick it on the board next to the answer you agree with.
What do I think?
Totally
wrong
Totally
Right
Unsure
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Opinion Line – Prison is the best
form of punishment for all crimes

12. Who do you think should be
responsible?
 We will read each issue below and think about
whether the rules should be made by the UK
Parliament or by the European Union.
 Move to the side of the classroom that best
represents your ideas. Be prepared to give
reasons for your answers.
UK Parliament European Union
Left hand side Right hand
side

13. There a number of advantages to
using this strategy:
 Pupils are participating in the lesson & are taking
responsibility for their own learning as they are
coming up with arguments themselves rather
than simply being given the information.
 Pupils are putting into practice the main
principles of Enquiry Skills as they are stating an
opinion & then supporting it by explaining their
reasoning.
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14. Mysteries
 A mystery task will allow pupils to engage with
text and source material and to ask enquiring
questions.
 In groups, pupils are presented with disordered
pieces of information relating to a recently
studies theme.
 The group work together to identify & resolve the
mystery.
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15.  You will be given clues and information along
the way to help you solve the mystery.
 You must only open the envelope when told
to.
 Each group must fill in their ‘evidence file’!
A few rules…

16.  A woman has been found dead in her house!!
 No one can explain the cause of her death.
What on earth has
happened??
Your task is to work as a
group to solve the mystery
and present your case to the
mayor of the city.

17. You will need to think about the following
for each source and fill in your sheet;
What can I see?
What can I learn from the evidence?
What does this tell me about the cause of
death?
What can I use from the evidence to
support this?
What you need to do…

18.  As a group you need to produce a brief
summary of your findings in a report!
 Make sure as a group you write it down!
 You will have 2 minutes maximum to
present your findings to the room!
Trying to solve the mystery…

19. 19
One minute she was fine, and then
all of a sudden she started vomiting
and had a dreadful case of
diarrhoea. I made sure that she
went to bed but I then had to go to
work. When I came back her skin
had turned a blue-black colour, it
was horrendous! Her eyes had
sunk into her head she really
looked a mess! It was so horrible
having to watch her struggle to
breath, but then it was so quiet. I
knew that the best thing that could
have happened did and she no
longer had to suffer. I still have no
idea as to what caused her to
become so ill! However, I have
heard something about a disease
called Cholera!

20. Odd One Out
 Odd One Out is a game based thinking
activity.
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21.  Odd One Out employs a number of important
skills that are used on a daily basis in the “real
world” such as:
 Classification
 Sorting
 Discussion & decision-making
 Connections
 Listening
 Feedback/justification 21

22. 3-5-7
 One your mini white board write down 3
issues facing African Nations.
 Speak to your shoulder partner & now come
up with 5 issues, write these down.
 Now join with another pair & come with 7
issues facing African Nations.
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23. The advantages of this strategy
are:
 This can be done very quickly
 There does not need to be any preparation at all
 It encourages pupil discussion and less able pupils
to more likely answer as it is a group answer.
 Pupils are learning from each other
 Pupils learn sorting & selecting skills as they have
to argue their case with others in the group.
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24. Last time
3-5-7
Odd One Out
Mystery
Pack
Opinion
Line/Corners
Taboo
Tarsia