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Lesson Plan
University of Illinois

University of Illinois Extension: Character Education "Do You Mean?"

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Excellent classroom activities for building young scholars' character. Used to motivate students to use higher-level thinking skills, read, and develop an appreciation for their culture. Good resource.
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Lesson Plan
University of Illinois

University of Illinois Extension: Character Education "Read Write Count"

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Excellent classroom activities for building students' character. Activity allows students to build their critical thinking skills, as well as math concepts and the relationships between reading, writing, and thinking.
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Lesson Plan
University of Illinois

University of Illinois Extension: Character Education "Read Write Count"

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Excellent classroom activities for building students' character. Activity allows students to build their critical thinking skills, as well as math concepts and the relationships between reading, writing, and thinking.
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Lesson Plan
University of Illinois

University of Illinois Extension: Character Education "Picture Stories"

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Excellent classroom activities for building students' character. This activity focuses on students' critical thinking, creative, and comprehension skills. Good resource.
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Lesson Plan
University of Illinois

University of Illinois Extension: Character Education "Picture Stories"

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st Standards
Excellent classroom activities for building students' character. This activity focuses on students' critical thinking, creative, and comprehension skills. Good resource.
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Activity
University of Illinois

University of Illinois Extension: Character Education "Two Sides"

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Excellent resource for empowering students to become better learners. This lesson includes promoting the love of reading, helping students understand different points of view, different genres in literature, and critical thinking skills....
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Activity
University of Illinois

University of Illinois Extension: Character Ed "Interpreting Maxims"

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Excellent resource for empowering students to become better learners. This lesson includes motivating students to read, encouraging students to use critical thinking skills, cooperative learning and shared experiences, and appreciation...
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Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Arec: Model for Enhancing Science Literacy Using Field Geology

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This course enhances science literacy by emphasizing the repeated practice of making observations, posing questions & developing hypotheses around a narrowly focused aspect of Minnesota Geology. Students construct new knowledge using...
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Graphic
Other

Flickr: Critical Thinking Skills Poster

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
A downloadable critical thinking skills poster based on the original six levels of Bloom's taxonomy.
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Professional Doc
Other

Youth Learn: The Key to Engaging Students in Learning: Asking Good Questions

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
Explanation of several types of questions, and suggestions for helping students use good questioning techniques in inquiry-based learning. SL.9-10.1c Active Partic
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Activity
American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History: O Logy: Train of Thought

For Students 3rd - 8th
Try out your ability to think like Einstein by working through two thought experiments that help explain how satellites stay in orbit and how the speed of light affects the universe.
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Website
Other

International Baccalaureate Organization

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Learn about the International Baccalaureate (IB)goals and programs of study. This intensive academic program, which focuses on critical thinking and intercultural understanding, is available for all grade levels.
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Lesson Plan
Other

Channel One: Lesson Plan: How to Spot Fake News

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
A lesson plan explores the problem of fake news sites, featuring a Channel One News video about the issue. What are the best approaches to decoding the real from the fake?
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Article
NPR: National Public Radio

Npr: Fake or Real? How to Self Check the News and Get the Facts

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Read a story on Facebook. Read the headline and think it's too good to be true, but it looks like it's from a news site. Experts offer tips to help sniff out fact from fake. One of today's greatest challenges in a media bombarded culture.
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Interactive
ABCya

Ab Cya: Panic in Pet Paradise

For Students 3rd - 8th
It's pandemonium at Pet Paradise Hotel! The picky pets are quite particular about where they are staying. Can you figure out the puzzle correctly so that each dog, cat, mouse and bird is happy?
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Lesson Plan
Read Works

Read Works: Fact and Opinion 1st Grade Unit

For Teachers 1st
[Free Registration/Login Required] A three-lesson unit on fact and opinion through which students learn how to identify opinions through signal words, identify facts in a non-fiction text, and use facts to help them formulate opinions of...
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Article
Other

Critical Thinking: Basic Questions & Answers

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
An interesting interview with Richard Paul discussing what critical thinking means. There are many insights as to what critical thinking involves and how it should be used in the classroom.
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Professional Doc
Mind Tools

Mind Tools: Problem Solving Skills

For Students Pre-K - 1st Standards
Discover the four basic steps in problem solving: defining the problem, generating alternatives, evaluating and selecting alternatives, and implementing solutions. The first step, defining the problem, is discussed in detail. Links to...
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Article
Other

Becoming a Critic of Your Thinking

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This resource presents an article that explains why it is important to be someone who is a good thinker. Provided are four strategies for critical thinking.
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Website
Other

The Critical Thinking Community: Index of Articles

For Students 9th - 10th
Listed here is a wealth of information and articles all pertaining to the idea of critical thinking. Much of the information here can be useful in understanding what critical thinking is and how to apply it to your classroom.
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Lesson Plan
Read Works

Read Works: Predicting 4th Grade Unit

For Teachers 4th
[Free Registration/Login Required] A two-lesson unit focused on students making predictions using details from the text found in Marvin and the Meanest Girl by Suzy Kline, and making predictions within a historical context in the book...
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Handout
Other

Asa Education: Critical Thinking Skills in Education and Life

For Teachers K - 1st Standards
There are many links and resources on this site dealing with critical thinking. It includes everything from the characteristics of critical thinkers to the logic of critical thinking.
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Article
Duke University

Dule Univ.: Enhancing Critical Thinking Skills in Children: Tips for Parents

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Here is a well-written article that provides tips for parents to help them enhance critical thinking skills in their children.
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Lesson Plan
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Sti Lesson 28 the Electric Hearth

For Teachers 9th - 10th
As educators, the goal of developing students into discerning, critical viewers may enable them to negotiate with more confidence through the treacherous waters of today's multimedia. Studying the various viewpoints as expressed in...