Lesson 12

Lesson Goals

Texts

Core

• • “Critical Thinking for College, Career, and Citizenship,” Diane F. Halpern, Brookings Institute, 2016

• • 1984, George Orwell, Signet Classics, 1949

Materials

Tools

• 1984: Section 1 Diagnostic Checklist

• Mentor Sentence Journal

• 1984: Thematic and Central Ideas Note-Taking Tool

• Vocabulary Journal

Editable Google Docs

• 1984: Section 1 Diagnostic Checklist

• Mentor Sentence Journal

• 1984: Thematic and Central Ideas Note-Taking Tool

• Vocabulary Journal

Activity 1: Read – Discuss – Write

We will work in groups to review our answers to the guiding questions for the informational text “Critical Thinking For College, Career, And Citizenship.”

In small groups, use your annotations to discuss the following question:

1. How would the government of Oceania respond to Diane F. Halpern’s perspective on critical thinking?

Activity 2: Read – Write

We will analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure the author uses in her blog post, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging.

Step 1

While a blog post might be considered a more informal type of writing compared to academic essays, it is essential for any written product to have its information organized in a way that clearly communicates the author’s intended message to the reader.

Reread "Critical Thinking for College, Career, and Citizenship." As you read, annotate the main idea for each paragraph. Review your annotations and analyze how the ideas are organized to build upon one another. Ask yourself the following questions:

1. What type of writing is this text (i.e., argumentative, informative or expository, literary analysis, narrative)?

2. What is the organizational structure of the text?

3. Is the organizational structure effective for communicating the author’s intended message?

Step 2

Write a paragraph in which you explain how the author structures her blog post and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure. Support your explanation and evaluation with details from the text.

Activity 3: Read – Discuss – Write

We will read three mentor sentences from “Critical Thinking For College, Career, And Citizenship” to examine how the writers use a colon.

Reread the following mentor sentences:

Education is about the future—students learn in schools and other places based on two underlying assumptions: (a) What they learn today will be recalled sometime in the future when the knowledge is needed, and (b) today’s learning will transfer across time, place, and space.

Critical thinking has two main components: understanding information at a deep, meaningful level, and overcoming fallacies and biases.

If you are thinking critically, and I hope you are, you may be wondering: Can we teach students to be better thinkers?

What do these sentences have in common? They all use a colon. The colon is a punctuation mark that can be used for multiple purposes:

• to introduce a list or long quotation

• to connect two sentences when the second sentence summarizes the first

• to signal a clarification or emphasis

Look at the first mentor sentence. Turn and talk with a partner and discuss how the colon is being used in the sentence.

Repeat these steps for the other two sentences.

Now, return to your draft paragraph on structure. Scan your paragraph for a potential place to use a colon, and if there is one, add it in. You might have to add, delete, or rearrange words as you revise the sentence.

Activity 4: Read – Discuss – Write

We will read three mentor sentences from “Critical Thinking For College, Career, And Citizenship” to examine how the writers use the abbreviation “E.G.”

Reread the following mentor sentences from "Critical Thinking for College, Career, and Citizenship":

It is different from, but often relies upon, simple recall (e.g., what does five plus seven equal?), unsupported opinions (e.g., I like vanilla ice cream), and automated actions (e.g., stopping at a red light).

You could learn to recite the definition of the theory with little meaning (e.g., photosynthesis is a process used by plants to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water using sunlight) or you could process it at a deeper level.

What do these sentences have in common? They both use the abbreviation e.g. and parentheses. The abbreviation e.g. is for the Latin phrase exempli gratia which translates to "for example." When using e.g., you should always put a comma after the abbreviation, and it should always be placed within parentheses.

Return to your draft paragraph on structure. Scan your paragraph for a potential place to use e.g., and if there is one, add it in. You will likely need to add, delete, or rearrange words as you revise the sentence.

Activity 5: Read – Discuss – Write

We will prepare for the section 1 diagnostic by examining the task and distinguishing between thematic ideas and central ideas.

Examine the Section 1 Diagnostic Checklist.

We have identified several thematic ideas that have emerged throughout the first five chapters of the novel. Now, we will connect those thematic ideas to central ideas.

While thematic ideas are general and can apply to many texts, central ideas are the focused ideas of a specific text. They are directly tied to the text, highlight the author’s main point, and are expressed as a complete thought. See an example of the difference below, using the children’s book Charlotte’s Web.

• Thematic idea: power of friendship

• Central idea: Charlotte and Wilbur become unlikely but devoted friends who ultimately save Wilbur’s life.

Notice how the thematic idea is found in the central idea and how the central idea is more specific and directly connected to the text.

Now examine the notes on your Thematic and Central Ideas Note-Taking Tool. Work with a partner to expand the thematic ideas you identified into central ideas tied directly to the text.

Activity 6: Read

For homework, we will prepare for the section 1 diagnostic by gathering evidence for our responses.

For homework, select two central ideas that you would like to write about for the Section 1 Diagnostic. Assess whether or not you have sufficient evidence to support your analysis. You need at least three pieces of evidence for each central idea. If not, return to the novel to gather more relevant details.

Review your Vocabulary Journal. Identify a significant word or words that you would like to use in your response to the Section Diagnostic.

Review your Mentor Sentence Journal. Select at least one technique that you plan to use when writing your response to the Section Diagnostic