Critical Thinking Handbook, 4Th-6Th Grades: A Guide for Remodelling Lesson Plans in Language Arts, Social Studies and Science

These handbooks have a double goal in that they aim at making the concept of critical thinking and the underlying principles clear to the reader and also they demonstrate in a very practical way how critical thinking can be taught in the classroom. The writers highlight both general strategies and demonstrate how these can be incorporated into individual lesson plans. The writers make a very important point when they suggest that the teaching of critical thinking should permeate the whole curriculum and reach out into the environment of the child's home and everyday life. The writers stress the importance of the development of critical thinking in the early years of the child's life so that the skills can be systematically developed to form a repertoire of working tools that the child carries through into his/her adult life. The writers urge the teachers to build critical thinking not as a series of isolated strategies but as skills that mutually support each other and work towards a unified end. They also emphasize the affective element as well as the cognitive aspect of thinking. These texts would form a very valuable structure for inservice education courses and for staff development within individual schools. Through discussion, teachers could take the various model lessons and apply the principles to their own classroom situation. If all the teachers in a school worked co-operatively and systematically then the pupils would receive training in the skills and the consolidation of those skills in every area of the curricum.