Problem-solving activities in ESL

How Critical Thinking Makes Classes Better

the overall benefit to the classroom is twofold. Firstly, classes which involve elements of critical thought tend to be generally more interesting and engaging. Consider for example, two possible discussion topics related to a unit on the environment.

• Topic one asks students to summarize the main issues covered in the class in preparation for a final writing activity.
• Topic two asks students to outline the draft of a letter to be sent to the city's mayor addressing their concerns about environmental issues in and around the city.

Though the teacher may find both approaches equal in terms of how well they facilitate language use in class, it is clear that the later topic will encourage a greater degree of participation and interest from the students. Secondly, using issues that encourage critical thinking helps to give the classroom a more meaningful and cohesive environment. Students who feel that they are working together will be more likely to attend classes and will be more involved while they are there.

How it Works

• First the class must identify a problem that is relevant to their lives and interests. Some examples might include:
• The high cost of education at their school
• Overcrowding in the city
• Local noise pollution
• Corruption of city officials
• Visa difficulties for international students
• Next the class should work together to clearly define the problem. This step is important for the completion of the task and the instructor needs to work to make sure everyone is starting with a similar definition.
• Divide the class into pairs, groups, or teams and ask them to list the root causes of the problem.
• The instructor should then identify two or three causes that seem appropriate to the task and ask the students to discuss steps for their correction. Here the instructor must ask the students to keep in mind the real-world consequences to their actions and prevent solutions from becoming imaginary.
• With a little work from the instructor, the students' ideas can be collected into an action plan which can be posted around class or sent to an appropriate official for review. This works particularly well in a university setting where an instructor's colleague can write a response to the class.

Things to Remember

• Problems are everywhere but the instructor must think through the steps in the process clearly before introducing a given problem to the class
• Student generated solutions need to be as concrete and realistic as possible
• Working with an outside agent (city official, university representative, lawyer) for correspondence is helpful as it lends weight and a sense of accomplishment to the project.

Working with texts

Cattle farmers want land to feed their cows which supply cheap beef to North America, China and Russia. It is estimated that for each pound of beef produced, 200 square feet of rainforest is destroyed. Without nourishment from the forest, the soil becomes very poor and dry. The grass often dies after only a few years and the land becomes a crust desert. The cattle farmers then have to move on and destroy more rainforest to create new cattle pastures-a vicious cycle.

Agriculture causes forests to be cut down to make way for plantations where food such as bananas, oil, palm, pineapple, sugar cane, tea and coffee are grown. After a few years the soil becomes very poor and so the farmers destroy more rainforest to make way for more plantations.

Logging is believed to be the second biggest cause of deforestation. Timber companies cut down huge trees and sell them to other countries to make furniture. Smaller trees are often used in the production of charcoal. Vast areas of rainforest are cut down in one go.

Mining is another serious cause of rainforest destruction. The demand for minerals and metals such as diamonds, oil, aluminum, copper and gold are often found in the ground below rainforests. The rainforests have to be removed in order to mine and extract them. Poisonous chemicals are sometimes used to separate the waste from the minerals which often find their way into rivers, polluting water supplies and killing fish and even the birds and other animals that feed on them.

Oil companies destroy rainforests in search of new oil deposits. This is incredibly damaging as large roads are built through often untouched forests in order to build pipelines and extract the oil. This encourages settlers to move into these pristine forests and start farming. The pipelines often rupture leaking gallons of oil into the forest, killing wildlife and contaminating water supplies of local villages.

The Palm oil industry is at present threatening the rainforests of north Esmeraldas.

(This is an extract taken of ETC. magazine)

BRAIN STORMING.- With this activity the students give ideas about the theme.

• Teacher asks the students to make a brain storming about the picture and they predict what the topic is.

PRESENTATION.- the aim of this step is to introduce the class to the new theme and its accompanying language components.

Mimes.- the objective of this activity is the students predict the meaning of the new words.

• The teacher tries to clarify the theme, he or she makes mimes.
• The students predict the meaning,
• The teacher writes the new words on the board and she pronounces them. E.g. Anxious, huge, banana. Logging, Cattle farmers, Agriculture, rainforest, pineapple, sugar cane…
• The students repeat the words over and over.
• The teacher checks the comprehension.

Pictures Procedures: Semantic Pictures.- With this strategy the students may clarify the meaning of new words through questions.

• The teacher shows pictures and says the names of each one. E.g. beef, timber, diamond, pipelines…
• The teacher clarifies the meanings and asks to the students pronounce the words.
• The teacher checks the activity.

Realia and cognitive islands.- The objective is to convey meaning or in combination with something else and about cognitive islands students organize and relate the words into areas of meaning that they share.

• The teacher brings realia ("the real things") into the class: E.g. charcoal, copper, gold, aluminium and ask the students to predict and gather the words in islands. E.g.

• The students predict and gather the words in islands.

CONTROLLED PRACTICE.- In this step the teacher introduces contextualized language to the students including the new language items which the situation requires.

• The teacher asks the students to read the text silently and if they don"t understand any word make questions.
• Some of the students may ask many questions if they don"t know the meaning of the words.

What does nourishment mean? It"s food to make the soil healthy,

What does cattle pasture mean? Grass or similar plants suitable for large farm animal

What does pristine mean? Virgin forest

What do settlers mean? A person who arrives from another place in

order to live on it and farm it.

What does logging mean? Cut down a tree or trees.

• After finishing the reading, the students have to complete the sentences according to the text using the vocabulary provided.

Charcoal rainforest huge

The ____________ in Ecuador are being sold to the companies.

Timber companies cut down ________ trees and sell them to other countries.

Smaller trees are often used in the production of ________.

• The students read the text above and use new linguistic components (new vocabulary) through filling activities.
• The teacher monitors, checks and evaluates the activity.

CREATIVE PRACTICE.- The students incorporate the recently learned language elements into their existing repertoire in order to produce appropriate activities to the needs of the theme.

• The teacher asks to students write a short paragraph about the reading giving suggestions or advices to protect the environment.
• The students write a short paragraph about the reading and give the suggestions or advices to protect the environment.
• The teacher evaluates and verifies the exercise.

CONSOLIDATION.- Is the final step in which the teacher points out to the learners what has been accomplished successfully and what remains to be perfected.

• The teacher feedbacks the new words for the students remember that they have learned.
• The students remember and practice the new vocabulary that they have learned.
• The teacher assigns tasks about the topic.

Critical Thinking Strategies

Goal: Sesame Street Questions, the form of which was inspired by a regular feature on the television program of the same name, will encourage regular use of critical thinking skills. The strategy is simple to use and adaptable in a wide variety of situations.

Objectives: (This is a sample objective of but one option that can be adapted from this strategy.)

Given a series of four items sets of place names, the student will, in each set, select the item that lacks a common characteristic with the other three and he will write in a complete sentence what the characteristic is that the other three items have in common.

Materials: Teacher Creativity.

Procedure: (Again, this is but one example.)

If the strategy is going to be used on an evaluation, students need to be exposed to it several times before that time so they can get used to working with such questioning. Again the strategy can be used with large groups, small groups, or as the focus of a writing assignment. (Student generated questions are a nice source for evaluation material.)

One interesting characteristic of this strategy is that there may be several correct options. For example, take the following set of states:

Washington, North Dakota, Maine, Georgia

One option is Georgia, being the only one that does not border Canada. But North Dakota would be an equally good option as the only landlocked commonwealth of the set.

It is important that students explain what characteristic the three "left in" items have in common. This takes the guess work away from the process and forces students to look for that common thread that binds items together. Students may want to write about what the "other" three items don't have or write about a unique quality that their single choice does have, but these do not demand much discriminatory thought. Requiring them to write in positive terms takes away those options.

Detective Fiction: Focus On Critical Thinking

objectives:

-To motivate students and fully engage them in reading the crime fiction genre;

-To develop and refine critical thinking skills in order to make the most out of the information and experiences that surround students in their daily lives;

-To introduce the problem solving strategies inherent in investigating and solving a crime; and

-To address issues of moral responsibility, race, gender, and the global community.

Reading is a basic tool of learning, preparing students for life outside of school. If an individual can read adequately and develop a life-long love of reading, he/she will not only develop good language and communication skills, but also learn to solve problems effectively in everyday life. It is reading that promotes the essential cognitive development skills one must possess in order to succeed in adult life.

Comprehension is the focal point of the reading process. Learning to comprehend involves relating vocabulary to experience; understanding ideas, concepts, and processes; recognizing relationships; making comparisons; drawing inferences; reflecting and interpreting; and reading between the lines. As these skills are mastered, comprehension occurs and leads to one being able to critically evaluate ideas, which is what is important in modern life. Also, as result of a better understanding of and the ability to decode what has been read, the student should begin to enjoy reading, no longer considering it just another difficult school subject, but something to do for pleasure, opening up new worlds, ideas and information that were once locked inside someone else’s imagination.

This curriculum unit will present the literary genre of detective fiction to entice, motivate, and instruct sixth grade students. It will present a “whole-learning” approach, focusing on improving the critical thinking skills of students through the use of the mystery novel.

Three Detective Science

Objectives: 
Students will compare the scientific method to the methods used by the detective to solve a crime.

Activities:

1. Students will select one of the short stories from the Hardy Boys Detective Handbook, paying close attention to the techniques utilized in the science of criminal investigation illustrated in these true stories taken from police files.

2. On a prepared worksheet the methods used by a scientist to solve problems will be listed. The students will cite examples from the story read which match these methods.

(Sample Worksheet)

Scientific Method

1. observing using your senses;

paying close attention to everything

that happens.

2. classifying grouping things

based upon how they are alike

3. organizing. Putting your information in order

4. inferring. forming a conclusion upon what you think explains an observation

5.  predicting and stating ahead of time what will happen based upon what you already know

6. using variables of manipulating a control; using if/then statements

7. hypothesizing, suggesting an idea or answer to a problem

8. analyzing, studying information carefully.

9. interpreting data, identifying relevant data and trends in data

10. drawing conclusions summarizing the data to answer the question stated in the Problem

 

Writing Haiku  
The Students Will:

• explore the thoughts and feelings of another culture through critical reading of Haiku
• practice creative thinking and writing

Groundwork for the study of haiku poetry should begin with an understanding of the Japanese culture and the exploration of the underlying purposes of the poetry. Appreciation for another culture may be accomplished through the visit of a foreign exchange student, a film on current Japanese life, and a study of oriental art, especially with respect to nature. Students could research Haiku, Japan, and Japanese (and other Asian art) in dictionaries, art books, and encyclopedias, and read more examples of haiku in library books.

This overview of Japanese culture should discourage stereotypes and heighten the students’’ understanding of the people, their daily lives, and their art. With this background, the empathy of the students will develop so that the exploration of thoughts underlying feelings will naturally flow into the creativeness of haiku.

During the discussion of the poetry, questions should be asked about the authors and how they felt and thought when writing the poems, and why they chose to express their feelings with poetry. Some study of Japanese literature may benefit the students’’ understanding of the authors’’ feelings. A background in other nature poems would contrast and give insight into the depths of feelings and ideas expressed in poetry.

Students could evaluate the poems they read. "What do you think of this poem? How does it make you feel? What do you suppose the author was thinking and feeling? Why was it written? Is it well written? Do you like some of these more than others? Which? Why?"

After the students have discussed the culture, the feelings of the authors, and their own responses to the poetry, brainstorming sessions may bring out ideas about nature and an awareness of how other students may express their thoughts through haiku. It is understood that the mechanics of haiku poetry have been taught during appropriate intervals. The instruction may fit in naturally in the discussion concerning other poetic forms and the teacher may draw attention to the number of syllables with questions about the students’’ comparison between the nature poetry and the haiku poems. During the brainstorming sessions, feelings may be identified through the use of colorful words and their synonyms. Descriptive phrases may be listed around a central idea and synonyms substituted to balance the poetry with the correct number of syllables.

Thus the students are well prepared to develop their rough drafts and then to revise and rewrite their haiku poems in an atmosphere loaded with expressed thoughts and rich cultural understanding.

Critique

This lesson missed the opportunity to explore the cultural background of haiku poetry. The teacher is the main investigator and disseminator of information. It is the teacher’s responsibility to research the facts and to give the information to the students. There is no attempt to contrast other poetic styles and little to guide the students’’ thought into creative imagination. Groundwork for the study of haiku is negligible with the exception of a previous lesson on synonyms. The students need to have an enriching, valuable personal experience of exploring the Japanese culture and thereby understanding the underlying purpose and background of haiku poetry. Although the basic facts are introduced in the lesson on haiku, other factors need to be established, such as the quality of emotions and how the feelings may be expressed most effectively. These feelings may be explored through the thoughts of the Japanese authors.

Students are asked to write rough drafts after viewing several poems correctly written, a beginning poem with one line, and two poems with an incorrect number of syllables. After reading aloud the first poems, finishing the one poem, and correcting the last poems, students were assigned haiku poetry on the seasons. At this point, discussion on background the students need, would be appropriate. That is, not only synonyms, syllables, and such, but the emotions, feelings, and thoughts of these would-be writers should be explored. The students would have a more complete understanding of not only the mechanics, but of their thoughts and feelings and how to best express them through haiku.

I should mention that we can use also pieces of poem of other types too, not only Haiku. It’ll help students to be introduced with other cultures and extend their outlook. They can be aware of why they write so using the strategy of critical thinking.  

Journals

The Teacher Will:

• revise journal prompts to require critical thought
• compose thought-provoking journal prompts
• design writing assignments based on journal entries

Standard Approach

Journal writing may be approached in many ways. This lesson instructs students to make daily entries in a journal based on prompts. Example of prompts are:

• If you were an animal, what kind would you be?
• List all the things that are bothering you at this moment.
• What you wish . . .
• Keep track of your dreams and comment on them.
• I would like to change . . .

Twenty such prompts were listed on a page. Journals may be evaluated by the teacher periodically or peer evaluated.

Critique

Personal journal writing is a worthwhile activity. Students improve their writing skills and explore feelings and opinions. They feel freer, and therefore less blocked by excessive worry about mechanics and fulfilling the assignment. Most journal prompts, however, are superficial and don't go far enough. They promote egocentric thinking and don't give students an opportunity to think about their present or future place in society. What could be a critical examination of assumptions and values is reduced to a lesson in vagueness and sloppy opinions.

This lesson will enable the teacher to change personal journal writing to critical journal writing. This does not mean that we stop asking students to write about their feelings or experiences. They will still write about these things, but their expression will be clear and thoughtful. In fact, one of the most common refrains of writing teachers is that students do not write in depth. They shift from one topic to another without transitions; they rarely take the time to analyze anything. This "write and flight" syndrome reflects students' thinking processes.

In order to shift to critical journal writing, teachers rewrite existing prompts to include specific questions which will enable students to respond thoughtfully, or teachers write new journal prompts which explore concepts in a critical way. When rewriting a journal prompt, it would be a good idea to adhere to the question form. Students respond more directly to this than statement prompts such as: Write about the part your present family life plays in selecting future goals.