critical thinking - crayola

Champion Creatively Alive Children™

FACilitAtor’s Guide

CRITICAL THINKING

CRITICAL THINKING Champion Creatively Alive Children

Welcome to Champion Creatively Alive Children, a program designed to empower school leaders, teachers and communi-ties with inspiration, knowledge and tools that can unleash the imagination and develop the originality in every child.

Crayola and the National Association of Elementary School Principals, in partnership with the National Art Education Association and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, have teamed up to help you champion creatively alive children. This program will help you build support for arts-infused education, which develops the “4 Cs” skills all students need to succeed today and in the future.

How Can You Use Materials to Fit Different Schedules?A full day or several half days of professional development? Present all five training modules.

A 90-minute workshop? use one training module—or parts of all five modules.

A 30- or 60-minute presenta-tion to your school board, parents or community members? show one or two of the videos that fit the group’s interests or needs and modify the presentation and activities to meet participants’ needs.

A 15- or 20-minute opportunity in a staff or parent–teacher gathering? show one or two of the videos and engage participants in one of the hands-on exercises.

Who Could Lead a Workshop or Presentation?• Art teachers who serve as the

“Chief Creative officers” in schools and are experts in the “why to” and “how to” deliver arts-infused education

• Principals and other school leaders who champion creativity as an essential skill throughout the school community

• Curriculum coordinators and academic coaches who present promising practices, help foster cre-ativity and broaden the instructional repertoires of other educators

Customize the Program for Your School Champion Creatively Alive Children is a comprehensive training program that you can adapt easily to your schedule and your school or community needs. the training modules can be used separately or as a series to spark the interest of faculty members, parents and the community.

FRee Download of All Five Facilitator’s Guides, Videos, PowerPoint®

Presentations and Handouts

The complete Champion Creatively Alive Children program is available at no cost to educators from Crayola and the National Association of Elementary School Principals.

Crayola.com/CreativelyAlive

NAESP.org

Crayola.com/CreativelyAlive

www.NAESP.org

FACilitAtor's Guide CRITICAL THINKING page 3

Champion Creatively Alive Children SeriesThe 4 Cs: 21st Century Skills

CreativityDiscovering novel ways to think, learn and do

Critical ThinkingUsing original ideas to solve problems

CommunicationExpressing thoughts and feelings effectively

CollaborationWorking in partnership with others toward a common goal

plus

Arts-Infused Education AdvocacyChampioning the integration of the arts across the curriculum and school-wide to build the 4 Cs

Third graders at Monticello Intermediate School in Monticello, AR, planned and built castles from clay and sticks in an outdoor “learn-ing garden,” then observed and pondered the deterioration and disappearance of the castles over time. This project-based, arts-integrated experience took students through the process of scientific inquiry, including understanding data, reading reports, analyzing science notes and dis-cussion to agree on a common scientific conclu-sion. Months later, students still expressed vivid memories of constructing the castles—and an understanding of the concept of erosion.

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Arrange to have your supplies and equipment on hand:

• Art supplies

• Handouts

• Evaluation forms

• Equipment to play the short video and show the PowerPoint slides (e.g., an interactive whiteboard, computer, DVD player, TV and/or projector)

• Refreshments (optional)

Planning a Workshop or Presentationthis facilitator’s guide provides all the information you need to engage different audiences in your school community in exploring Critical thinking, one of the 4 Cs.

this guide provides a step-by-step plan for facilitating a 90-minute workshop. You can modify this plan to fit the schedule and needs of your participants.

Planning StepsGet up to speed. review the short video, PowerPoint presentation and resources included with this guide to learn more about the role of critical thinking in education.

Customize your presentation. Craft your presentation to engage specific audiences, to work within your time constraints, and to fit your personal style. Practice your presentation to help it run smoothly.

Promote participation. schedule the event, reserve your meeting space and plan how you’ll arrange the room (e.g. semi-circles promote discussion). Plan where you’ll engage in hands-on activities. several weeks before the event, post the invitational fliers, and reach out to people to encourage participation. Consider communicating via school e-mail, newsletters, Web or social networking sites.

engage a team to help. Collaboration is key. Who can you count on to help set up the space, handle invitations, assist you with the technology for showing the video and PowerPoint, and arrange refreshments? recruit a team to help with these tasks. if the workshop leader isn’t an art teacher, ask for the art teacher’s help with the presentation. As “Chief Creative officers” in schools, art educators’ expertise is invaluable for presenting the content, helping participants benefit from hands-on creative experiences and succeeding in infusing art across the curriculum.


Framing a Workshop or Presentation

ObjectivesAfter completing this workshop or presentation, participants will:

• understand why critical thinking is an essential 21st century skill for students and faculty

• Know the 4 Cs of critical thinking:

ChallengeCompare–Contrast ChoicesConnectCreate

• understand their role in promoting arts-infused education to foster critical thinking skills

• ———————————————————————————————

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(Add your own objectives above. For example, if you assign any next steps, such as a “try it in your classroom or at home!” activity for teachers or parents, you might want to capture the expected outcome.)

Customize the Presentation

Sample Outline and Schedule for a 90-Minute Workshop*

10 minutes introductions and Warm-up exercise

10 minutes Video and Brief discussion

20 minutesGroup Activity: take a Closer look at the thinking Behind Visual Voices

10 minutes small-Group discussion: Bloom’s taxonomy

30 minutes Hands-on exercise: thinking—Critical to survival

10 minutes summarize Key Points and Plan Next steps

90 minutes* to modify for a shorter session, select the components

that fit your schedule and needs.

this presentation works as a stand-

alone workshop or as one module in the five-part series. the five workshops could be delivered in any order and over any time period. Here are some forums where you could present this workshop or share the video and lead a brief discussion:

• Professional develop-ment for the entire fac-ulty at staff meetings or training sessions

• Gatherings of grade-level or subject-area educators

• Parent–teacher, school board or community meetings

• school leadership and innovation meetings—particularly for audiences interested in 21st cen-tury skills and education transformation

You can mix and match the presentation components to fit your needs and your audience. For example:

• use the short video only as the springboard for a 15- to 30-minute discussion.

• skip one hands-on exer-cise to shorten the pre-sentation to 60 minutes.

• use the handouts to brainstorm ideas to develop creativity in your school community.

• develop your own hands-on exercises.


Delivering a Workshop or Presentationuse the PowerPoint to support the workshop, keep the audience focused on discussion points and introduce the exercises. the PowerPoint is a framework enriched by information and exercises you will share as the facilitator.

Introductions and Warm-Up Exercise discuss the objectives and the planned activities. Per-sonalize this introduction so that it is relevant to your audience and shows your belief in the power of critical thinking.

explain that critical think-ing is a highly valued 21st century skill. Critical think-ing means bringing together existing knowledge and new understandings, making complex choices, “connect-ing the dots” among differ-ent pieces of information, and applying knowledge to solve problems in innovative ways. Warm-Up Exercise

Critical thinking means different things to different people—and many people are confused by the term. use this warm-up exercise to get participants to articulate a quick, short “snapshot” of some aspect of their understanding. the responses will help them begin to develop a shared understanding of the term.

Ask participants to consider, “What comes to mind when you hear the words ‘critical thinking’”? Ask them to jot the first thought that comes to mind … it doesn’t have to be a deep thought, just a quick one. is it a person? A profes-sion? A book? A product or company? Ask them to introduce themselves using the quick thought as their middle names (e.g., Ann einstein Becker, sally Neuro-surgeon Jones).

After everyone has introduced themselves with a quick, common association with critical thinking, share some of these definitions of critical thinking.


Challenge• Inspire fresh thinking.

• Build on prior knowledge.

• Stretch to generate novel and original thoughts.

Compare–Contrast Choices• Observe and gather information.

• Analyze the relevance and usefulness of information.

• Differentiate among the choices.

• Evaluate the risks and benefits of pursuing each choice.

Connect• Reflect on what is already known and newly discovered.

• Bring ideas together.

• Synthesize to reassemble and reorganize thoughts for understanding.

Create• Evaluate ideas.

• Plan ways to create a desired outcome or project.

• Persevere, since creating a project might not come easily or quickly.

• If you were the artist, what might you do differently and why?

4 Cs oF CRITICAL THINKING

What Is Critical Thinking?Critical thinking means making complex choices and solving problems in innovative ways.

Critical thinking means bringing together existing knowledge and new understandings, “connecting the dots” and applying knowledge to new contexts.

Critical thinking involves stretching what a student knows, building on prior understanding and persevering to find new solutions.

Introduce the 4 Cs of critical thinking that you will explore.

“ Incorporating

creativity into

math takes

it from rote

learning of

algorithms to

a living topic

with unlimited

applications. This

collaboration

has been some

of the best

professional

development

for our teachers

this year.”

—Michael Craver, Principal,

Flocktown–Kossmann Elementary School,

Long Valley, NJ

Student artwork courtesy of Evergreen Mill Elementary School, Leesburg, VAStudent artwork courtesy of Bower Hill Elementary School, Venetia, PA


Group Exercise Take a Closer Look at the Thinking Behind Visual Voices

use this exercise to help people explore evidence of the 4 Cs of critical thinking in student artwork.

divide the participants into four groups. use the PowerPoint slide with examples of students’ artwork and the “creativity statements” that accompanied the artwork, which were submitted for Crayola’s Visual Voices exhibition. (if you don’t have equipment to show the PowerPoint on a large screen, you can print and distribute copies of the Visual Voices artwork slide.)

Assign each group one piece of artwork and ask them to discuss the art and student statement, using the 4 Cs of critical thinking as guiding principles. Ask the groups to answer these questions:

• What do you think inspired this artist? What challenge was the art-ist addressing? What stretched the artist to generate original ideas?

• What choices do you think this artist considered? What compare–contrast process do you think the artist used?

• What mental connections do you think this artist made? Where do you see evidence of the artist bring-ing ideas together? reflecting on what was already known and newly discovered? How did the artist reassemble or reorganize thoughts?

• How do you think the artist planned the methods for creating? do you think the artist persevered in creating the desired outcome?

Give the four groups 10 minutes for their group discussions. At the end of 10 minutes, ask the groups to select one person to share their answers with the whole group.

Video and Brief Discussionshow the critical thinking video. Facilitate a brief dis-cussion. Ask for reactions and questions. Ask what resonates. use this oppor-tunity to introduce some common myths about critical thinking and ask participants what they think about them:

Dispelling Myths

Myth: Critical thinking only applies to school sub-jects like science and math.

Reality: Critical think-ing is a crucial skill for high performance in all sub-jects, including the arts, and for solving problems in everyday life.

Myth: Critical think-ing means remembering information.

Reality: Critical thinking is a higher-level, complex cognitive process.

Myth: the way to assess students’ critical thinking is to see if they can find one solution to a problem or one right answer to test questions.

Reality: Critical thinking involves exploring many solutions and deciding which one best fits the situation.


Photos and student artwork courtesy of RJ Richey Elementary School, Burnet, TX

Small-Group Discussion: Bloom’s Taxonomy

use this activity to help participants understand that “thinking” is a complex process. Not all thinking is equal. the goal of educators and parents is to move students toward higher-level thinking that helps them learn.

introduce Bloom’s taxonomy, a classification of levels of behavior in learning. remembering is the simplest way of thinking; analyzing and evaluat-

ing are higher forms of thinking, and creativity is the highest form of thinking.

Ask participants to work in small groups. Ask each person to share an example of a learning experience that pushed their

own thinking, or their students’ or children’s thinking, to higher levels of critical thinking.

As an extension or option to this small-group discussion, share this Chinese proverb from

Confucius: “i hear and i forget, i see and i remember, i do and i understand.” this

is an easy way to remember that more engaging experiences lead to higher-

level thinking. Ask participants to write and share their own proverbs

about critical and creative thinking.

At RJ Richey elementary School in Burnet, TX, art has opened up new avenues of inquiry in the science curricu-lum. Fourth and fifth graders work in collaborative teams as they use LCD microscopes to examine scientific speci-mens, then transform their observations into individual “micro” drawings and “macro” 2D and 3D artwork. Art is helping students see the beauty of scientific detail and craftsmanship as teachers challenge them to push them-selves intellectually and creatively. As a result, students cre-ate scientific artwork with less clutter, more definition and greater attention to detail. Teachers have learned to use a tool they call “wait time” to allow students to digest infor-mation, think about their interpretations and respond with observations, which they turned into podcasts.

Teachers are using hands-on arts strategies to help stu-dents understand how simple machines work—a require-ment on the state assessment for fifth graders. For example, students explore the impact of design on the path a marble travels. Then they interpret their discoveries by creating “marble maps” using oil pastels. Students also study inspirational artists who have fought adversity and didn’t give up—role models for science and other subjects as well.

Students are excited about the visual, project-based learn-ing—and teachers also notice that this pedagogy responds to the needs of special education students.

Challenging Students Intellectually and Creatively


Summarize Key Points and Plan Next Steps

Key Points• Critical thinking is a

valuable 21st century skill that contributes to higher-level learning.

• Creating is the ultimate form of critical think-ing. the arts are a natural way to foster critical thinking and creativity.

• the 4 Cs of critical thinking—Challenge, Compare–Contrast Choices, Connect and Create—provide a structure for complex thinking.

• educators, parents and community mem-bers can foster critical thinking by providing opportunities for stu-dents to stretch their minds, apply knowl-edge to new contexts and use the arts as a springboard to creative problem solving.

Next Steps (Optional)

• introduce your own arts-infused education initiative.

• discuss objectives.

• Assign tasks and deadlines.

Hands-On Exercise: Thinking—Critical to Survival

use this exercise to give participants a practical, creative experience with the 4 Cs of critical thinking.

divide participants into groups of four. Give each group a bag of Crayola Model Magic® (and markers) and prompt the groups with this task:

Challenge. imagine that all the ani-mals currently living on earth have become extinct. Your group has the opportunity to create a new species of animal. Your goal is to make it as extinction-proof as possible. think about these questions and plan for your species’ survival:

• Where will your species live—in a desert, tundra, ocean, jungle?

• What will your species eat? How will this food affect your animals’ physical attributes (e.g., sharp teeth for carnivores, long necks for herbivores)?

• How will your species move? think outside the box and consider unlikely

choices (e.g., jet propulsion, robotic technology, or built-in supermagnets to hitchhike on spaceships)?

• How will your species communicate and relate to other family or tribe members? How does that affect physical attractiveness and mating?

• What predators might attack your animals? How do your animals escape or protect themselves? What would you design in your species for extra predator protection?

Compare–Contrast your choices.

Make connections to what you know and want for your species.

Create. design and then create your new species.

Give the groups:

10 minutes for discussion and planning

10 minutes to create their new species from Model Magic and embellish their designs with markers. urge them to name their species and plan how they will present unique features.

10 minutes to present their insights on the critical thinking needed to create and showcase their animal creations to the larger group


Evaluatedon’t forget to distribute evaluation forms to collect feedback that will help you plan your next workshop.

Facilitator’s Tools• Critical thinking Video

• Critical thinking PowerPoint

• evaluation Form

Handouts for Printing or Photocopying• Critical thinking

Art SuppliesHelp participants explore critical thinking in hands-on exercises with an assortment of art supplies. Choose colorful, tactile supplies that make group activities memorable. try these Crayola products:

• Model Magic®, a unique modeling material that’s soft and pliable (8 oz. for each team of four people), for the thinking— Critical to survival exercise

• twistables® crayons

• Pip-squeaks™ markers

• Paper

At Flocktown-Kossmann elementary School in Long Valley, NJ, the art teacher and fifth-grade math teachers collabo-rated to teach students mathematic and algebraic concepts using Piet Mondrian’s iconic paintings.

Students analyzed this artist’s work and created their own Mondrian-inspired artwork. Then they integrated artistic concepts—composition, line, shape, space, form, light, color and texture—into stud-ies of mathematics and algebra. The study

and creation of art became a focal point for learning about the Cartesian plane and the coordinate system in a project-based learning environment.

To implement an idea like this in your school, start brainstorming challenges that require critical thinking and planning how to organize the experience.

Other Ways to Explore Critical Thinking Engage in an Arts-Infused Critical Thinking Experience


Program Concept and development by Cheri sterman, director, Content & Consumer relationships, Crayola

Writing and Design by Vockley•Lang

Photography except where noted by John Pinderhughes

Not for sale. Available for free at www.Crayola.com/creativelyalive

© 2011 Crayola llC. serpentine design® PowerPoint is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

About the Sponsorsthe Champion Creatively Alive Children program is a collaboration between Crayola and the National Association of elementary school Principals, with support from the National Art education Association and the Partnership for 21st Century skills.

http://www.crayola.com/

http://www.naesp.org/

http://www.arteducators.org/

http://www.p21.org/

Student artwork courtesy of John P. Oldham Elementary School, Norwood, MA

Starting with Art Stimulates Writing

Visual expression helped students at John P. oldham elementary School in Norwood, MA, think in more complex ways as writers. Teachers there incorporated the arts into the literacy, social studies and science curriculum.They discovered that even reluctant writers have something significant to say when they start by illustrating their stories and later writing to explain their artwork. Students represented their thinking concretely and imaginatively in their artwork, which stimu-lated richer writing. Artwork scaffolded stu-dents’ learning and gave them something to focus on and refer back to in their writing.

Capturing students’ creative energies engaged student writers and encouraged them to invest more effort into developing their ideas, refining their word choices and sticking with the process far longer than they had before. Teachers noticed that students’ writing projects demonstrated growth over time in vocabulary, topic development, creativity and imagery. Starting with art helped students' work reflect a deeper understanding of content.

http://www.Crayola.com/creativelyalive

http://www.crayola.com/

http://www.naesp.org/

http://www.arteducators.org/

http://www.p21.org/

critical thinking - crayola

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