A growing body of research over the past several

 decades indicates that teaching students how to

be better thinkers is a great way to support them

 to be more successful at school and beyond.

 In the book,Teaching Students to Drive Their

Brains, Dr. Wilson shares research and many

motivational strategies, activities, and lesson

ideas that assist students to think at higher levels.

Five key strategies from the book are as follows:

1-Facilitate conversation about why it is important

 to think critically at school and in other contexts

of life. Ideally, every student will have a

contribution to make to the discussion over time.

2-Begin teaching thinking skills early in the school

 year and as a daily part of class.

3-As this instruction begins, introduce students to

the concept of brain plasticity and how their

brilliant brains change during thinking and

learning. This can be highly motivational for

students who do not yet believe they are good

thinkers!

4-Explicitly teach students  to use  thinking skills.

5-Facilitate student understanding of how the

thinking skills they are learning relate to their

 lives at school and in other contexts.

Below are two lessons that support critical

thinking, which can be defined as the objective

analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to

form a judgment.