worksheets - Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

Teacher’s
Corner
Level IV
Lesson 2
Start the class by revising the step-wise thinking lesson. Now bring out the importance of
thinking capabilities. Ask students what they do to keep physically fit. They may say, ‘We
exercise our body to remain physically fit’. Tell them, that exercise of mind is important
for mental fitness. Mention that solving puzzles, mental sums, stories and computer games
can be an effective mechanism for exercise of the mind.
The purpose of this lesson is to build clarity of thought in students. A foundation for the
same is provided by step-wise thinking and it is further reinforced in this lesson.
To teach logical thinking, discuss examples where children use logical thinking in every day
life. For instance, you may ask the students, why they do not cross the road when vehicles
are moving. You can elaborate that while crossing the road, they reason out that: (i) they
should not cross the road when the vehicles are passing, and (ii) they may be hit if they are
not careful. They wait for the walk signal to be green, so that the vehicles stop and they cross
the road safely.
Ask several ‘WHY’ questions. For example:
i. Why are vegetables washed before cooking?
ii. Why do you not put your finger in the flame of a burning candle?
iii. Why should we learn good manners?
iv. Why should we help others?
v. Why should we speak truth?
Explain that step wise thinking is about identifying the steps of a solution. The sequence
of steps may be fixed sometimes or interchangeable. For logical reasoning, they have to
understand the rules and conditions. You can give the example of cooking a vegetable.
First ask them about the steps to follow. Tell them that this is an example of making a
vegetable. Now question them on why to follow the steps in that order. In many a situation,
questioning leads to logical reasoning and finding a solution. Encourage students to ask
questions while solving a problem.
Narrate a story to the students that highlights logical thinking. Ask them questions that
require logical reasoning after you have told them the story. For example, you can refer
stories of Akbar and Birbal, Tenali Raman.
Explain the concepts covered in the lesson and make the students solve the examples in
the class. You can make the students enact the puzzles in the class and help them solve it.
Tell the students that many a times they have to make a choice. For this, logical thinking is
required. Pose the puzzle of choosing fruits in the lesson to illustrate this.
Summarise the lesson emphasizing the importance of thinking. Give them puzzles to solve
where they have to detail the steps and understand the conditions to arrive at the answer.
Further Reading:
http://www.kidsdomain.com/kids/links/Puzzles.html
http://www.indiaparenting.com/stories/panchatantra/panch010.shtml
http://www.aimsedu.org/Puzzle/fencingNum/fence1.html
http://www.det.wa.edu.au/education/gifttal/activities/ideas.htm
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