Inquiry-mindedness - The Critical Thinking Consortium

TEACHER RESOURCE #1➤➤If poverty is a topic you wish to explore use the materials on poverty found in this resource andinvite students to rate their general level of curiosity and set a reasonable goal for becoming moreinquiry-minded.➤ ➤ Extension: Invite students to decide whether “Curious George” is an appropriate name for thecharacter in the book. If they don’t think it is, invite them to decide on a more appropriate namefor the little monkey.Apply the concept ineveryday teachingAssess studentunderstanding➤➤➤➤➤➤➤➤At appropriate times over the ensuing several weeks, ask students to use this concept in regularclassroom situations, including the following:• when reading newspapers or watching the news on television;• when presented with a perplexing or challenging problem;• when faced with what seems to be a roadblock to inquiry;• when reading information from a text or other source that appears to present only one perspective;• when developing or assessing solutions to a problem.In addition to inviting students to recognize when they and others exhibit inquiry-mindedness,encourage students to develop the habit, in appropriate situations, of becoming more curious aboutthe world around them.Encourage students to refer to the rubric found in Student Resource #1 when self-assessing theirunderstanding of the concept.• Allow students opportunities to apply the concept two or three times without evaluation.• Guide students in interpreting and using the rubric to assess their own responses.• Encourage students to use the rubric whenever they use this concept.To use the rubric for teacher evaluation of student work, remove the first person (student) referencefrom each descriptor.Tools for Thought 2008–09:3 4 © The Critical Thinking Consortium