Monday, March 04, 2013

21st Century Research: Tools for Critical Analysis

The next step in my quest to update learning strategies and processes is to embed new tools and processes into learning design to optimize learning for all students.

Soon my students will embark on our 4th grade signature project, endangered species.  As in the years past I hope to grow the project this year so that students engage in research with greater critical thinking skills, thoughtful process and new tools.

Hence, I'll begin a collection of tools, processes and critical thinking skills in this post to guide my work.  If you'd like to share a resource, please do.


  • Word Clouds to Understand Main Ideas: We'll use this strategy to cull the main ideas from our introductory articles.  Students may use this approach with other articles as the unit progresses if they wish.
  • Gaming
  • Flipping
  • Collaborative Research
  • Guided Research Website: I hope to update the website with the teaching team prior to the start of the unit. 
  • Organization of Unit Summaries and Introduction
  • Project Menu