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At the end of class, I always check for understanding of the material presented that day. Often, I give an excerpt of an article about the topic and let the students compare the information with their notes. It allows them to evaluate the source, develop an opinion of who the writing was for, find the thesis statement, and critically look at the evidence. Sometimes they develop further questions by the content of the article.

How do you check for understanding?

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Often, I use primary sources for students to evaluate critically to bring them deeper into a topic and feel closer to the people involved. Since I'm an 8th grade teacher, we focus on US history so I have given letters from Jamestown, George Washington, excerpts from the Federalist Papers, and Abraham Lincoln's first and second Innagural Addresses.

In your content, how can you engage your students to think critically about a topic?

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I usually pose a question once material is presented to get student's gut reactions. For instance, as a closure debate, I asked if students believed Andrew Jackson should stay on the $20 bill.

How do you keep students reflecting on the material?

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I begin my classes each day with a warm up question from the previous day's material that forces students to analyze the information they were given. Some examples:
1. Why were the Pennsylvania farmers so upset over the Whisky Tax from Alexander Hamilton's Financial Plan?
2. How does geography lead to sectionalism?

What other possible warm ups could be useful to students critically thinking about material?

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Understanding Critical Thinking is important when working with gifted learners.

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Understanding Critical Thinking is important when working with gifted learners.

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I agree - but all students should be challenged and allowed to come up with their own questions within the defined parameters of the content - gifted students may fulfill what you are looking for and should be allowed to challenge themselves with a related topic.

Critical thinking should peek interest in a topic and create questions from answers. Gifted students should be allowed to take critical thinking to their level and run with it – but so should all students. Answers should have substance. If it doesn’t, students may be bored with topic and need to move on to something else. For instance, a close examination into why something happened or how the result influenced changes in society allow all students, not just gifted ones, to really connect prior learning with current content. In my US History class (8thgrade), we often ask questions such as: What effect did Manifest Destiny have on all levels of society? How did the telegraph influence future inventions? How was taxation by the British Parliament similar to Alexander Hamilton’s financial plan? These questions often lead to more questions – students create flow charts from the answers.

What do you think? Please post below.

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Have your students evaluate the evidence in this article - It's amazing!

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Have your students evaluate the evidence in this article - It's amazing!

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or is it...read the article and then see if you agree with the comment below. Feel free to add!

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The space travellers' accounts of strange space sightings were examined under laboratory conditions.

All four astronauts taking part passed the test, carried out using the latest technology.

Experts say the results prove they were "completely convinced" signs of alien life they claimed to have witnessed during historic missions were genuine.

Aldrin, Al Worden, Edgar Mitchell and Gordon Cooper all took part in the study.

GETTY/Granger/REX/Shutterstock

GETTY

"There was something out there that was close enough to be observed, sort of L-shaped"
Buzz Aldrin

The Institute of BioAcoustic Biology in Albany, Ohio, carried out complex computer analyses of the astronauts' voice patterns as they told of their close encounters.

Although the technology is still top-secret, these studies are claimed to be more reliable than current lie detector tests and could soon replace those used by the FBI and police.

One of the first tested was Apollo 11 pilot Buzz Aldrin, now 88 - the second human to set foot on the lunar surface in 1969.

Aldrin has always maintained he spotted a UFO on the way to the moon, saying: "There was something out there that was close enough to be observed, sort of L-shaped."

13 signs of alien life

Daily Star Pictures brings you 13 mind-blowing signs that aliens exist.

Shutterstock / Leo Blanchette

BioAcoustic's Sharry Edwards said tests reveal Aldrin is sure he saw the UFO even though his logical mind "cannot explain it".

Apollo 15 pilot Al Worden, 86, stunned Good Morning Britain viewers when he claimed to have seen extra-terrestrials.

He believes we are all descended from ancient aliens. Voice recordings of fellow Nasa pioneers Edgar Mitchell and Gordon Cooper, both now dead, were also analysed.

Apollo 14's Mitchell claimed to have seen several UFOs, while Cooper actually described trying to chase a cluster of objects. The tests revealed both men believed they were telling the whole truth.

Related articles

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'I saw a UFO' Buzz Aldrin PASSES lie detector test revealing truth about aliens

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The space travellers' accounts of strange space sightings were examined under laboratory conditions. All four astronauts taking part passed the test, carried out using the latest technology. Experts say the results prove they were "completely convinced" signs of alien life they claimed to have witnessed during historic missions were genuine.

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"Critical thinking is not just being critical."