Teaching Students to Decode the World by
In our media-saturated environment, how can we teach students to distinguish true statements from those that are false, misleading, or manipulative? How can we help them develop the skills needed to identify biases and stereotypes, determine credibility of sources, and analyze their own thinking and its effect on their perceptions? In Teaching Students to Decode the World, authors Chris Sperry and Cyndy Scheibe tackle these questions as they introduce readers to constructivist media decoding (CMD), a specific way to lead students through a question-based analysis of media materials--including print and digital documents, videos and films, social media posts, advertisements, and other formats--with an emphasis on critical thinking and collaboration. Drawing from their decades of experience as teachers, consultants, and media literacy advocates, the authors explain how to * Develop and facilitate CMD activities in the classroom and in virtual teaching environments; * Implement CMD across the curriculum, at all grade levels; * Connect CMD with educational approaches such as project-based learning, social-emotional learning, and antiracist education; * Incorporate CMD into assessments; and * Promote CMD as a districtwide initiative. This comprehensive guide explains the theoretical foundations for CMD and offers dozens of real-life examples of its implementation and its powerful impact on students and teachers. Equipped with CMD skills, students will be better able to navigate a complex media landscape, participate in a democratic society, and become productive citizens of the world.
New Critical Thinking by
Introduces advanced students of literature to the latest critical thinking Following a scene-setting Introduction which reflects on the state of 'theory' today, the 11 chapters in this volume introduce new areas of critical thinking which go beyond the standard 'isms': Literary Reading in a Digital Age; Critical Making in the Digital Humanities; Thing Theory; Memory Work and Criticism; Body, Objects, Technology; Criticism and 'The Animal'; Multimodality and Linguistic Approaches to Literary Study; Critical and Creative Practice: Conditions for Success in the Writing Workshop; Affect Theory; Spectrality; Critical Climate Change. A final rounding off chapter on Historicising presents debates around historically oriented criticism, including a 'round table' among the contributors. Each chapter also provides a critical 'case study' of a text or texts, including poetry writing guides, a Seamus Heaney poem, film adaptations of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, e-readers and kindles, First World War poetry and prose, steampunk, and Robert Macfarlane's The Old Ways. From 'Thing Theory' to animal theory, multimodality to film adaptation, and from acts of reading in a digital age to the creative writing workshop, the volume reflects a radical reorientation in critical modes of thinking. Key Features: Presents cutting-edge debates presented to more advanced students in an engaging yet sophisticated way Provides a wide range of 'case studies' including poetry, film, reading devices, popular fiction & non-fiction prose Reflects newly emerging ways of teaching critical ideas in the classroom Opens criticism to dialogue and possibility
Compassionate Critical Thinking by
Teachers can't add more minutes to a school day, but with mindfulness they can add depth to the moments they do have with students in their classroom. Compassionate Critical Thinking demonstrates how to use mindfulness with instructional effectiveness to increase student participation and decrease classroom stress, and it turns the act of teaching into a transformational practice. Many books teach mindfulness, but few provide a model for teaching critical thinking and integrating it across the curriculum. The purpose of this book is to show teachers how to create a classroom culture of compassionate critical thinking. When students feel a lack of meaning and purpose in their school lives, they resist learning. Using a Socratic style of inquiry, Rabois changes the classroom dynamic to encourage self-reflection, insight, and empathy. Vignettes capture dialogue between teacher and students to illustrate how mindfulness practices elicit essential questions which stimulate inquiry and direct discovery. What bigger mystery is there, what more interesting and relevant story, than the story of one's own mind and heart and how they relate us to the world?