4th Grade

               i.- How many of the standards are focused on critical thinking skills? How many not?
               ii.- Pick one and discuss how it could be taught using critical thinking skills and technology.
i.  Below I have listed the standards for 4th grade literature standards for reading and placed my input as to whether it possesses elements of critical thinking.

ELA4R1

warranted and responsible explanation of a variety of literary and informational

texts.

The student demonstrates comprehension and shows evidence of a

For literary texts, the student identifies the characteristics of various genres

and produces evidence of reading that:

a. Relates theme in works of fiction to personal experience.

(yes, this standard requires students to evaluate what they have read and make a comparison to a comparable event in their own lives)

b. Identifies and analyzes the elements of plot, character, and setting in stories

read, written, viewed, or performed.

(yes; this standard challenges a student to take elements from a story an provide an individual perspective for better understanding)

c. Identifies the speaker of a poem or story.

(no; unless the students are compelled to think about the speaker's background or possible circumstances given the events of the story.  Students might also provide the point of view the author is providing)

d. Identifies sensory details and figurative language.

(no; unless the students make comparative associations to the details and language that they are examining)

e. Identifies and shows the relevance of foreshadowing clues.

(yes; students must evaluate the significance of situations and predict its value as it relates to the story)

f. Makes judgments and inferences about setting, characters, and events and

supports them with elaborating and convincing evidence from the text.

(yes; students will be utilizing their pre-conceived ideas and relating them to stories as a means of rationalizing newly introduced events)

g. Identifies similarities and differences between the characters or events and

theme in a literary work and the actual experiences in an author’s life.

(yes; this will be a valuable exercise for students to make comparisons and utilize research tools to compare the two separate thems in meaningful ways)

h. Identifies themes and lessons in folktales, tall tales, and fables.

(yes; students must assess the stories and many possible symbolic aspects of the stories to determine what significance each might have to the real world or their own lives)

i. Identifies rhyme and rhythm, repetition, similes, and sensory images in poems.

(it depends;  students may be challenge in these instances to think critically in regard to the make-up of various sentence structures)

ii.  For Standard ELAR41i, students can utilize Inspiration's program to create mind maps for figurative language in the stories and compare it to their own lives.  Inspiration allows for student created graphic organizers using pictures, text, and organizational structures.  These tools will challenge students to make meaningful connections between the material and their own lives making the lesson relevant in a number of ways.