At the beginning of the school year, all the juniors I had were at the concrete-operational stage and could not conceive anything other than what they had their hands on. According to Piaget, the concrete-operational stage occurs when the child is able to solve concrete problems. It is the time when the student displays a logic which is based on a concrete situation he can see, touch or hear. The student cannot think abstractly and cannot understand what is inferred in a written, visual or musical text. My long term goal was to move my students from this initial stage to the formal-operational one that is when the student is able to solve abstract problems. This means the student can infer, develop theories and concerns about the social world surrounding him/her. At this stage the student is able to think hypothetically and reason deductively. The formal-operational thinker can identify general principles or use specific observations to identify a solution or a new theory. Through a long and consistent planning path which was, as I said, primarily formal-operational oriented, I have seen a noticeable improvement. However, they still do not master that stage completely and the strategies of this unit still focus on this primary goal.
In planning all my units, I always follow Vygotsky's theory that the teacher has to assist and guide the students in their learning experience. The Department of Education in the state of Connecticut and the New Haven School District follow Vygotsky too. This theory requires continuous scaffolding - giving information, prompts, reminders, and allowing the students to gain ownership of their learning. This is particularly important for this unit which is based on reading for information because my students would never follow me, if I did not empower them.
Another important theory by Vygotsky is the "zone of proximal development" which is the level at which a student cannot solve the problem or do things alone because he does not know how. That is the point when real learning occurs and when the teacher is needed to guide the student to the solution of the problem. It is only at this level that the learning is directed by the teacher who models appropriate strategies to meet the goal and guides the students in their use of the strategies. At this point, whatever I have planned for my students becomes meaningful and relevant. It is also important to plan a consistent repetition of the task making them aware of the specific strategies they are using to achieve a degree of automaticity.
My unit also takes into account the theory of Multiple Intelligences by Gardner. The concept of intelligence is extremely important in teaching and can never be minimized. All individuals are different and have a different intelligence because they can excel in one or more but they can also meet more difficulties in others. Gardner's Multiple Intelligences theory confirms the fact that there are separate abilities. At the same time, Gardner says that these abilities may not be so separate and that there are connections between them. My students are a clear example. I have students with a specific musical talent who have logical-mathematical skills because they are able to handle long chains of reasoning. I have dancers who have also interpersonal skills since they are able to respond appropriately to the moods, desires, and motivations of other students. I have many students in the honor class who have a clear intrapersonal intelligence but also have capacities to perceive the visual-spatial world, or have a particular sensitivity for the meanings of words, sounds, and language in general.
I support this theory and my unit is based on the cultivation of all these capabilities. As an educator, I feel the responsibility to prepare my students for the community they live in and in a broader sense for our society. The multiple intelligences theory allows me to approach my unit goals in a variety of ways. I can spend a significant amount of time on key concepts and on generating ideas or essential questions. Gardner offers me the effective possibility to introduce the principle of diversification and lead my students to a successful conclusion.
The objectives of this unit as well as the daily assessments are always based on the Bloom's taxonomy, which is another important aspect for the development of the critical thinking. I usually try to include all or most of the six steps of the taxonomy in each lesson plan just to guide the students in their thinking process. The six levels of the thinking process are:
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1. knowledge (the thinking skill refers to the ability to recognize the concepts that have been taught);
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2. comprehension (this thinking skill involves the interpretation of prior knowledge);
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3. application (this skill allows the student to transfer the information he just learned to a new task);
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4. analysis (this thinking skill implies the ability to examine, predict, and draw conclusions)
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5. synthesis (this thinking skill says that a student combines the prior and present knowledge to originate a new product);
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6. evaluation (this thinking skill refers to the ability to assess or criticize on the basis of specific criteria).