Critical Thinkers

What skills do your students need to be critical thinkers?  

My 7th grade social studies classes this year consist of a variety of learning levels.  Like all heterogeneous classrooms, I have students who are reading on a 3rd grade  level, ones who can barely speak English and a large majority  who possess gifted qualities.  How can I encourage them all to be critical thinkers????

Critical thinking entails students’ ability to think more abstractly.  Everyday I see students who can recall basic facts but can they even relate beyond the facts?  Each year students’ abilities to think more in depth should increase.  As a social studies teacher, my students are expected to draw conclusions between the countries we are studying and the United States.  However, I am sad to say that not all my students have mastered this concept.  They also should leave my classroom with the ability to examine cause and effect pertaining to different concepts.  How will I ensure all my students will be able to conquer this task?

Personally, I believe my students should begin the year learning about different countries and cultures.  By addressing other ideas hopefully with time my students will automatically be able to see any similarities or differences that might occur between their own lives and those who they are learning about.  For those learning behind grade level, this is a big achievement, however, my gifted students should be able to automatically see the connections and take it a bit further and relate it back to the entire United States.  By taking small steps, hopefully every students ability to think critically will grow with time and practice.  

Students should also be walked through the steps of reaching critical thinking.  By examining the different phases students will see their accomplishments and realize there is more to learning than restating facts.