Building Thinking Classrooms

Peter Liljedahl (2021). Building Thinking Classrooms.
Library Link: https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.proxy.library.brocku.ca/lib/

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Chapter 1
Goal: Learn about the different types of tasks that you can use to build a
thinking classroom, where to fine them, and how to design your own.
Problem solving is a messy, nonlinear process.
A good problem solving tasks requires students to get stuck, to experiment,

and fail, and to apply their knowledge in novel ways to get unstuck.
Tasks:
Highly engaging thinking tasks; organized by grade band

Card tricks
Engages mathematics, see examples here:

www.peterliljedahl.com/teachers/card-tricks
Numeracy tasks
Engage by making relevant to student's lives.
Note for each tasks there are different levels

The problem with these engaging and thought provoking tasks to get
students to think is that they are considered non-curricular, and to map them
to curriculum you are teaching is challenging.
Issues with widely used word problems are that once decoded, mathematics
is a trivial part to solving. Curriculum tasks are often what students do when
they know what to do- after they have been shown. This leads to mimicking.
To combat this, begin by asking students to solve before being shown what
to do.
FAQs
Mimicking is good at teaching students how to replicate routines, it is easily

acquired and memorized. It displaces thinking.
Thinking tasks are best within the first five minutes when beginning a lesson.
Curriculum used in Alberta created curriculum based around thinking tasks

for grades 2,3 and 8 found at https://www.aliciaburdess.com/
What are some of the things in this chapter that immediately feel correct?
What are some of the things in this Starting lessons off with a task to
chapter that immediately feel get students involved and thinking
correct?
The introduction mentioned that All other day to day classroom

almost all students who mimic routines and tasks are first
express that they thought this is mimicked by teacher's, with the
what they were meant to be doing. expectation students follow. We
This chapter shares that one of the encourage them to use certain
ways in which students come to phrases with others, and mimic
this conclusion is by having their our social interactions.
teachers show them how to do
something before asking them to
try it on their own. What other
ways may we be communicating
that mimicking is what we want
students to do— even if that is not
what we want?
In this chapter you read about the It shows students the 'right' way
negative consequences of to achieve a solution. In other
mimicking. Can you think of any classroom aspects this is a
positive benefits? If so, do these positive regarding behaviours,
positive benefits outweigh the however it does not outweigh the
negative consequences? benefits when thinking critically.
You have read in this chapter that

curriculum is inherently spiraled
and, therefore, there are very few
examples where you would
introduce a topic for which students
have no prior knowledge upon
which such a script can be built.
Can you think of some examples of
such situations in your curriculum?
If you can, is there really no prior
knowledge that can be drawn on?
In this chapter it was shown that Barriers include managing more

students perform better on scripted undesired behaviours during this
curricular tasks if they have first time; pressure to meet current
experienced three to five classes of expectations even though they
working on highly engaging non- are related and built upon
curricular tasks. How do you feel
about giving up this time? What are
the barriers for you to do this?
What do you stand to gain? What
do you stand to lose?
What are some of the challenges Creating unique and

you anticipate you will experience challenging/engaging tasks that fit
in implementing the strategies in with curriculum. Possible to
suggested in this chapter? What overcome by doing a lot of unpaid
are some of the ways to overcome research before classes to fit this
these? in

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Peter Liljedahl (2021). Building Thinking Classrooms.

Library Link: https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.proxy.library.brocku.ca/lib/

Problem solving is a messy, nonlinear process.

A good problem solving tasks requires students to get stuck, to experiment,

Highly engaging thinking tasks; organized by grade band

Engages mathematics, see examples here:

Engage by making relevant to student's lives.

Note for each tasks there are different levels

Mimicking is good at teaching students how to replicate routines, it is easily

Curriculum used in Alberta created curriculum based around thinking tasks

The introduction mentioned that All other day to day classroom

You have read in this chapter that

In this chapter it was shown that Barriers include managing more

What are some of the challenges Creating unique and

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