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 Anne E. Moncure Elementary School 75 Moncure Lane Stafford, Virginia 22556 Phone (540) 658-6300 Fax (540) 658-6292 |
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Methodology
In order to demonstrate that all students in the classroom can learn to think critically, my action research utilized my own fifth grade class. The classroom of twenty-eight students was heterogonous in ability and there were four identified FOCUS (gifted students) with four other students going through the testing process for possible acceptance into the program. The classroom population consisted of many students who are below level in math and reading. Six of my students received daily pull-out intervention reading instruction in addition to daily classroom reading instruction. Students also come from diverse social-economic backgrounds. I conducted my action research in the social studies content area. I administered a pre/post critical thinking inventory to my students before and after the strategy implementation for the unit. This inventory was patterned after the Likert scale model including five answer choices afforded the student and consisted of twenty-one questions. During the unit, the critical thinking strategies of predicting consequences, comparing and contrasting, ranking/prioritizing were included in approximately twenty-five lessons and lasting six weeks in duration focusing on the Revolutionary War objectives prescribed in the Virginia Fifth Grade Social Studies Standards of Learning. A reflective journal was maintained throughout the action research in order to record observations and to reflect on student progress throughout the unit. The journal helped to determine if the lessons needed to be modified before the project was completed. The unit also consisted of group cooperative activities and a student and group project that was assigned at the beginning of the unit. It was due at the culmination of the unit and incorporated critical thinking strategies. A political cartoon was also assigned during the prior unit (Colonial American) and again for the Revolutionary War unit to determine student progress in critical thinking. The analysis of the results of the action research in the following section will focus on the findings. Finally, in a supplemental section, I have included my infused lesson plans, graphic organizers, and the critical thinking maps for the social studies unit and a printed copy of the action research paper presented on my web site under the teachers' resource section. The lesson plans and other supplemental materials, and an example of the student inventory that was used, will be made available to teachers in hopes that they may find the research helpful for use in their classrooms.
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