Steffen Saifer - Hot Skills; Developing Higher-Order Thinking In Young Learners

Table of Contents

Other Redleaf Press books by Steffen Saifer

Practical Solutions to Practically Every Problem: The Survival Guide for Early Childhood Professionals, Third Edition

Published by Redleaf Press

10 Yorkton Court

St. Paul, MN 55117

www.redleafpress.org

2018 by Steffen Saifer

All rights reserved. Unless otherwise noted on a specific page, no portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or capturing on any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a critical article or review to be printed in a magazine or newspaper, or electronically transmitted on radio, television, or the internet.

First edition 2018

Cover design by Tom Heffron

Cover photograph and illustration by iStock.com/ideabug and iStock.com/bulentgultek

Interior design by Michelle Lee Lagerroos

Typeset in Arno Pro, DIN 2014, and Black Coffee

Interior photos and illustrations: Art images on page 27, clockwise: Rosenwald Collection, courtesy of the National Gallery of Art; Gift of the W. L. and May T. Mellon Foundation, courtesy of the National Gallery of Art; Collection of Mr. and Mrs. John Hay Whitney, courtesy of the National Gallery of Art; Chester Dale Collection, courtesy of the National Gallery of Art; Chester Dale Collection, courtesy of the National Gallery of Art; Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, courtesy of the National Gallery of Art; Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, courtesy of the National Gallery of Art; Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, courtesy of the National Gallery of Art; tree images on page 3031, L-R: iStock.com/nancykennedy, iStock.com/AVTG, iStock.com/Whiteway, iStock.com/weible1980, iStock.com/mirceax, iStock.com/jdt01fgo, iStock.com/heliopix, iStock.com/Jill_InspiredByDesign, iStock.com/anmbph, iStock.com/alphavisions, iStock.com/CribbVisuals, iStock.com/FrankvandenBergh; Page 51: iStock.com/Alex Belomlinsky, iStock.com/webeedesign, iStock.com/Vectorchoice; Page 53: iStock.com/Steve Debenport, iStock.com/WilleeCole, iStock.com/isaravut, iStock.com/olaser; Page 151: iStock.com/Victor_85, iStock.com/FrankRamspott, iStock.com/ , iStock.com/Serhii Brovko, iStock.com/chokkicx, iStock.com/Sergey Oplanchuk, iStock.com/RedKoalaDesign, iStock.com/skalapendra; Page 152: iStock.com/pijama61, iStock.com/AVIcons

ISBN: 9781605545578 (eBook)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

CIP Data has been applied for.

To my children and their children and the generations to come.

May they learn from my generations mistakes to be

more kind than we have been heartless,

more responsible than we have been puerile,

more respectful than we have been churlish,

more generous than we have been mercenary,

more honest than we have been venal,

more erudite than we have been foolish,

more peaceful than we have been savage.

Contents

Table of Figures

I am beholden to the dozens of thought leaders whose wisdom has inspired me over the course of my career. Some are friends and colleagues, some are acquaintances, and some I know only through their higher-order thinking: Elena Bodrova, Barbara Bowman, Alicia Brandwine, Berry Brazelton, Sue Bredekamp, Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Margie Carter, Deb Curtis, Linda Darling-Hammond, Stanislas Dehaene, Daniel Dennett, Stephanie Feeney, Michael Fullan, Howard Gardner, Dan Gartrell, Stacie Goffin, Janet Gonzalez-Mena, Jim Greenman, Vivian Gussin Paley, James Hymes, Marilou Hyson, Elizabeth Jones, Daniel Kahneman, Lilian Katz, Herb Kohl, Jonathan Kozol, Cassie Landers, Deborah Leong, Eda LeShan, Rebecca Marcon, Sam Meisels, A. S. Neill, Robert Pianta, Daniel Pink, Steven Pinker, Jack Shonkoff, Daniel J. Siegel, Dorothy Singer, Jerome Singer, James Wertsch, Martin Woodhead, and Ed Zigler.

Nothing makes me happier and more hopeful than seeing great teachers work their magic. Like most people, I intuitively know a great teacher when I see one, but describing exactly what makes a teacher great is not so easy. Although I can readily see the results of their magicstudents are engaged, excited, motivated, inquisitive, happy, productive, and learningit has taken me quite a while to figure out just how they do it. As it turns out, how they do it is not readily observable and, as with magic tricks, what is observable can obscure the actions that create the magic. Great teachers, like magicians, often do two or more things at the same time. Here are two examples:

I observed a teacher helping a group of kindergartners resolve a conflict about how to build a castle with blocks. She only asked questions and stayed with them until they came up with their own solutions. What does everyone think of Rays idea? Does someone have another idea? What task can Sam do that would help the group? Why does that feel unfair to you? What would make it more fair? Does everyone agree? The students had surprisingly sophisticated ideas and negotiation skills. They ended up with an agreement to build several different versions of the castle.

A second-grade teacher, whose students were all children or grandchildren of farmworkers, created a theme-based study of local crops, farming, and farm work. Lessons based on state standards in math, science, social studies, reading, writing, and art were integrated into the activities. In addition, the students learned how wages and prices are set and a few other basic economic concepts. Among other activities, students interviewed family members and wrote their stories in English and Spanish, with photos and drawings. The class created a board game called From Farm to Table that tracks crops from planting to consuming and presents obstacles like drought, overplanting, shortage of workers, striking truckers, negotiations with retailers, competition, marketing costs, and changing food preferences of consumers. The teacher created a website with the students work, which they proudly shared with their families on cell phones or on computers in the community library.