The Critical Thinking Tools Guidebook by Robert Seth Price, Senior Mentor with National Urban Alliance, is a practical guide to support student centered learning with high level thinking skills. These tools support K-12 across all subject areas as a common thinking language. Each section includes practical descriptions for using the models and strategies, visuals and steps to model practical implementation, research to support understanding and QR codes to video examples.
Download the Newark Public Schools Guidebook

Human Rights and Mobile Critical Thinking Tools

Article I of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:  All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

All humans deserve to have and enjoy equality in dignity and rights. For equality, all humans must have equal access and opportunity to practical tools and methods for critical thinking with their daily actions. Critical thinking methods and skills provide equality for the full realization of participation in the greater human community locally and globally. Methods and tools that assure each human an equal opportunity for active and high impact participation in education, with healthcare and for their greater community. The purpose of this guide on Mobile Thinking Tools is to model the importance of putting theory into practice with practical methods, how to learn the methods, and models of excellence. Concurrently the guide connects the research behind the practical methods thoughtfully using them in practice for understanding both the tools (the how) and the research (the why).

The following four pillars of critical thinking are models of practical methods that are the core of developing critical thinking skills.

Collaborative Communities are three supporting methods of collaborative tools for individual and collaborative success. These include:  community building exercises and models, collaborative learning methods and peer-to-peer coaching.

Questioning Methods are used to engage students in curiosity, exploration, discovery and discussions. This includes effective methods for developing questioning skills leading to inquiry based shared inquiry.

Open Source Visual Mapping is for organizing and understanding thinking individually and collaboratively. The maps support recognizing patterns of thinking along with the frame of reference to understand different perspectives.

Thinking Environments is an awareness, understanding and a process focused on the design, interface and impact of the environment including a person’s use of space, materials, and objects.
Download the Newark Public Schools Guidebook