Curriculum 2.0 - Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, MD

How Do You Think?

Academic success involves possessing attitudes and behaviors that enable students to reach their full potential in academic settings.

Creative thinking involves putting facts, concepts, and principles together in new ways and demonstrating a novel way of seeing or doing things. During creative thinking students may disregard accepted principles.

Critical thinking involves being objective and open-minded while thinking carefully about what to do or what to believe, based on evidence and reason. During critical thinking students deeply question and apply accepted principles.

I Analyze

I notice what's alike and what's different.
I describe what parts make up a whole.
I look for patterns.
I see how things fit together.
I sort objects.

Analysis is a critical thinking skill—Breaking down a whole into parts that may not be immediately obvious and examining the parts so that the structure of the whole is understood.

I Synthesize

I put things back together after I have taken them apart.
I see how new ideas come from other ideas.
I make something new out of the parts I already have.
I organize my thoughts.

Synthesis is a critical thinking skill—Putting parts together to build understanding of a whole concept or to form a new or unique whole.

I Evaluate

I question facts and claims, including my own.
I demand evidence!
I check the reliability of information I’m viewing or reading.
I know what to do when two sources of information conflict.
I rank my options based on criteria.

Evaluation is a critical thinking skill—Weighing evidence, examining claims, and questioning facts to make judgments based upon criteria.

I’m a Flexible Thinker

I listen to others ideas and thoughts.
I’m not always right.
I question answers I’m given.
I often ask “why” questions.
I want evidence!

Flexibility is a creative thinking skill—Being open and responsive to new and diverse ideas and strategies and moving freely among them.

I Think Fluently

I come up with lots of new ideas.
I express the ideas or thoughts in my head by writing, drawing, talking, or acting.
I draw the same thing in many different ways.
I know many ways to answer a question.
I ask a question in many different ways.

Fluency is a creative thinking skill—Generating multiple responses to a problem or an idea.

I Elaborate

I add descriptive details to my writing, conversations, and drawings.
Explaining something exactly how it happened takes time and thoroughness.
I add new details and explanations.
I explain my thinking when I give a simple answer.
I make elaborate artworks!

Elaboration is a creative thinking skill—Adding details that expand, enrich, or embellish.

I am Original

I create new ideas and products.
I explain, draw, write, or act out my answers in new and inventive ways.
I create different solutions to problems.
I turn other’s ideas and products into something new.
I see problems as a chance to learn something new.

Originality is a creative thinking skill—Creating ideas and solutions that are novel or unique to the individual, group, or situation.

I Collaborate

I listen without interrupting.
I tell people what I think I heard them say.
I ask other people what they think.
I work with others to accomplish a goal or task.
I know how to lead a group and be member of a group.

Collaboration is an academic success skill—Working effectively and respectfully to reach a group goal.

I am Persistent

I expect learning to be difficult sometimes, so I set challenging goals for myself.
I know how to accomplish my goals.
When things get difficult, I think of other ways to accomplish my goal.
I never give up. I ask for help when learning is too difficult for me.

Persistence is an academic success skill—Working diligently and applying effective strategies to achieve a goal or solve a problem; continuing in the face of obstacles and competing pressures.

I Take Intellectual Risks

I answer questions when called on.
I ask questions to help me understand - every day.
I share what I am thinking in my group.
I share my ideas even when I am unsure.
I challenge myself to rise to the next level.

Intellectual Risk Taking is an academic success skill—Accepting uncertainty or challenging the norm to reach a goal.

I Think About How I Learn

I think about what I already know about a topic before I begin learning more.
I notice the ways I learn best.
I improve my learning by choosing ways to learn that work well with me.
I notice when I am struggling and get help.

Metacognition is an academic success skill—Knowing and being aware of one’s own thinking and having the ability to monitor and evaluate one’s own thinking.

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