It’s essential to teach our students to think flexibly and consider multiple points of view. Flexible thinking leads to product innovation, diplomacy between nations, and advances in science. School, however, often encourages students to settle into a “one right answer” mindset.
All AboutDeductive Lessons
A deductive lesson is one that moves from a big idea towards examples or whole to part.
As the teacher, you give students a generalization, big idea, or other abstract statement. Then, students work with examples (or counter-examples) to support or refute the generalization.
The advantage of a deductive lesson is that you can give students a statement that they would never have thought of. Use your giant, college-educated adult brain and lifetime of experience to craft a statement that will push their thinking.
Start a deductive unit or lesson with a statement like:
- Great writing is both predictable and unpredictable.
- Creativity begins with following rules.
- Going slowly at first allows you to go faster in the end.
Then, students spend the rest of the learning experience proving or disproving your statement with evidence they've uncovered.
Here are some articles which incorporate deductive thinking:
Patterns In Writing I: Introduction
Take a break from teaching the details of writing and examine narrative writing from a larger perspective. How can structure increase creativity in writing? Take your gifted writers on a journey through common patterns in narrative writing.
The Original Puzzlement: A Zoetrope
As teachers, I spend a ton of time searching for inspiration to enliven my lessons. But sometimes, inspiration hits as soon as you leave the desk and books behind. Friday my wife and I took a trip to Disneyland and saw this unbelievable (literally, it seems like magic) intersection of art & technology.
Introducing Universal Themes and Generalizations
Generalizations, big ideas, abstractions, universal themes… they are designed to help our gifted students learn. However, what I didn’t realize was that they would help me teach!
Movie Previews and Poems’ Tones
In California, both Third and Sixth grade teachers are required to teach students to recognize elements that contribute to the tone of a written piece. I struggled with this abstract concept before landing on an engaging tool to help express the meaning of tone: movie previews.