21 Visual Thinking Tools for the Classroom

Book excerpt: This resource is for any busy teacher looking to enrich their lesson planning and support the development of critical thinking, problem-solving, and metacognition skills. Designed for use in Grades 5–10, each of these 21 tools is paired with a real-world issue or ethical dilemma to guide students through complex social, emotional, and intellectual topics and can even be used within your existing lessons. Every chapter introduces a different visual thinking tool and a step-by-step approach for a range of topics from challenging bias and promoting self-awareness to reflecting on social interactions. Stories from the classroom and world, a range of ethical issues, and student and educator examples illustrate how the tools can be used. Ideal for in-service teachers in Grades 5–10 across content areas regardless of curriculums, these tools will inspire your students to be open-minded and actively engage in classroom discussions while developing new and different perspectives about themselves, your lessons and the world around them. The 21 Harbord & Khan Thinking Tools © featured in the book are available to download for classroom use at www.routledge.com/9781032662923.