1

Contents

Rationale and Lesson Overview……………………………………………....3

Lesson 1: Introduction to Critical Thinking………………………………….. 4

Resources………………………………………………………………6

Lesson 2: Elements of Reasoning and Intellectual Standards………………..9

Resources……………………………………………………………..11

Lesson 3: Arguments………………………………………………………...16
Resources……………………………………………………………..18

Lesson 4: Biases……………………………………………………………..21
Resources……………………………………………………………..23

Lesson 5: Fallacies…………………………………………………………...25
Resources……………………………………………………………..27

Lesson 6: Judgements……………………………………………………….28
Resources……………………………………………………………..30

Lesson 7: Summary………………………………………………………….31
Performance Task and Rubric………………………………………....32
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This series of lessons is meant to be taught alongside a social studies unit. These particular lessons are
designed with grade 9 in mind, however, these could be adapted depending on what grade/unit you are
teaching. The purpose of these lessons is to help students decipher news and media that they are
constantly being exposed to in the digital world around them. With so much information at our
fingertips, it is extremely important to be able to think critically about information that is presented to
us. Using these lessons will provide students with the skills that they need to critically think about all the
information that is accessible to them. Students will learn how to analyze arguments, identify fallacies,
and come to their own reasoned judgements and conclusions about critical issues that they will face in
their own societies. Beginning with the basic terminology, and then breaking down the process of critical
thinking into steps that can be used for a wide variety of sources, students will gain the skills needed for
critical thinking and a better understanding of its importance in their day-to-day lives.
The end goal of these lessons is for students to produce a pocket guide for critical thinking. This pocket
guide will include questions that are important to ask in order to critically think about information that is
being presented.
Example sources for analysis will be provided, however, it would be beneficial to use information and
articles that are already being used in the larger unit that is being taught. Choosing sources that are
relevant to the larger unit and current will enhance student engagement with these lessons.

Lesson Title Key Questions Activities

Introduction to What is Critical Thinking? Critical Thinking

Critical Why is it important to engage in critical thinking about media sources? SEE-I
Thinking What steps can we take to make sure that we are thinking critically?

Elements of What are the key elements involved when critically thinking to come to a Article Analysis
Reasoning/inte reasoned judgement? and Rating
llectual What are the intellectual standards that should be looked for when
standards analyzing a news article?

Arguments What is an argument? Advertisement

What are the different types of arguments we see in the media? Analysis

Biases What is a bias? Article analysis

How can we identify bias in the media?

Fallacies What is a fallacy? Fallacy Charades

How can we identify a fallacy?
Why are fallacies powerful?

Judgements What are the different types of judgements? Courtroom Judge

Summary What are some ways we can ensure that we are applying critical thinking Create a pocket
skills when consuming media? guide for critical
thinking
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Introduction To Critical Thinking - Time: 60 mins

Materials Fake news article on the house hippo

Reasoned Judgement Cards
SEE-I Example
Poster Paper

Description This will be the first lesson in this series. Students will get an introduction to what critical
thinking is, why it’s important, and the general steps that need to be taken in order to
critically think about an issue and come to a reasoned judgement.

Objectives Students will be able to define critical thinking in their own words
Students will be able to describe the importance of critical thinking
Students will be able to explain the beginning process of engaging in critical thinking

Guiding What is Critical Thinking?

Questions Why is it important to engage in critical thinking about media sources?
What steps can we take to make sure that we are thinking critically?

Activities

Introduction ● Tell students that you are going to read a news article to them that you Time:
found really interesting - read the house hippo article to them while 10 mins
projecting it on the board
● Have them talk with a partner about what they thought about it
● Bring the class together and discuss thoughts on it
○ Did they believe the article?
○ Do they think that it is a credible source?
○ Will they change anything in their own lives because of it
(implications)?
● Explain that what they were doing is critically thinking about that article

Activity 1: Introduce definitions of critical thinking Time:

Definitions 10 mins
● Critical thinking is reasonable, reflective thinking that is focused on
deciding what to believe or do. (Robert Ennis, 1962)
● Critical thinking is a way of thinking about controversial issues in a way
that involves analyzing information and reflecting upon it with the goal
of coming to a fair and reasoned judgement.

Ask students: What do you think a reasoned judgement is?

Hand out judgment cards and have students put them on the board onto a T
Chart like this:
Reasoned Judgement Not Reasoned Judgement
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Activity 2: What do you think the consequences would be if the entire world believed the Time:
Why is it first article that we read? 10 mins
important? Discuss with a partner and come up with the most extreme (but possible)
How do we scenario.
do it? Share these scenarios
Finish discussion by having students write down one reason it is important to
think critically about news sources.
Once they have written down their reason, brainstorm as a class questions
you can ask to engage in critical thinking, write them on the board
● Where does this source come from?
● Does the content of this source make sense with what I already know
about the topic?
● Are the implications of the content of this source realistic?
● Can I find other sources that say the same or similar things?

Activity 3 Explain what a SEE-I is and show some examples Time:

SEE-I ● State a simple definition 25 mins
Posters ● Elaborate on the definition
● Give and example
● Create an image
Have students work in pairs or in groups of 3 to create a SEE-I poster for the
term “critical thinking”

Conclusion Have groups share and explain the images from their SEE-Is and hang the Time:
posters around the classroom to be able to refer through in future lessons. 5 mins

Assessment Formative: Observing student engagement and participation, their written reasons about
why critical thinking is important
Summative (optional): you could take in the SEE-I posters for a summative mark
 6

House Hippo Article

*spelling mistakes in this article are intentional as a way to identify a bad news source. See if
students pick these up.
 7

Reasoned Judgement Cards

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SEE-I Activity Example

•S: State: The principle of charity requires one to interpret an argument in the best possible way
to keep an argument fair and productive.

•E: Elaborate: The principle of charity prevents one from assuming the worst of another person
or another person’s argument. That is not to say that this means that all arguments need to be
considered as good arguments. It means that when responding or critiquing an argument, the
response is to the most favourable version of that argument.

•E: give an Example: Here is an example of an argument between two people about electric
vehicles. The first example does not use the principle of charity, the second one does.

Example 1 – no principle of charity

Person 1: Everyone should drive electric cars because they are better for the environment and
will prevent global warming.
Person 2: But electric cars are expensive, and I don’t want to spend that much of my
hard-earned money on one item.
Person 1: So basically, you’re saying that you don’t care if the world ends because of global
warming as long as you can save a buck or two.

Example 2 – using the principle of charity

Person 1: Everyone should drive electric cars because they are better for the environment and
will prevent global warming.
Person 2: But electric cars are expensive, and I don’t want to spend that much of my
hard-earned money on one item.
Person 1: I see your point, it’s hard to justify a big expense and not all people are in the
financial position to make that sort of change in their lifestyle.

•I: create an Image:

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Elements of Reasoning and Intellectual Standards - Time: 60 mins

Materials Elements and Standards worksheet

Slideshow with definitions
Article for analysis and copies of the article for each student

Description In this lesson students will be introduced to the elements of reasoning and intellectual
standards. They will then have the opportunity to identify the elements of reasoning and
assess the intellectual standards in an example article. There is an article provided, but it
would also be useful to use an article related to other course content or a current news
article.

Objectives Students will be able to describe the elements of reasoning and intellectual standards
Students will be able to identify the elements of reasoning in an article
Students will be able to evaluate an article based on whether it meets intellectual
standards

Guiding What are the key elements involved when critically thinking to come to a reasoned
Questions judgement?
What are the intellectual standards that should be looked for when analyzing a news
article?

Activities

Introduction Recap what we learned about critical thinking and why it is important from last Time:
class. 5 mins
● Analyzing and reflecting on information to come to a reasoned
judgement
● Ask for students definitions
● You can also refer to the SEE-I posters from last class

Explain that we will learn about the elements of reasoning and intellectual
standards today:
● There are elements that are central to arguments and news that need to
be identified in order to engage in critical thinking
● There are also standards that need to be met

Activity 1: Hand out worksheets to each student Time:

Definitions Go through the slideshow explaining the elements of reasoning and intellectual 20
standards while students fill out the worksheet. mins
Use examples from the hippo article to identify these elements and have
students rate the hippo article out of 10 for the intellectual standards.
Elements of reasoning:
Purpose: inform readers of the existence of the house hippo and how to keep it
alive
Point of view: a small animal preservation specialist whose interest is in the
well-being of small animals
Questions: are house hippos worth preserving? How can we help house
hippos?
Concepts: preservation, Canadian identity
Assumptions: that the reader will believe in the existence of house hippos, that
 10

the reader will feel a connection and calling to preserve them

Implications and consequences: people will leave food all over their house,
people will stop vacuuming, houses will become messy
Conclusions: Canadians will lose their identity if the house hippo becomes
extinct

Activity 2: Hand out copies of the article to each student. Time:

Read article Project the article on the board and read through it. You could read the whole 5 mins
as a class thing or have the student popcorn read through it depending on your preference.

Activity 3 Have students work in groups of 3 to use the article to finish the worksheet. Time:
They will identify the elements of reasoning in the article and rate the intellectual 25
standards on a scale of 1-10. mins

Conclusion As a class, go over the worksheet and ask students to share their answers. Time:
5 mins

Assessment Formative: observing and talking with groups as they work

Summative (optional): take in worksheets for a summative mark.
 11

Article:
Rapaport, L. (2020, January 20). Parents Think Teens Spend Too Much Time Playing Video
Games. Reuters.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-teens-gaming-idUSKBN1ZJ25M.

Parents think teens spend too much time playing video games
By Lisa Rapaport

(Reuters Health) - Most American parents think their teens spend too much time playing
video games, but many of them also believe this is typical adolescent behavior, a U.S.
study suggests.
A whopping 86% of parents “agreed” or “strongly agreed” their teens spend too much
time gaming, according to a new report from the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott
Children’s Hospital National Poll.
About 41% of teen boys and 20% of adolescent girls play video games every day, the
poll found.
More than half of parents with teens who played daily said their child spent at least
three hours a day gaming. However, 78% of these parents also thought their teen was
gaming about as much or less than other teens.
“Although many parents believe video games can be good for teens, they also report a
number of negative impacts of prolonged gaming,” says Mott Poll co-director and Dr.
Gary Freed.
“Parents should take a close look at their teen’s gaming behavior and set reasonable
limits to reduce harmful impacts on sleep, family and peer relationships and school
performance,” Freed said.
Video games are designed to encourage prolonged play among teens with features like
rewards or feedback tied to playing times, Freed and colleagues note in the Mott Poll
report. Some teens - particularly those with attention issues - may be especially
susceptible to the constant positive feedback and stimulus of video games, researchers
point out.
 12

While 71% of parents believe video games may have a positive impact on their teen,
many parents also reported that gaming interferes with other aspects of daily life.
Almost half of parents say gaming “sometimes” or “frequently” gets in the way of teens’
activities with family, and 46% of parents think gaming takes time away from sleep.
Roughly one third of parents believe teen gaming cuts down on homework time or
interferes with time teens might otherwise spend with non-gaming peers. About 31% of
parents said gaming eats into time for extracurricular activities.
In addition, 42% of parents with daily gamers reported that playing video games
negatively impacted teens’ moods, compared to 32% of parents whose teens played
less frequently.
While these results suggest that parents should set limits around gaming, they’re
unlikely to get through to teens by simply calling this pursuit “mindless entertainment,”
Freed said by email.
Many games are complex and challenging, and that’s often a big part of their appeal,
Freed said. Some kids also believe the mental workout and knowledge they gain from
their games justifies all the time they’ve invested, he added.
“Parents should monitor and set limits on their teens’ use of video games,” said Dr.
Suzy Tomopoulos of NYU School of Medicine and Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at
NYU Langone in New York City.
“They should encourage other activities with peers and family more likely to support
social development and learning,” Tomopoulos, who wasn’t involved in the study, said
by email.
Roughly 54% of parents said they tried to set time limits on gaming, and 44% said they
tried to restrict games to avoid certain content like extremely graphic depictions of
violence.
Three-fourths of parents tried to limit gaming just by encouraging other activities, while
23% rewarded teens to spend less time playing video games and 14% resorted to
hiding the equipment.
 13

Whatever approach parents take will probably work better if they collaborate with their
teen to set limits, said Dr. David Hill of the University of North Carolina School of
Medicine in Chapel Hill.
“Sit down with your child and explain your concerns, then listen to the child’s
perspective and work together to find a solution that suits everyone’s needs,” Hill, who
wasn’t involved in the study, said by email.
Parents may also want to pick their battles and focus just on strategies to ensure that
gaming doesn’t get in the way of sleep, Hill advised.
“Many teens chronically fail to get the 8-9 hours of sleep they need to function optimally,
and for some kids gaming time makes the difference,” Hill said.
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Arguments - Time: 60 mins

Materials Argument slideshow

Advertisement examples for each group - if you have 8 groups print two of each
Optional: poster paper for students to create their advertisements

Description In this lesson students will be introduced to argument, how to break down an
argument, and some of the different types of arguments. This will be done by looking
at different examples of advertisements and determining what types of arguments
they are using.

Objectives Students will be able to define an argument

Students will be able to standardize simple arguments
Students will be able to distinguish between different types of arguments

Guiding What is an argument?

Questions What are the different types of arguments we see in the media?

Activities

Introduction Ask students if they’ve ever had an argument Time: 5 mins

What was the purpose of it?
After a short discussion of the purposes of an argument, explain the
purpose of an argument in relation to critical thinking:
● The purpose of an argument is to provide reasons to believe
a claim.
● “If I were trying to claim that house hippos existed, I might
provide reasons such as:
○ The crumbs I left on the floor last night were gone
this morning
○ The water bowls that I leave out overnight are
getting drank
● This is not a good argument, but it is an argument
nonetheless

Activity 1: Go through arguments slide show: Time: 10 mins

Standardizing ● Arguments can be complicated, especially when people are
an argument passionate about what they are arguing or if they have an
end goal in mind - like advertisement where a company's
ultimate goal is to get you to buy their product.
● It’s important to be able to simplify or standardize arguments
● Show slide and underline key points of argument
● Explain that there are:
○ Claims: what the arguer wants to communicate
○ Premises: trying to prove the claims are true
○ Conclusion: stating that because “premises” the
claims are true
● Have students in pairs come up with example arguments for
why people should stop at red lights, it might look like this:
 17

○ People should stop at red lights

○ Red lights signal that traffic in the opposite direction
will be moving
○ If you don’t stop you might get into a car accident or
hit a pedestrian
○ Therefore, you should always stop at a red light
● Go to example argument on slides, have student identify the
claim, premises, and conclusion

Activity 2: Explain that there are different types of arguments (more than what Time: 15 mins
Types of we will learn today):
arguments/iden ● Deductive
tification ● Inductive
● Analogical
● Reductio
Continue with slides
Deductive: if premises are true - conclusion must be true
Inductive: if premises are true - conclusion is PROBABLY be true
Analogical: arguments that use comparisons
Reductio: if conclusion is not true, then absurd things will happen
(remind them of the consequences of believing the house hippo
article)
Show example advertisements on slides and have students try to
identify what type of argument the advertiser is using.

Activity 3: Put students into 4 groups - larger classes can be 8 groups just Time: 25 mins
Advertisement have two groups working on the same advertisement.
Analysis ● Have students identify the type of argument used in the
advertisement that they have been assigned and write it on
the back
● Have students standardize the argument in that
advertisement and write it on the back
● Have students create their own advertisement using the
same type of argument - this can be a written ad, a drawing,
a commercial script or another form of their choice

Conclusion Exit Slip: Why is it important to think critically about Time: 5 mins
advertisements?

Assessment Formative: advertisement analysis worksheets and exit slips

Summative (optional): collect advertisements
 18

Advertisement Examples:

Deductive:
Kids love this toothpaste
If you have a kid
They will love this toothpaste

Analogical
Other phones will fall apart
The iPhone is will support all of your needs
Switch to the iPhone
 19

Inductive:
Antibiotics are bad
Our chicken is raised without antibiotics
Our chicken is good
 20

Reductio:
If your house smells you might be nose blind
If you are nose blind your house will start to smell like trash
Febreze will eliminate trashy odours
You need febreze
 21

Biases - Time 60 mins

Materials MediOcracy video (linked below)

Example articles (linked below)
Bias in the news worksheet
Laptops or computers for students - they can work in groups depending on number of
laptops

Description In this lesson students will learn about biases. We will start with a basic definition of a
bias, learn how to identify it and learn about a few different kinds of biases.

Objectives Students will be able to describe what a bias is

Students will be able to identify bias in different media sources

Guiding What is a bias?

Questions How can we identify bias in the media?

Activities

Introduction Ask students where they get their news. Time:

How do they learn about current events? 5
How do they learn about politics? mins
Tell them to be specific, if it’s social media - what platforms? What news
channel? What newspapers (if they read newspapers)?
Do they think that the news and information they are getting from those places is
good? Is it reliable?

Activity 1: Watch the voters film MediOcracy Time:

Video Discussion: 12
Ask students to come up with a definition of “incestuous amplification” - write the mins
definition they came up with on a board that can be left up
Did this change your thoughts from our first conversation?
Do you agree with the idea of “incestuous amplification?
Is there a way to avoid this?
Lots of news sources have bias
Ask students if they know what a bias is and have them come up with a
definition
Bias: unfair weighing in favour of or against something, prejudice, failing to be
open minded etc.
Remind students about the intellectual standard of fairness - bias goes against
this.
Write the definition of bias next to the definition of “incetuous amplificatio”

Activity 2: Students will fill out the first part of the worksheet by going to three different Time:
News news websites and examining the homepages and the news sections. 15
Analysis New websites: mins
● https://www.cbc.ca/
● https://www.ctvnews.ca/
● https://torontosun.com/
 22

The questions they will answer are:

● What stories/topics do all sites include?
● What are the major differences between the 3 sites?

Activity 3 Introduce activity: Time:

Students will be given 3 different articles from 3 different news sources on the 25
same topic - these articles are on the topic of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. mins
Please choose articles that are relevant to what your students are learning about
in other classes or relevant to when you are teaching.
Students can work in pairs or small groups for this activity
Articles:
● https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/lilley-hold-off-on-new-restrictio
ns-to-control-omicron
● https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/federal-modelling-shows-resu
rgence-in-covid-19-cases-with-omicron-risk-high-1.5702131
● https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/covid-infections-rising-federal-modelling-
1.6281026

Have students examine the three articles and fill out the bias in the news
worksheet and answer these questions:
● What do all 3 articles have in common? What do they all say?
● How are they different?

Conclusion Exit slip - written or discussion: Time:

In what ways does social media/media show bias? 3
mins

Assessment Formative: exit slips and worksheets

Summative (optional): you could take the worksheets in for completion marks
Resources:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/lessons-plans/decoding-media-bias-lesson-plan/ This is a
lesson plan about bias in the news, it fits well with this unit, but I have adapted it to fit a
canadian context.
 23

Editable Versions of this worksheet are linked in at the beginning of this lesson
24
 25

Fallacies - Time: 60 mins

Materials Fallacy handout/worksheet

Names of fallacies written on paper and a container to draw them out of
Buzzers for teams
Slideshow with fallacy examples

Description In this lesson students will learn about fallacies, what they are, some different types of
fallacies and why fallacies can be powerful when used in arguments.

Objectives Students will be able to define a fallacy

Students will be able to identify different types of fallacies
Students will be able to explain why fallacies can be powerful

Guiding What is a fallacy?

Questions How can we identify a fallacy?
Why are fallacies powerful?

Activities

Introduction Remind students about biases, biases are one way that an argument can be Time:
made weak. 5 mins
Another way that arguments can be made weak is if they are fallacious, if
they contain fallacy.
Fallacy: faulty or misleading reasoning

Activity 1: Why Discussion: Time:

fallacies are Ask students 5 mins
powerful “If a fallacy makes an argument weak, why do people use them?”

Give time for students to discuss with each other before asking the class for
answers

Explain that fallacies can be powerful, because they often use emotion,
misleading language, or distractions.

There are many different types of fallacies and we will learn about three of
them today:
● Ad Hominem
● Straw Person
● Red Herring

Activity 2: Hand out student sheet on different fallacies Time:

Types of ● Go through the types of fallacies slideshow and have students come 15
Fallacies up with examples of each mins
● Have students write their examples on the handout
● Show fallacy examples on slideshow and see if students can identify
the type of fallacy

Activity 3: Explain the game: Time:

 26

Fallacy ● Students will be put into two or three teams depending on class size 30
Charades ● The first team will draw a fallacy card: it will be any of the fallacies mins
from the fallacy handout
● That team has two minutes to figure out how to act out that fallacy -
they can speak, but they can’t say what the fallacy is
● If another team has a guess at what the fallacy is, they can ring their
buzzer and guess - if they are correct, the acting team and the
guessing team both get a point - if they are wrong the acting team
continues
● If no one can guess the fallacy in 3 minutes, the next team goes and
no points are given.

Conclusion Exit slip: Why are fallacies used in arguments? Do they make arguments Time:
strong or weak? 5 mins

Assessment Formative: Observation of game, which students are able to identify the fallacies,
which students are able to act them out well
Summative (optional): you can take in the fallacy worksheet and use their examples
for marks
27
 28

Judgements - Time: 60 mins

Materials Judgement slides

Judgement Worksheet
Poster paper

Description In this lesson students will learn about judgements and some different types of
judgements. Then they will play a game where they decide which issues require which
types of judgements.

Objectives Students will be able to distinguish between different types of judgements

Guiding What are the different types of judgements?

Questions

Activities

Introduction Review what a reasoned judgement is - the main goal of critical thinking Time:
How do we come to these reasoned judgements? 5 mins
● Assessing sources
● Standardizing the argument
● Looking for biases
● Making sure that a source meets intellectual standards
● Consider multiple points of view
● Identifying if there are fallacies in the sources
We also need to determine what type of judgment would best suit an issue

ask : does picking your favourite painting require the same judgements as
determining how much food to give your cat?

Have students discuss this before introducing them to different types of

judgements

Activity 1: Hand out judgement worksheets Time:

Different types ● Go through the slideshow that defines different types of judgements 8 mins
of judgements and have students fill out the definitions for each type.
● Have students come up with examples of issues that might require
each judgement when going through the slides - they can write these
down
● Show example issues and have students determine which type of
judgement is required

Activity 2: Choose 4 students who volunteer to be the 3 judges. Their task during this Time:
Court Judge time is to create a poster with the definitions of the different types of 20
Preparation judgements. This poster will be hung in the classroom. mins

Divide the rest of the class into 3 groups and give them each one of the
following issues:
● Which film is better: Harry Potter or Fast and Furious
● Is caffeine bad for you?
 29

● Should humans continue to keep animals in zoos for human

entertainment?
Each group needs to:
● Determine what type of judgement best suits their issue
● Divide into two smaller groups
● Each small group will prepare one side of the argument to present to
the judge - they can use phones or laptops to research their issue

Activity 3: The judges will be at the front of the room and decide which group will Time:
Court Judge present their issue first 22
Game mins
The group will present both sides of their issue to the judge

The class and the judge will vote on which side had the most convincing
argument.

Each class vote is worth 1 point

The judges vote is worth 5 points

The winning side of the argument can receive a small prize as well as the
judge if the side the judge voted for won.

Conclusion Discussion: are there issues that might require more than one type of Time:
judgement? 5 mins

Assessment Formative: observing groups work, and discussion question at the end
30
 31

Summary and Final Project - Time: 60 mins

Materials Paper for student projects

Performance task instruction sheet

Description This is the final lesson in this series. Students will review what they have learned about critical thinking and
create a pocket guide for critical thinking.

Objectives Students will be able to explain the importance of critical thinking

Students will be able to describe the process of critical thinking

Guiding What are some ways we can ensure that we are applying critical thinking skills when consuming media?
Questions

Activities

Introduction This is our final class on critical thinking, what have we learned about it? Time:
Discuss: Did this course change how you will view and assess media and news? (this is 5 mins
the exit slip/ final wrap-up) doing this at the beginning will ensure students have the
most time possible to work on their projects.

Activity 1: Discussion: Time:

brainstorming ● What are the elements of reasoning and intellectual standards? 10
● Why are these important? mins
● Why is it important to standardize an argument?
● What is a fallacy?
● What is a bias?
● What is a reasoned judgement?
● What are some other types of judgements?
● Why is it important to think critically about news and media sources?

Activity 2: Hand out performance task sheet Time: 5

Introduce the Students will work in pairs to create a pocket guide to critical thinking - this will take the mins
project form of a brochure - the idea is that you could give this to someone who had no idea
what critical thinking was and they could use it to understand the importance of critical
thinking.

This pocket guide must include:

● A definition of critical thinking
● An explanation of why it is important to think critically about news and media
sources
● A definition of a fallacy and why it is persuasive
● A definition of bias
● A definition of the different types of judgements

Activity 3: Students can refer to notes, posters around the room, and slideshows from previous Time:
Students lessons to get their information. 40
work on final They can choose to create the brochure online using google slides or something similar mins
project or they can do the project by hand.

Conclusion Have students hand in projects - if they are not finished they can take them home to Time:
finish or you can give additional work time.

Assessment Formative: discussion about critical thinking

Summative: Final projects will be handed in.
 32

Pocket Guide to Critical Thinking

Now that you are an expert in critical thinking, it is your job to create
a guide for fellow students and friends to teach them about the
importance of critical thinking. Assuming that they know nothing
about critical thinking, you will create a guide that defines and
explains the most important concepts so that they too can become
critical thinking experts.

You will work with a partner to create this guide and can choose to
do it digitally or on paper.

Your guide must include:

A definition of critical thinking

An explanation of why it is important to think critically about

news and media sources

A definition of a fallacy and why it is persuasive

A definition of bias

A definition of the different types of judgements

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Exceeds Meets Developing (1)

expectations (3) expectations (2)
Definition of CT
Definition is clear and
well thought out. It
explains CT accurately
and includes the main
goal of CT.

Importance
Explanation of the
importance is
straightforward and
convincing. Attention
is taken to the
consequences of not
thinking critically
about media and news
sources.

Fallacy
Definition of fallacy is
clear and the different
types of fallacies are
explained. There is
also an explanation of
why fallacies are used.

Bias
There is a simple and
clear definition of bias
and why a bias needs
to be identified. There
is a connection made
to news sources and
bias.

Judgements
An explanation of the
3 types of judgements
we discussed is given
as well as how to
determine which type
of judgement is
required.

Total out of 15:

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