R led the class through a series of critical thinking issues by using a mystery "The Mystery of the Missing Cookie," as a case study. He introduced the lesson, structured it so the children were given an overview, bits of information, then small group discussions, then more information, more discussion. He modeled the types of charts and graphic organizers that would be helpful to discover the culprit. The lesson was interesting in that it was multi-dimmension: elements of critical reading, writing, mathematics, some science, and even a bit of basic psychology. His method was almost entirely Socratic; very little actual information was given, rather he used guided questions to elicit information from the students based on clues from their handouts. The learning goals were clearly stated at the beginning of the lesson, and the last 5 minutes were a review of the lesson, the goals, and in the student's own...
[ View Full Essay]