This book explores narrative imagination and emotion as resources for learning critical meta-reflection. The author examines the learning trajectories of several students as they engage in learning to think critically through a new approach to creative writing, and details how learning through writing is linked to new discoursal identities which are trialled in the writing process. In doing so, she analyses the processes of expansion and change that result from the negotiations involved in learning through writing. This volume offers a completely new approach to creative writing, including useful practical advice as well as a solid theoretical base. It is sure to appeal to students of creative writing and discourse analysis as well as applied linguistics and language as identity.

This first Canadian edition is a concise introduction to the art of expanding possibility through creativity. Covering such practical methods as multiplying options, brainstorming, lateral thinking, and reframing problems, the text offers provocative and effective techniques for constructiveand expansive kinds of thinking, demonstrating how reason and creativity can work together. Specifically designed to supplement more traditional critical thinking texts, this book shows readers how to use creativity to construct innovative, 'outside of the box' arguments and solutions to problems.Written in a clear, engaging style and incorporating a wealth of Canadian sources and examples, Creativity for Critical Thinkers, first Canadian edition, is the ideal supplemental text for any critical thinking course.

Bringing together 25 essential works of creative writing criticism in a single volume, this is a comprehensive introduction to the key debates in creative writing today, from the ethics of appropriation to the politics of literary evaluation. Critical Creative Writing covers such topics as: · Craft & Politics · Language & Community · Identity & Authorship · Representation & Counternarrative · Appropriation & Intertextuality · Evaluation & Genre The book anthologizes critical essays written by international literary writers. Each essay is contextualized with an introduction as well as sample questions, writing prompts and suggested readings. The book also has a companion website (www.criticalcreativewriting.org) offering supplemental materials such as lesson plans and course materials. Includes writings by: Ayana Mathis, Leslie Marmon Silko, Craig Santos Perez, Natasha Sajé, Porochista Khakpour, Taiye Selasi, Michael Nardone, Conchitina Cruz, Benjamin Paloff, Dorothy Wang, and many more.

What do David Foster Wallace's essay on wars over usage and Pico Iyer's comma personification have to do with improving students' academic writing? Everything. For all of the attention supposedly paid to Bloom's Taxonomy-with creativity at the top-educators tend to shy away from encouraging students' creative choices in areas where traditional analysis and the critic's style and tone have reigned. While we do not want our students to write inane or empty verbiage, we unintentionally set them up for this inevitability--or worse. The movement away from children's natural creative impulses in elementary school to a direction in which they literally fit their writing into preconfigured shapes is a gradual one. Although purportedly taught to instill academic structures, these boxes are also designed to facilitate the ease with which student product may be assessed. We need a more creative approach to teaching writing. A methodology incorporating creativity, as modeled by students in this text, demonstrates the kind of progress we are all seeking, offering an exciting challenge for young writers and educators alike.

A valuable guide on creativity and critical thinking to improve reasoning and decision-making skills Critical thinking skills are essential in virtually any field of study or practice where individuals need to communicate ideas, make decisions, and analyze and solve problems. An Introduction to Critical Thinking and Creativity: Think More, Think Better outlines the necessary tools for readers to become critical as well as creative thinkers. By gaining a practical and solid foundation in the basic principles that underlie critical thinking and creativity, readers will become equipped to think in a more systematic, logical, and imaginative manner. Creativity is needed to generate new ideas to solve problems, and critical thinking evaluates and improves an idea. These concepts are uniquely introduced as a unified whole due to their dependence on each other. Each chapter introduces relevant theories in conjunction with real-life examples and findings from cognitive science and psychology to illustrate how the theories can be applied in numerous fields and careers. An emphasis on how theoretical principles of reasoning can be practical and useful in everyday life is featured, and special sections on presentation techniques, the analysis of meaning, decision-making, and reasoning about personal and moral values are also highlighted. All chapters conclude with a set of exercises, and detailed solutions are provided at the end of the book. A companion website features online tutorials that further explore topics including meaning analysis, argument analysis, logic, statistics, and strategic thinking, along with additional exercises and multimedia resources for continued study. An Introduction to Critical Thinking and Creativity is an excellent book for courses on critical thinking and logic at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The book also serves as a self-contained study guide for readers interested in the topics of critical thinking and creativity as a unified whole.

Work with students at all levels to help them read novels Whole Novels is a practical, field-tested guide to implementing a student-centered literature program that promotes critical thinking and literary understanding through the study of novels with middle school students. Rather than using novels simply to teach basic literacy skills and comprehension strategies, Whole Novels approaches literature as art. The book is fully aligned with the Common Core ELA Standards and offers tips for implementing whole novels in various contexts, including suggestions for teachers interested in trying out small steps in their classrooms first. Includes a powerful method for teaching literature, writing, and critical thinking to middle school students Shows how to use the Whole Novels approach in conjunction with other programs Includes video clips of the author using the techniques in her own classroom This resource will help teachers work with students of varying abilities in reading whole novels.

CRITICAL THINKING, THOUGHTFUL WRITING begins with the premise that thinking well involves using language well, and vice versa. This rhetoric with readings--written by critical-thinking scholar John Chaffee and English professors Christine McMahon and Barbara Stout--provides thorough coverage of the writing process, going beyond the traditional rhetoric to teach students how to evaluate sources, images, and arguments. Each chapter focuses on a critical-thinking skill--such as problem solving or analysis of complex issues--that is explored through "Thinking-Writing Activities" and thematically linked readings. The text helps students develop these skills through carefully sequenced pedagogy and a cross-disciplinary approach that asks them to complete writing assignments and critically evaluate readings drawn from a variety of disciplines. The Fifth Edition offers new readings, a new "Thinking Critically About New Media" feature in each chapter, and more photos, which emphasize visual rhetoric.

This is a book about thinking. Engaging and down-to-earth, it captures the habits and practices that are fundamental to clear thinking and effective study. In his warm and friendly style, Tom Chatfield shows you how to: Identify and examine your biases Engage in lively, curious skepticism See the value in emotion and use rhetoric persuasively Know when to say ′I don′t know′ Construct reasoned arguments and explanations Think critically about how you engage with technology. Short and punchy, the book views critical thinking as a skill to be continually practiced and developed. It equips you with a toolkit for clearer thinking, describing ten key concepts that help you to apply what you have learned. Including regular reflective exercises, key concepts, further readings, each chapter also offers recommendations for how to put the ideas it discusses into practice. This book is for undergraduate students and anyone looking to understand the core ideas behind critical thinking. Celebrating both self-reflection and collaboration, this book empowers you to pause, think twice and, above all, think well.

How do we encourage children to think deeply about the world in which they live? Research-based and highly practical, this book provides guidance on how to develop creative and critical thinking through your classroom teaching. Key coverage includes: · Classroom-ready ideas to stimulate high-order thinking · How to think critically and creatively across all areas of the curriculum · Case studies from primary, secondary and special schools · Philosophical approaches that give pupils the space to think and enquire This is essential reading for anyone on university-led and schools-based primary and secondary initial teacher education courses including undergraduate (BEd, BA QTS), postgraduate (PGCE, SCITT), School Direct, Teach First and employment-based routes and also anyone training to work in early years settings.

COMING SOON! Through accessible examples from their own experiences in the classroom, Paul Dummett and John Hughes provide English language teachers with practical ways to incorporate critical thinking into every class. Dummett and Hughes define critical thinking for English language teaching and demonstrate how challenging young adult and adult learners at all levels to think both critically and creatively develops learner autonomy, increases learner motivation, and promotes authentic communication.