Promoting Reasoning Skills

My sister teaches college (can you tell how opposite we are-I teach Kinder she teaches college-although she has the same handwriting issue apparently! :). She was telling me about how her students really lack any kind of reasoning skills. They can't justify an opinion or really evaluate anything properly. Well, I told her, you just have to get my kids when they get older because we do this every morning.

I tie it into our GT icon of ethics. In our whole group reading activities, I have several smartboard slides. When this one comes up, I have them turn to a partner and discuss a topic.

We have discussed everything from what's more important: hands or feet? reading or math? heart or brain? cars or airplanes? being smart or pretty? We've asked if girls make good soldiers/would make a good president, better to be an only child or have siblings?

I absolutely love this part of the day because you can hear these little future lawyers making a case for their view. "It's more important that....". And it's showing up in their writing, they are really starting to include the "because" part of their answer, not just yes or no...but why!