Critical+Thinking,+Problem+Solving,+and+Decision+Making

Students #|apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. Students: a. plan strategies to guide inquiry. b. locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media. c. evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks. d. process data and report results.

Many times our government will create a great program that helps many people, and, inevitably, creates some unforeseen problems that they will spend 10 years and a couple of billion dollars researching before attempting to fix. So I would have groups of students create a "Future's Wheel" brainstorming web (using paper and pencil, GoogleDrawing, or bubbl.us) where they will identify all the problems that may arise from a specific policy implementation. Once they feel they have identified all the issues, they will then create a proposal to their "boss" at the Department of US Government Class (me) on the best way to implement the policy and, of more import, how to avoid the identified pitfalls. This proposal could take the form of a written report, slideshow presentation, poster presentation, video, etc. This can also be done in hindsight. For instance, we could review a Supreme Court decision and its effects (its effects would be the outer items on the Future's Wheel). We would identify where and how those problems could have been fixed and identify who was the best entity to fix them (e.g. should the Opinion of the Court spoken specifically about issue //x//, or should Congress have addressed it? One great case that would fit this idea well is //Brown v Board of Education// (1954). Because the Court's decision was exceptionally vague - integrate with "all deliberate speed" - different states came up with different plans for integration. In some cases, schools were still segregated in the 1970s! (Will Smith)
 * Implementing Policies **

Students will all participate in a classroom economy. They will apply for classroom jobs and earn money. They will be charged for certain things (bad behavior, missed homeworks) and earn money for certain things (good behavior, extra credit assignments). There will be a specific list created for items they get charged for and things that they can earn/lose money on. As a part of the economy, they will vote on which businesses they want to open and become store owners. They will have to work as a team to stick to a budget and provide items that other students want to purchase using the money they earn in the classroom. This will give each class a year-long lesson on being responsible with money, with the added bonus of behavior management! (Christine Caranante)
 * Classroom Economy (Elementary) **

**Running your own country** Students will be put into groups of four or five. Each group will create their own country. They will spend time researching different aspects of running a country. They will create a name, a flag, a constitution, and anything else you might want to add. Each group will have a choice of having a strength and a weakness of their country. These choices will be drawn, like drawing a card from a hat. A strength could be something like having a strong military. A weakness could be something like low education levels of schools. Each group will also choice a crop that their country specializes in. Throughout the school year, students will work to develop their country by selling and trading among other countries, and even growing their population by persuading citizens of other countries to join. Students will have a budget to start the development of their country and must make money by selling crops and other items. This is such a broad description as you could really get into a wide variety of things to implement during this activity. This could even be taught during a history class, and used as an introduction to different wars and laws that were put into place. (Christy Washington)


 * Critical Thinking **

====At the secondary level, in an English classroom, students can learn critical thinking skills by carefully examining texts, making determinations about things such as choices and decisions that characters make as well as situations characters find themselves in and they are asked to think about how they would react or the kinds of decisions they would make, or the best way to solve their problems. In some longer texts, for example Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, students’ attention can wander. One good way for the students to remain engaged in the book as well as practice skills in critical thinking and critical analysis of the text, the use of technology can greatly enhance the experience. Socratic discussions are one way to get the students engaged in looking at and critically thinking about the material, but those also take up a lot of classroom time, but there are several online resources that can be used to create Socratic online discussions about the material that can be completed outside of classroom time, but have the same benefits of holding a classroom discussion. Different tools such as a classroom based forum could enable the students and teacher to hold an online discussion. One tool Collaborize Classroom, http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/?grade=0&strand=0&engagement=0 is free for teachers to use and allows them to create an online discussion for their students.==== (Theresa Dezellem)

**Research Project:** Students will begin with the research they completed on their problem topic. Then, similar to a science project, students would state the problem, format a hypothesis, evaluate existing literature, design a solution to the problem, test the solution (digitally), and analyze and report the results. The teacher would need to provide a list of feasible topics from which to choose so that the problem solutions could be tested by digital means via survey instruments, etc… They would create a multimedia presentation displaying their findings. (Sarah Dugger)

**Reality #|Store Life Simulation:** Based on their GPA students are assigned a career, pay scale and family size. From there, they make real life decisions and have to budget their cost of living. They pick their mode of transportation, grocery budget, childcare, entertainment cost, health care and more. This is a great learning experience for our students and they can also see the better they do in school, the more options they have later in life. We do this activity in the student's 9th grade year. It makes them plan, think, create and solve problems that they will encounter. If they end up running out of money they have to evaluate what they picked and make changes so they stay in the positive at the end of the activity. -SC-

Students will be given a set amount of money to spend on groceries for a family of five. Students are to search through local advertisements to come up with a balance meal plan for a week using only the money that they have. Students may use printed advertisements or visit the stores webpage to view the weekly deals. Students may also use #|coupons that they find online or in #|print to bring down the cost. Each meal at a minimum must have a form of protein, fruit, vegetable, a grain. Students will then create a graphic organizer for the week to include an excel spreadsheet of the cost of their items. Meals plans will then be shared with the class. Students will then vote on the best meal plan! Students will then tweet why they chose their meal plan.
 * #|Meal plan for a family on five on a budget!- Heather Erickson-Wallace**

When I was doing my student teaching in a K-3 resource class environment, I took over the teaching of social stories to five different children. Each had something that they had to work on, one being not to hit or yell at people to not picking his/her nose. I used this fabulous book written by Carol Gray "The New Social Story Book, Revised and Expanded 10th Anniversary Edition" and if you have any students who need help in this area, this book is a MUST! I used her stories and put in my students names to give them a more personal feel for it.Each week I would read the story or have them read it and then talk about it, I would also pull a student out of their classroom, if they needed some extra attention in their specific area and upload an interactive story. Sometimes this worked better than just verbally reading the story. I can say as of the end of the year, my coorperating teacher told me that the student who picked his nose has not picked it since we read the stories, talked about it, and did interactive activities! Yeah for social stories!!! **Janelle Clemons** Social stories have been shown through research to visually teach children appropriate skills, manners, daily living skills, and self-help skills. My students use an app called Pictello. This app allows you to create personalized social stories for each student. The interactive app helps students process social stories. A social story is described by the Gray Center as: "A Social Story™ describes a situation, skill, or concept in terms of relevant social cues, perspectives, and common responses in a specifically defined style and format." Using technology to present this strategy to my students has been beneficial in teaching them life skills and helping them socially.-Chassie Combs Critical thinking and problem solving are at the heart of a foreign language, and giving problem-based scenarios are a great way to teach this, especially with digital tools. My Spanish II students, for example, are often given a scenario that they need to repond to, act out, interpret, etc. I can give them a two-person dialogue that they need to then act out and put in video form which includes interpreting the text, contextualizing it, analyzing tone, all of which determine whether or not they understand the meaning and what’s really going on. Furthermore, I can show them a video clip (that I or other students have made) of a scenario and with very minimal guidance then have them add onto it by predicting what will happen next, solve the problem (if it’s a verbal misunderstanding, or miscommunication), etc. Much of this is acting-based which also incorporates the creativity standard, but it doesn’t have to be. With several audio samples that they’ve pre-recorded, we can play them, identify the problem and then have them choose from another set of audio samples which would be the solution and why, etc. This incorporates the content directly but on a deeper level also their problem solving, critical thinking, diverse perspectives, and much more.
 * Social Stories...A WONDERFUL way to teach children socially acceptable behavior.**
 * Real interactive Social Stories**
 * Scenario- and Meaning-Based Learning - Meredith White**

Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making This standard would be incorporated with the Research and Information Fluency standard. After my students collected the information for the scavenger hunt they need to decide how to present the information to the class. I would give my students some options of presentation tools to use. In the primary stages of education I feel the teacher should guide the students when implementing technology to instill a safe learning environment.~ Stephanie Davis

Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making: Katelyn McFadden
For this standard I would use an ICT lesson that we developed during a professional development class that I took through my school system. In this class we had to create a problem based lesson in which the students would find a solution for a real-life problem and create a poster (using Kidspiration) to express their solution. The problem that would be presented to the students is their frustration with the lunch restrictions (no talking during lunch, being required to sit boy-girl, etc). The students would then be placed in groups and would determine a solution for this problem. The students then would create a poster using Kidspiration, explaining their problem. Finally, they would present these posters to the principal to try to persuade her to make changes. This allows the students to use critical thinking, problem solving and decision making skills all while using technology to express their thoughts and solutions.

I know that I saw this activity under another standard, but I liked this idea and think it fits well under this standard too. I would have students work in small groups of 4-5 and brainstorm three ideas for class field trips. First they would need to locate three possible places using a google search, then gather information on the cost multiplied by the number of students. Next, they would use google maps to find out the round-trip mileage and figure out the cost of fuel (based on the district's field trip guidelines), number of buses needed, and travel time. Students will organize their numeric data related to the trips in an excel spreadsheet. Next, each group will create a pitch for their 3 field trips to deliver to the class using a powerpoint presentation to show their data. Lastly, they will give their opinion on which trip would be the best choice out of the three and explain why they chose it. A modification to this activity that would help it to fit part c. to this standard would be to not tell students which software tools to use for each step in the tip planning process. This would be a good modification for older students or those that are already fairly familiar with these digital tools. ~Jamie Shroyer
 * Plan a Class Field Trip**
 * Plan a Class Field Trip**

Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making During a lesson about the water cycle, the fourth grade students will research ideas that areas of the United States have come up to reduce water pollution and preserving water resources. They will then write a persuasive letter to their state governor on ways to implement programs to help with water pollution and they will explain to the governor what other states are doing and how successful those programs are. They will be able to show results in a chart or bar graph. -Dawn Artemis

**What I would love to do!!!**
I would love to have our students come up with a product that would save the music department, athletic department, or something of their choosing at our school. In order to do this they would have to vote on what they would like to save. After the vote has been made, we need to come up with a product to sell in order to raise money to save the department. The students will go to the computer lab and research products that we can make in order to raise money. In order to do this, we need to know how much money we need to raise. The students will have to come up with the product, how many they will need to make in order to cover the cost of promotion (flyers, morning news at school, etc.), how much it will cost for materials to create, and how much they will sell the product for. Then students need to create, promote, and sell their product.

I would do this so that all my math classes collaborate in some way. I would also get the English teacher involved when creating the flyers. I know that my team's English teacher has the students create brochures, and this would be a great way for them to cover that standard in a relative way. I think that the social studies teacher could get involved by discussing supply and demand at the beginning of the project, and the science teacher may be able to help us create our product depending on what we vote on. I would also try to get the department that our students are supporting to get involved.

I would suggest that throughout this activity students have to log what they have done daily. This will allow the teacher to assess their progress regularly and make sure that students are on track. Also, after the product has been sold, and the project has come to a close, I would suggest that the teacher has sort of a debriefing project. What I would do is have student write about the process, discuss if it was successful, what would they change, and what would they leave the same if they were to do it again. This activity would be something that was done over a long period of time. Maybe a semester of school, so be prepared to take the time with your students. **//__Heather Fish__//**

**Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making-Grade Level Challenge**
One of our school's focus is improving problem solving. I would like to see a competition at grade level, pitting one class against another in a monthly problem solving contest.Each classroom would be broken into 4 teams. The problem and the rubric would be made by a teacher or administrator not at that grade level. The rubric would require weekly submissions so that each class could see where the other was in relation to:

Week 1. identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation. Week 2. plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete the project project. Week 3. collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions. Week 4. use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions Week 5 Winner announced...Teams changed...New Problem- Dean Hook

Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making - Flower Power Part 4
(Part 1 in Creativity and Innovation, Part 2 in Communication and Collaboration, Part 3 in Research and Information Fluency) Throughout the project students should take videos and pictures. This information should be loaded on Ning. Students should compare their findings to other research that is similar or has influence and impact on their project. Students should include graphs and charts of the data that they have collected. ~Amy Vaughn

This standard I would implement by having students examine questions or problems from their everyday school lives. They would have to work in groups of 3-4 and would have to develop at least three questions/problems that they would like to research. These questions could include topics such as school uniforms to violence in the school. They would have to develop a method of determining how important the issue was or how prevalent within the school (i.e. – surveys, research of school statistics). They would also have to find research from outside the school as well (this would be a great way to introduce finding statistics on the web). They would then need to then present all of their data using some sort of presentation software as well as suggest solutions to the problem based upon their research (both online and by the data they collected as a group). - Sharley Ross
 * Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making**

Each student will be preparing for a campaign election. The students will be broken into small cooperative groups and research on the internet various ways that people can campaign for presidential positions. Each group will then present a powerpoint and discuss their findings with the class. Next, the students will create a campaign poster and discuss what changes they would bring about if elected for class president. They will also prepare a speech to present to the class. After all students have presented their speeches, the students will next vote for class president on their ballots and the winner would be announced.-Shavonne Valentine
 * Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making**
 * Presidential Campaign**

= = =Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making= Career Exploration An important activity for School Counselors is to facilitate students’ exploration of interests that may help them decide on a future career or vocation. The Vocational Information Center is maintained by former Instructional Assistant Kathryn Hake and offers [|Career Activities and Vocational Lesson Plans] for students to explore learning styles, interests and activities, career paths and vocational opportunities, and career information from elementary age through high school. Middle school students can work through the [|Career Cruiser], high school students can visit [|CareerZone] to investigate potentially rewarding careers, and elementary students can begin to learn about a future career at [|World of Careers]. These links are only a few of the selections that are available at this website that can be featured on the School Counselor’s website to encourage and support Career Development, which is a standard domain as prescribed by the Tennessee Model for Comprehensive School Counseling. Patricia Golden -5611

=__**Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making**__= Science/ Weather [] Slam Dunk Lessons are PERFECT for these skills. At the attached link you can find a sample slamdunk lesson that requires students to research mutiple sources that will assist them in answering the "big" question. Critical thinking and reasoning is a must as they will have to synthesize all the little findings to form and justify the big answer.

Stephanie Raby
__**Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making**__ Science Cloning, is it ethical?

This lesson would be completed after students have learned genetics. The students would be placed in groups of two or three students depending on the class size. They would define cloning and ethical using three different resources using the mobile computer labs. The students would find information about cloning. The students would make a presentation including pictures and any graphs that are appropriate containing the definitions and information about cloning using PowerPoint or another presentation technology. The students should include their feelings on cloning and whether they think it is ethical. The students may use a webcam to make a visual presentation in addition to the PowerPoint as a complete presentation. 5611 - Patsy Cheatham

**__Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making:__** __Health Lesson__ What does teen pregnancy cost?

By the middle school and/or 9th grade student will be exposed the teachings of pregnancy.

Have students come up with a list of baby products that new parent aloud need for their baby on a daily bases. Group discussion is a good way to start. Place students in groups and have each group take a portion of the discussed list to a computer and price each of the items they where given. Then have the groups look up how much one baby on average consumes, uses, or needs these products on daily basics. Sometimes students will have to break up the weeks or months in to days in order to find the average use of a product. Have the students record their answers on a spreadsheet. Then come back to the class and discuss their findings. Based on the combined findings add up momentary amount that is roughly spent on a newborn baby daily. Then take the average daily minimum wage that is made. Take the average daily minimum wage and compare it to the what it cost daily to care for a newborn.

Have a moment of reflection. -5611 Hilary Mann APSU

**__Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making Standard:__** The students will be critically thinking, problem solving, and making decisions on planning a summer vacation. The students will have a detailed rubric they will have to follow. The budget for the trip will only be $2000. The students must explain how they are traveling, lodging, who is going, how long will they stay, food, and any other activities. The students must use the $2000 without going over budget. The teacher will provide a spread sheet with all the key components of the trip. The students will locate, organize, and evaluate the summer vacation. The students will work cooperatively together, with respect and responsibilities. The students can use any resources on the Internet, in the classroom, or library. The students can use various electronics to calculate and plan the vacation. The students can use the spread sheet to determine the budget. The students will need to carefully plan and strategize the summer vacation. Each student will explain their role during the planning of the summer vacation in a word document.-Stephanie Blessing

__** Car Rental **__
I would use a scenario similar to the following to have students research and present information, and use their research to justify a decision.

Your family has planned a road trip for Fall Break this year. You are so excited to go! However, two days before leaving, your family’s car breaks down. The repair shop looks at it and determines it will take at least a week for the parts to arrive and your vehicle to be repaired. Your parents, having already pre-paid the vacation decide to rent a car so that you can still go on the road trip. A.   Determine your destination. It must be at least 600 milesfrom your home. Next, choose 2 other places you want to travel that either on the way to or somewhat near (within 200 miles) of your final destination. Find the total roundtrip mileage for your trip. B. Research different options for rental cars. You will need the car from October 10 – October 17. Decide on your top two options for the car you wish to rent. Most rental companies will say a car size (Economy) and list a model (Ford Focus or similar). Find the cost of renting the different models of cars you selected for the dates mentioned above. Take a screen shot of the price (don’t actually make the reservation). C. Besides the cost of the rental car, you need to also consider gas. Research the models of cars (use the model the rental company lists such as Economy-Ford Focus or similar you would research Ford Focus) to find the Average Combined Fuel Economy (combining City and Highway Mileage). D. Using Parts A and C, calculate the amount of gasoline needed for each vehicle for your trip. Then research the national average price for gasoline. Use this price per gallon to estimate the total cost of gasoline for your trip. E. Use parts B and D to find the total cost for each of the two cars (cost of gas and the rental charges) F. Organize your information into a presentation of some sort for your parents. Present them with all of the information you gathered, and then evaluate your research to make a suggestion as to which of the two cars you selected would be the better choice for your road trip. ---Dan Przybylski

**Matrix Logic/ Table**

The students will be given a handout with a logic problem. The student must solve the problem step by step. Students must create a chart or table that is called a matrix. A matrix will help student organize the information in the problem in a useful way. Students will use matrix to eliminate possibilities. Once student has created matrix and worked problem, answers need to be written. This lesson can be continued by having the students create a logic problem and then sharing with another student to solve. Angela Pryor


 * Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making**

A cross-section of the Whispering Chamber at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago is shaped like an ellipse. In this chamber a person standing at a focus point can hear a person standing at the other focus point whispering, even though they are 43.42 feet apart. I would like the students to research the ellipse and try to find why this is. Students can then set up Skype to talk with engineers that actually constructed this building. The students would be required to write up their findings and share with class as well as the engineers. - Stephen Shone 5611

=Run a Business= As a group, students will create a business with a startup cost of $60.000. Students will design a budget and will have to configure payroll, labor, product materials, expenditures, equipment, maintenance, building lease, advertising, taxes, and utilities. Students can decide what their product is and how much they have to sell to make a profit. Students can research cost of property, related product materials, and anything related to their budget to get an idea of actual cost. How much would the company have to earn per year to be profitable? Is your group idea feasible in today’s consumer market? What could make your business more profitable? Groups would present this assignment as a PowerPoint presentation and take questions from the class. -Jamie Edwards

Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making

A great lesson that could be taught here is renting versus buying a home. Students could go online and search newspapers and real estate sites for the prices of homes and apartments to find one they like. In terms of income, they could use their current salary if employed or look up the salary of the profession they hope to enter before purchasing a home. The students could go through the home mortgage calculators and determine what their amount would be based on the current market depending on the type of and length of the loan they chose. They will need to find out about taxes and insurance, all of those things that are required to help them make an informed decision.

Submitted by Barbara Tucker

Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making For my students they would work on a real world budget. They would have to find all their information from the newspaper. 1. Find a job, and what the pay is. 2. Find an apartment or house for rent. 3. Determine the average utilites cost. 4. Find a car, and determine the cost. Not of just the car, but the insurance, and maintenance. 5. Look at renters insurance and get a cost. 6. Still have to add in groceries, determine what they would spend for groceries. 7. And just for kicks, add in cell phones, cable t/v and going on dates. 8. Determine if the job they selected will allow them to make the bills each month. 9. If not, what can they cut. It is important for students to understand the real world. It's expensive out there and they need to know it. We have actually done this project several times and they are really surprised at what it costs.

Daniel Moran

**Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making** Students will be given a real world problem to address such as animal endangerment, poverty, health awareness, or environmental concerns. Students will work in groups of three. Students will make a public service announcement about their topic. First, they will identify their purpose for creating the public service announcement (fund raiser, get people to help, bring awareness). Next, they will research to find facts about their topic ex. (1 out of 5 smokers develop lung cancer). Team members will collaborate to create a PowerPoint over their topic while keeping their purpose in mind. For example, if the PSA is mainly for raising funds, students will need to include a slide that encourages people to donate money. Students will then plan a commercial in order to deliver the PSA. Each team member must appear in the commercial. The purpose of the commercial must be made clear to the audience and students must mention facts they researched about the topic. Props can be used if they wish. Teacher will video tape each group’s commercial. **Brittany Adams**

Schedule and Budget Software Creation and Implementation (Jason Hatton)
This is targeted at an upper level Computer Science class

Students will need to create a budget to develop and implement a new piece of software. Students will need analyze the project and develop a plan and schedule for the software and implementation. Factors that need to be included while developing a schedule and budget are the amount of time project development and implementation will take, the hardware and software needed to develop the project, the amount of workers required, the workers’ pay (based on national pay scale), how much completing projects cost and more. The students will be expected to create document that convinces the client that their solution is the most efficient.


 * Build a Bridge** (Andrea Jackson)

Students will be grouped and asked to design a bridge for the lowest cost and to hold the most weight. Students will first research types of bridges and materials used from three different sources. They will then decide what materials they will use and how much it will cost. They will design a blue print and then use the blue print to build a model. They will use graphs and charts created on the computer to present to the class. Then the teacher will test in the class which bridge is not only the most cost effective, but can hold the most weight.

Students are always asking in depth questions. We can formulate these questions as a class and work on finding the answer on the Internet. They need to be questions that take some reading and searching to find the answer. Then when students come to a question later in the year they will know how to search for the answer.
 * __ Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making (Carrie Ellzey) __**

Computer Trends (Ryan Heady)
Users will be trained on how to document what steps they have taken on their local computer after a problem has occured. They will be give a set of criteria to document when an error or infections occur on their computer. When each user collects this data, and then reports it to local IT staff this data can be combined to help draw a bigger picture of trends and problems on computer systems. New best common practices, or even IT policy's maybe derived from this information. This data may also prevent other users from falling victim to the same problems.

====**Friends of Special Needs Children Field Day (Jake Peterson)-** My PE Class will be conducting a field day for special needs children. My students will have to use the computer to research and find out about specific disabilities and what those children can still do to participate in a field day. They will have to gather enough information to be able compose 5 field day events for the special needs children. If necessary, they will have to make additional adjustments to make the event work for the specific child.====

Every year, my 7th grade students participate in Project Citizen, a civics projects that requires students to create public policy for a problem in their community. This year my students decided that they wanted to create policy for Cell Phone Use While Driving. They had to begin by research public policy, researching the problem and how it relates to our community, and conducting interviews with those in our community. My students create surveys for different focus groups to complete using survey monkey, had to work as one class of 17 to create alternate policies that would help to alleviate of solve their problem, and create a binder, board, and digital presentation of their project. Through this project, they had to use word processing, PowerPoint, internet, I-Movie, website creation software, Survey Monkey, and their minds to collaborate and come to one solution. They even took the project a step further and presented it to local senators and representatives.
 * Project Citizen**

By: Whitney Joyner

This would be an appropriate activity for middle school math and social studies classes. Students would be given a hypothetical amount of money to invest in the stock market. The goal for students would be to end the project with more money than they initially started. Students would use the internet to research different stock options and decide which stocks to purchase. Students would then follow their stocks over a month long period via http://www.nasdaq.com or http://www.nyse.com. Throughout the project students would use Microsoft Excel to document the progress of their stocks. At the end of the month long project students would then use Excel to create a final graph and spreadsheet for each stock purchased. After an analysis was completed, students would then use Microsoft Powerpoint to create a presentation where they could insert their graphs and spreadsheets from Excel. ||  || After studying the Great Depression, the end of the unit project would be to play the role of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's cabinet. Students would research, plan a hypothesis, create graphs, plan a solution, and create a business pitch video in I-Movie using all of their knowledge. Have a fellow teacher come in to watch the students "pitch" their plans to the President.
 * **Stock Exchange Project (Sara Rohde)**
 * Solving the Great Depression (Beth Austin)**

The students will use the American Library Association’s website for Banned Books Week: [|__http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/index.cfm__]. They will review the information provided and come up with a question related to banned books. Then, in order to answer this question, they will create a five to ten question survey using [|__www.surveymonkey.com__]. I will model the process to ensure they understand how to create surveys that can help determine an answer for their question. Finally, they will create and present a PowerPoint explaining their questions and results.
 * Banned Books (by Lisa Nixon) **

What Letter AM I?

Using a short video you can play What Letter am I. This video would include verbal clues and abstract picture clues to help the students make educated guesses at to what the letter you are describing. You could use this while introducing the letter to your students.

You could also use this game introduce many different new concepts. Concepts like new sounds, numbers, weather, days of the week, and many other topics. Lisa Nedow


 * Music Instrument Proposal (by Heather (Frost) Burkeen)**

Students are asked to create a proposal for instruments to outfit a new elementary music classroom. They must outfit the room for under $8,000. The music room must have 25 Orff instruments, 5 each of classroom rhythm instruments (guiro, maracas, woodblocks, triangles, tambourines, cowbells, jingle taps, jingle bells, and hand drums), 25 works drums, 25 pairs of rhythm sticks, and a keyboard. They may also include other instruments they find as long as they explain why they would be useful in the classroom and if they are under budget. They will have to create a spreadsheet with at least 3 sources for every instrument.

Parenting Readiness Another Unit that I cover in Family and Consumer Science is Parenting. In an effort to teach my students the responsibilities of parenting, I require Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision MakingAnother Unit that I cover in Family and Consumer Science is Parenting. In an effort to teach my students the responsibilities of parenting, I require them to take an online parenting assessment quiz that analyzes their “parenting readiness.” After they take the quiz, they have to write a paragraph discussing their results and how they feel about them. Finally, I have them price, using various websites, baby supplies. They are required to price an entire room for a baby such as the crib, changing table, and bedding. Then they have to price diapers, wipes, toiletries and food. I follow this with a babyfood tasting lab, which they love! Lacey Reed

__//**Students with disabilities after high school**//__
Each student will develop a plan on life after high school. As a student with disabilities, it is important to understand the path of life they will take. Students that will be living in a community will be given a budget to live on that will be using adult disability benefits. Students will need to explain where they will work, whether or not they plan to attend college, what college they plan to attend and how to be admitted, where they will live (independent housing, with parents, on college campus), how they will budget their groceries, how they will manage their spending on transportation and additional items, etc. Jameeka Benford

__**Re-search for the stars!**__ This Guidance Lesson will be geared toward advanced students in grades 9-12 (throughout the school district) who have shown an interest in gaining experience in conducting research. The students will be divided into groups and given a complex hypothesis to research. They are expected to build on the skills they learned from the IDEA project as well gain new skills in conducting and evaluating research, designing research methods, collecting data, working within teams and reporting their results. The team members are to communicate and collaborate completely online (using whatever resources that are available), and will meet each other and present their studies in a special event. **Christopher Richardson** It is 2012. This year my 6th graders were terribly concerned about the world coming to an end. They had heard all the doomsday scenerios. Solar flares and pole shifts were at the top of the list. I turned this into an activity that fit in nicely with our content. In groups, they chose what doomsday topic they wanted to research. They found articles on the internet and discussed them within their group. They analyzed each one, looked at the source to see if it was credible, and evaluated whether the information was based on fact or opinion. As a group, they presented their findings. They did a great job with this activity because they were very interested to find answers. While researching, they would read an article, which would generate more questions, and they searched for answers to those also. --Sarah Cost
 * Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Decision Making**

Shopping Students will provide input on items needed on a shopping trip by cutting out pictures from magazines and newspapers. The class will be divided into two groups. The first group of students will create price tags for the selected items. The other group of students will be running a register, counting money, and providing correct change. Lanika McClendon

Students would choose an informative topic after consulting with the teacher, and instead of writing it out, they would shoot a 3 to 5 minute how-to video on a topic demonstrating their skill or knowledge base in and save it to a flash drive and present it on the class computer using the projector. Students could choose to burn the demonstrative presentation onto a DVD-R, or upload it to YouTube, but must test it prior to their presentation to verify its compatibility. Students would be given a rubric on organization of ideas, proper utilization and effective use of technology, and presentation. Adam Carter
 * Create an informative iMovie **


 * Ready, Set, Launch **

In my previous position teaching Algebra 1, we developed STEM challenged that incorporated students using concepts from all four of the STEM areas. One project that I feel incorporates this standard well is the catapult project. Groups of students first research catapults, used various materials to build a catapult, test, analyze data, and revise their catapults. They used a slow motion video camera to capture images of a marshmallow their catapult had launched. Using either their graphing calculators or spreadsheets, students created a table, graph, and equation for the position of their marshmallow as a function of time. Students could then make adjustments to their design and reanalyze. The goal was to be able to predict the behavior of their catapult in order to hit targets with marshmallows. Audrey Bullock


 * Create A Product**

In high school, we were asked to design our own business. We were to come up with a product, packaging, advertising, and a complete business plan including revenue. We needed to find out all of the information that would be surrounding the business, what supplies were needed, how much they cost, and how much to pay employees. In developing this project, we also developed a presentation to show all of our research and findings. We used multiple types of media to plan and manage all of the information we gathered. It is a well-rounded way to have students investigate a project from all angles and use as many resources as possible. Kaitlyn Lindblad


 * Video Game Store**

Students will work with a partner to complete the following activity. Students are co-owners of a video game store. They have just opened the store, so they are not showing a substantial profit yet. They can only afford to buy one new video game per month in addition to what they already have in the store. In order for them to decide which video games will produce the most profit, they will have to go online and research popular video games for all ages. Students will then create a survey that includes the top 5 video games in each age group. They will survey their customers, which are their classmates, plus 4 adults to determine the order in which they should purchase the games. Students will organize their information in an excel document and create a circle graph and bar graph to present to their employees and stockholders. The employees and stockholders will be a small group from the class. They will have to present their argument; which will be on the order in which they think they should purchase the video games. The employees and stockholders will either agree or disagree, but if they disagree they will have to supply evidence to support their argument based on the presentation. Students will have been given a predetermined dollar amount to spend on the purchase of the new video game based on store profits after all bills and employees have been paid. The teacher will score the projects based on the rubric they were provided with at the beginning of the project and the rationale for choosing their first video. **-Kimberlee Taylor**

**Think Outside the Box (Backwards Time Travel)** - I have an assignment that requires students to take a situation that could occur in their daily lives and figure out how they would have solved it 50 years ago, BEFORE the advent of all the technology that they take for granted today. For example, one scenario has someone run out of gas on the way to a job interview. With no GPS, no OnStar, and no cell phone, what do you do? The technology implementation is mainly in the research that they must do to solve the problem. Sadly, most kids today have no idea how to operate WITHOUT a cell phone, or GPS, or SpellCheck! It’s a joy to watch them use technology, ironically, to research and present problems to solutions that don’t use technology. - **VALERIE SHAW**

 **Money -**  We teach the value of money in the lower grades. Many students believe that $100 could buy a car, a house, and so much more. On the 100th day of school students are given a play $100 bill. After, they receive their play money we discuss what we could buy with a $100. I make a list of all sorts of crazy things they think they can afford. I have a store set up of different items they can buy (Example: a new movie for $20). Each student has a chance to come spend their money at the store. Then, we look items up we wanted to buy on the internet, and find out how much they really cost. Some items are affordable, but many are much more. Students will then journal a list of items they can actually buy with $100. At a center that week they complete a graphic organizer using the Kidspiration software listing things they were able to buy with their money. **- Jessica Allen**

One assignment that I enjoy watching my students complete is a collaborative home design project. One student at a time will use a simple drafting program to add a piece to the puzzle. It starts off easy and gets harder as each student takes his turn adding their touch to the home design. The more difficult it gets toward the end of the project, the more critical thinking is involved.- Michael Holt
 * Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making- Michael Holt **


 * Investigate Daylight Patterns Over a Span of Time -** Students will learn about daylight by collecting data on sunrise and sunset in the city or town they live. The students will collect real data over months, preferably over a season or the course of the class, and will also use the "Sun" function within Google Earth to collect data. Students will look for a pattern in the amount of daylight during the designated span of time and write explanations for the daylight pattern observed. Data will be collected in a spreadsheet format. Students can use a combination of photography or Google Earth to provide images over the course of time.

**Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making**- Going Places with a Budget
Students work in groups to develop a Google Drive Presentation aimed at demonstrating in pictures, text and a spreadsheet, the likely amount of money they will need in order to rent an apartment in a given city for 1 month. Students in each group will come to a consensus about which city this will be. If consensus cannot be reached, the teacher will provide a city for the group.

Students must answer these questions (via apartmentguide.com, .gov, Google, etc):
 * How much will rent for their chosen apartment cost per month?
 * How much will utilities (gas, water, sewer, electric, cable, internet, garbage collection) cost per month?
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How far away, in miles, is the nearest grocery store?
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How far away, in miles, is the nearest laundromat?
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Is there public transport? If so, is this bus, streetcar, subway, a combination? And,
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">what is the average monthly cost of a pass?
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How far away is the nearest public library?

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Next, students must get images (using Google and screenhunter, etc) of the apartment they are considering, the nearest grocery, the nearest laundromat, the public transport they would most likely utilize, and an image of the nearest public library. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">These images will be integrated into a Drive Presentation that includes the required information (cost. etc), as well as the reasoning behind the choices. Students will comment on the surprises they encountered, and reflect on what they have learned in individual blogs created in Blogger. After completing these presentations, students will upload them to a class Google Site, and the class will review select presentations. **Brian Hampton**

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**Critical Thinking, Problem-Solving, and Decision-Making -- Whistle While You Work!**

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Students will solve the problem of finding a job and gain a little bit of real world experience through writing a resume! There is no better way to gain resume writing experience than to write one for someone else. Students are to pick a character from any of the literary pieces we've read this year for which he or she can create a resume in order to help this particular get a job of some sort. Be as creative as possible with the assignment. Think about all of the important components of a resume in order to guide you in what you should include. Remember that resume should paint a positive image of the character. Use some of the characteristics of the character in order to come with positive things to say about the character. At the end of the class, students will share their resumes and determine which character/person will be hired. -- **HYKEEM CRAFT**

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making -- 6th grade students would apply the steps of the Engineering Design Process to come up with an "ask" to a real world problem. We do several of these a year with students. We call them STEM challenges. STEM challenges must be based on some real world problem. Students work together in small groups to come up with a question that they will then work to answer. Students must follow the steps and explain how they are solving the problem with their decisions they make. Students will reflect at the end of each day's work to see if they are making progress and how they need to proceed the next day or at home. Students are sometimes allowed to bring in materials from home (nothing purchased hopefully) but items that can be re-purposed for their prototype. I think for science, this standard is very much like the one before it. Both would indicate using the EDP to solve real world problems. I know in math, students had to calculate their expenses for going to the super bowl since one of our challenges was based on last year's super bowl. Students had to make decisions about whether they would fly or drive. Would they save gas by not running the air conditioner. Would they need to run the air conditioner this time of year traveling from point A to point B. Students had to use their critical thinking skills to complete this math task. -- Lisa Porter

**Critical Thinking Problem solving, and Decision Making: Real World Project** - In a high school economics class, students will complete a real world project. Students will be paired with someone else in the class and be “married”. Every student will draw a job out of a jar; the job will also list the annual salary. A week into the project, students will draw to see if they have any children. While “married”, students will have to create a budget, buy or rent a home, buy a car, along with the other things that normal couples do in the real world. The budget will have to include any expenses the couple plans to have on a monthly bases. Two weeks into the project, couples will draw for a situation. The situations can be good - getting an inheritance - or bad - someone gets into a car accident. The situations will be varied and no two couples will get the exact same. The partners will then have to figure out how to adapt to the newly presented situation. By the end of three weeks, each pair should have their information put together in a creative way. - Page Thompson

**Real World Situations-** This has been mentioned in different variations on here already, but I loved it whenever I was in school and I would love doing it with my students. Students would bring in a binder and would go down a list of things to decide on: career, house, car, food, etc. They would print pictures of everything and would have to create a budget. They may think that they'll have more money leftover to do what they want every month than they really will. They will have to do a lot of research on careers and their training or college requirements. They'll have to make decisions on what they need and what they don't need in order to fit things into their budget. It was so much fun!- Kelsea Keith

Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making: Paying Federal Income Tax
The teacher will create W-2’s for each student. The teacher will provide information about tax forms and their applications (like the 1040 or the 1040EZ). The students will be given W-2’s and other scenarios to consider when choosing which tax form to complete. The information provided to the students will be relatively simple information such as number of exemptions and charitable donations. The students will choose which form is most appropriate to their simulated situation. They will use the internet (irs.gov) to find the forms and the booklets that go along with each form. The teacher will use a simulated situation to prepare a form for the class then the students will prepare their own forms. The students will discuss the problems they encounter while filling out the form. The students will make suggestions about how they may be able to lessen their taxes the next year. A couple of the more interesting scenarios may be presented by the students to the class. - Amy Hale-Oglesby

For a middle school social studies class I would have students first write me a paragraph about why they feel it is either important/or not important to vote in elections. Then I would have them research //why it is important to vote//. They would need to acquire quotes from people of historical importance about voting and why they said it, information about voting rights, ideas about what voting in a democracy means and what does it accomplish, and how does voting influence public policy. They would then have write an essay on why they feel it is or is not important to vote based upon all the information they have learned. They will have to cite several sources of information, and present an argument that supports the decision they have made to either vote or not to vote. Monica Marshall

Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making One of my favorite art lessons that really involves critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making is a lesson on aesthetics and how we choose to value art. For example, I have my students think about the fact that just because we think something is beautiful and we would want to hang it in our home, doesn't mean it's worth a lot of money. Also, just because a painting is worth a lot of money, it doesn't mean it's an original idea or took a long time to create. And so on.... I give them lots of scenarios to think about how we choose to value art. This assignment could be done individually or in groups. For each person or group, I will give them 5 different works of art to explore. They would be given the task of assigning a label to each work of art. Those labels are 1) worth the most money, 2) hang this in my home, 3) most unique, original, creative idea, 4) do not like this piece, and 5) took the most time to make. They can only use each label once, and for each piece they must answer WHY they chose that label. Each student or group will create a powerpoint presentation explaining their choices. Also, if they ran into any difficulty making decisions on how to label things, that should be included in their presentation too. For example, were there some pieces they wanted to give multiple labels to? ~Judith Fleming

The best assignment I can provide is when my class does mock UN debates. The students prepare by researching the country that has been assigned. The hard part is that the students has to begin to deeply understand the issue to argue for the assigned country. The student has to understand the problems, as well and make an informed decision. The best part of this assignment is the collaboration and communication that goes into the debate. Often students study so hard, so that they are prepared for all the angles the debate could take. - Robert Lanham

__** Ecosystems **__ The students will be given an ecosystem. The students will research the ecosystem and the main problems found in that ecosystem. The students will research the problem and realistic ways to solve the problem. The students will create a speech and a powerpoint to explain the ecosystem they have been assigned, the problem the ecosystem may be having, the solution that they have created and how they will implement the solution. The students will be exposed to the different types of ecosystems and the problems that ecosystem might face when the other groups present. This will also help students with their realistic problem solving skills in everyday life. -Lindsey Rittenberry

__** Personal Finance Fiasco **__ I always hear students say how they never learned anything "important" in High School. Well, I can safely say my Personal Finance class taught me how to do my taxes, balance a checkbook, and make a simple budget. I think all these skills are very essential to every high school graduate. With this, I would give my students a scenario with a struggling family. It would include their income, their monthly bills, their savings account balance, and their checking account balance. The students would have to use their problem solving skills to come up with a feasible budget for the family. They would have to create this in Microsoft Excel. They would also have to use Glogster to create a poster detailing tips on how the family can save money and the importance of a balanced budget. Students will need to get creative here, as part of their grade will be based on how they can help the family get back on their feet. At the end of the unit, the students will have to present their Glogster and their budget and explain how they solved the problem of the struggling family. The hope is that students will then understand the importance of budgeting and why every family needs one! -Anna Phillips

====Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making are all very important aspects in every career. For an activity, I would assign students into groups. They would pretend that they are part of a very popular and well established IT company. Each group will be given a scenario from an outside business that needs assistance with a problem of some sort of technology. The scenario will explain the problem and why it needs to be fixed. The group of students will work together to figure out the source of the problem and how they can fix the problem. Using design software such as Photoshop, InDesign, or Illustrator, they will develop a mind map of their thought process to fix the problem. Together, they will then make a list of steps they will take to fix the problem, a chart of tools and resources they will use, and an explanation for the decisions they have made. They will present their final project to [me] for approval to be sure the problem is fixed and then they will present their project to the class explaining how they solved the problem. – Tiffany Broadbent====

To buy or lease? That is the question that I would pose to one of my junior or senior math classes. We would have covered percentages and conversions in class as well as budgeting. I would give the students a budget of what they could spend a month on a vehicle, gas allowance, and a mileage to and from their job. The students would have to research the price of cars as well as the gas mileage that those cars got. They would also have to decide if the lease would allow them enough mileage to get to and from work without being penalized. The students would have to decide would buying a car or leasing a car be better for their particular situation and why. This would allow them to do research on their own of different makes and models of cars, researching and figuring gas mileage and whether or not they would have enough money to cover the car they chose. -Lisa Cochran

Students will have to present an action of plan to the dance committee. Students will be placed in groups of four. First students will have to provide three fundraisers that will allow them to raise $2,000. They will have to explain the actual cost of the fundraiser, how much of each fundraiser we need to sale, and the percentage the school will receive. This will allow the students to understand profit, percent, and budgeting. The second part is planning a Mardi Ball for 250 students. The students will have a $2,000 budget. The students will decide what decorations, venue and food to choose. Students will need to create an itemize list of what they are spending the money on. Students will decide every detail: will they have a band or DJ, finger foods or dinner, a photographer, photo booth or neither. Students will have to create flyers, invitations, menus (if applicable), and a floor plan. Students finish product must be submitted via edmodo.com. -Kamesha Fullman
 * Crucial Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making: Fundraising and Party Planning **