Beckstrom Critical Thinking Curriculum Paper

Julia Landon College Preparatory and Leadership Development School Curriculum Paper Course Title: Critical Thinking Teacher: Mr. K. Beckstrom Mission Statement: Our Mission at the Julia Landon College Preparatory and Leadership Development School is to create college bound students with a deep commitment to public service and a true understanding of their leadership skills within the global community. Course Overview: 1. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens (This is the leadership elective for 6th grade. The students will learn about how to be a leader from within and habits that will help them throughout the rest of their lives.) 2. Junior Great Books (This is the “critical thinking” portion of the class. The class will read twelve different short stories. Each story has a series of activities to help further the students’ understanding of the story. The culminating activity for each story is a Shared Inquiry Discussion which is based on the Socratic Method. Tentative Course Outline: Each day the class will work on activities related to the seven habits. The students will also work on activities from the Junior Great Books. There are twelve stories in Series 6 of the Junior Great Books and each story takes approximately five sessions to complete. Student Evaluation:

10% Bell Ringers 30% Class work/Homework 30% Class Performance/Oral Work 30% Tests/Quizzes Projects will count as test grades. Nine-weeks exams will count as two test grades.

Educational Materials: The students will use Sean Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens and Series 6 of The Junior Great Books. The students will also use supplemental material from both books along with teacher produced materials.

Homework/Late Work Policy: Homework will be given on an as-needed basis. Late work will be accepted with grade deductions depending on the assignment.

Make-up Work Policy: Students will be given the same number of days to complete make-up work as the number of days they were absent.

Grade Recovery Policy: Students will be offered grade recovery as outlined in the Duval County Pupil Progression Plan found on the Duval County Public Schools web page.

Parent/Teacher Conferences: Conferences will be scheduled by the guidance office.

Tutoring Schedule: Tutoring is available after school by appointment only.

Grading Scale: Students will be evaluated in accordance with the standard Duval County Public Schools’ grading scale.

Progress Reports: In addition to report cards issued at the end of each quarter, students will receive progress reports on October 10th, December 12th, March 4th and May 13th.

Other Information: Due to the nature of the subject being studied, the students will be required to participate in class discussions during most class sessions and will be required to give their honest opinions.