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

==**Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources.**== (Please list resources directly below the corresponding objective using a bulleted list.)

a. identify and define authentic digital tools and resources.

 * [|Math in White City, Kansas] - Students apply math skills learned in school in the real world. Activities include: 1) read the picture book “A Day With No Math” orally to students to spark conversation about math and generate research questions for their shadow day at a local business, 2) conduct field research and interviews at a local business by shadowing employees at local area and use ipods for recording interviews, digital cameras and flip cameras, 3) plan a digital story of their experience by using a storyboard and writing a script for the story, 4) evaluate the importance of math in our daily lives by creating a reflection video, and 5) create a Mix Book of their experience to be placed in the school library, so other students canunderstand the importance of math. View the lesson plan and teaching video for more details.
 * Animal PSA Students in Wichita, along with their teacher Angie Carter, and their facilitator Jenny Gridley, helped to create this project surrounding animals. Read more details on the [|blog from their facilitator] and check out student samples and additional teaching resources at the [|Wichita TRC Grant Resources Page.]
 * Use email communication with those in their own classroom and with another grade equivalent class in another school building to collaborate on problem solving strategies for math word problems.
 * Create a public address announcement describing the order of operations and solving an algebraic expression. Students have to use the letters pemdas (Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally) and come up with their own saying for the acronym. Students were allowed to pick the digital tool in which to present their public address announcement to the class.

b. plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project.

 * Inventors in Training - 5th grade students in Mrs. Gennifer Birk's classroom were charged with the task of solving a real world problem of their choice by imagining an invention that would help someone. They used a variety of technology applications to develop and present their ideas, including KidPix4, Stixy, Kidspiration, Microsoft Word, and the [|inventnow.org website]. You can find the lesson plan and student samples here. You can also see a video of the lesson here.
 * Modeling the Shapes of the World - Sherry Kinderknecht's 7th graders demonstrated their understanding of geometric shapes and their properties by planning, conducting and evaluating a geometric fashion show. Students used math vocabulary to author a scripts and determine how their peers' took advantage of the various properties of geometric shapes. You can find Sherry's lesson plan and checklist by clicking here and you will find her video with student examples by clicking here. Sherry and her students used Skype, digital cameras, flip cams, computers, drop box online storage and Livescribe pens to complete this project.
 * [|Picture Book Trailers] - Monique Woods enticed her 5th graders in Wichita to explore the elements of a story by asking them to create book trailers for younger readers. You can find her [|lesson plan, assessment rubric and storyboarding tool] on the TRC Ning. You can also find a sample of her [|**students’ book trailers**] at the **[|Wichita TRC site]**. Ms. Woods used [|Rubistar] to build her rubric, [|Wall Wisher] for student reflections, [|Flocabulary] for a helpful song about the parts of a story and several other online resources which can be linked from her [|lesson plan].
 * **[|Smokey No Smokey] In response to the Reno County Health Department call for participation, the students, teachers and facilitator at Prosperity Elementary in Buhler USD developed Public Service Announcments podcasts on the hazards of smoking. iMovie and Garage Band were used. iPod apps such as Sonicpics and Storykit or [|Vocaroo] or [|Audacity] could have been used (for PCs). Several of the student PSAs will be played on the radio as a result of the competition! Learn more about [|podcasting at Techtastic]. Buhler USD teachers:** **Nancy Johnson, Tanya Ketchum, Tim Harris, and Brenda Dunning & facilitator Tammy Gilley**
 * Have four days to discuss strategies for developing a solution. Students can not include the answer in their communication with each other. They can discuss specific strategies and give assistance to other students without leading to a direct answer. Final answers must be submitted by the fifth day.

c. collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions.

 * **Cubs That Care! - 6th and 7th grade students in Mary Durand and Jeremy Weilert's 6th and 7th grade classrooms brainstormed their greatest community concerns, assembled into groups, persuaded one another to pick one specific route and then worked as a whole to gather data on the cross-walk and side walk safety issues surrounding their middle school. Students used that data to present to the city council and school board, requesting that action be taken in several areas. This video explains this lesson and you can find the lesson plan, parent survey, data results, grading rubric and student samples by clicking here. Resources used in the project include Create-A-Graph, and PowerPoint.**
 * Out of this World - 8th grade students pick one planet or other large body, such as a moon, to research in depth. Information will include such facts as atmospheric conditions, gravity, temperature range, solar radiation, and other dangers that may be unique to their planet. Students will use their knowledge of what humans need to survive coupled with their knowledge of technology to design a tourist attraction that is exciting but safe. They will include domes or other structures from which tourists can view the sites, ride the rides, and enjoy the thrills that are unique to this world. Finally, students will create an ad for their tourist attraction in Glogster. Visit the lesson plan and companion teaching video for more information.
 * [|Active Civic Participants: Census 2010] - Students at Bergman Elementary in Manhattan participated in this project which began with a presentation from the long range planner of their city. The students went on to learn everything they could about the Census. They created informational brochures, PSA’s, graphs from the data collected from the Bergman Census, and threads using [|VoiceThread]. Click here to see the [|teacher lesson plan] and here to [|view a video] that they created, as a result of their project.
 * [|Classroom City Project] - Wichita TRCs and their facilitator Jenny Gridley implemented this project to teach students students civic responsibility. Students used [|Web Poster Wizard] to create their town websites.
 * Use response systems to collect student data and share immediate feedback about student progress.
 * Investigate the relationship between math vocabulary and career choices by identifying key vocabulary and visually representing how it is used in the career of choice. A matching game will be created with the images that are created by students and younger grades will have the opportunity to learn from the work that students completed. Picasa

d. use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions.

 * Math is Everywhere - 6th grade students in Deb Collins' math class refined their word problem usage skills by generating their own. Using Mixbook and Edmodo, students authored math themed stories where the protagonist had to use math to achieve a story resolution. Take a look at her lesson plan, rubric and word search handout by clicking here. Login to their Mixbook project gallary with username: tmorgan@colbyeagles.org and the password: grantwork to see student work samples. You can see a video summarizing this project by clicking here.
 * Brainstorm strategies such as working backward, using a graph or chart, using logical reasoning, etc. to develop a solution.
 * Create a new pattern for others to discover using images, words, or sounds to demonstrate knowledge of number patterns. Use Inspiration or PowerPoint to organize images from the real world and students must replicate the original pattern using their own images.