Coyote.Roadrunner

Hi everyone, Here is a YouTube link to a Wilie Coyote clip. What in the world can an instructor do with this, you may ask? I attended a session on Critical Thinking by Colette Strassburg at one of the YC Institutes and was introduced to this method for introducing Concepts of Thought and Intellectual Standards to my English students. So go ahead and enjoy the video, and then I'll try to explain.

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First I have the students read information in //The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking// for homework. Next I show them this video when we come to class. Third, I give them a brief overview of the Concepts of Thought: Point of View, Purpose, Question at Issue, Information, Interpretation and Inference, Concepts, Assumptions, and Implications and Consequences. Now I have students get into groups and as quickly as possible write down one or two questions for each of these terms concerning Wilie's thinking process in creating the traps for Roadrunner. For example, for Point of View, we could say that the coyote's point of view is that the Roadrunner can be caught. After the students create these questions, they share them with the class and give me a written copy. I type the responses up and return them to the students for the next class. When the students return the following class period, we consider the Intellectual Standards: Clarity, Accuracy, Precision, Relevance, Depth, Breadth, Logic, Significance, and Fairness. After this brief lecture, I have them get back into groups and draw a trap for Roadrunner. This time the groups get up in front of the class and share their trap and describe how it represents at least two of these Intellectual Standards. For example, the significance of the trap is that. . ., or the depth of the trap is sufficient for. . . Students enjoy this activity and are ready for the work ahead of them to apply these principles to readings and hopefully real life issues in the future.