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\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Unit 1: Critical Thinking<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Know Thyself<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Before you read <\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n a. What are critical thinking skills? <\/span><\/p>\n b. How do critical thinkers solves the problems? Guess the steps they follow while tackling a problem.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Read the following text and do the given tasks:<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n There was a lot of shuffling around when the bell rang and everybody got up to leave. I checked my schedule and it said my next class was English, room 321. I didn\u2019t stop to see if anyone else from my homeroom was going my way: I just zoomed out of the class and down the hall and sat down as far from the front as possible. The teacher, a really tall man with a yellow beard, was writing on the chalkboard. <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Kids came in laughing and talking in little groups but I didn\u2019t look up. Basically, the same thing that happened in homeroom happened again: no one sat next to me except for Jack, who was joking around with some kids who weren\u2019t in our homeroom. I could tell Jack was the kind of kid other kids like. He had a lot of friends. He made people laugh. <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When the second bell rang, everyone got quiet and the teacher turned around and faced us. He said his name was Mr. Browne, and then he started talking about what we would be doing this semester. At a certain point, somewhere between A Wrinkle in Time and Shen of the Sea, he noticed me but kept right on talking.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I was mostly doodling in my notebook while he talked, but every once in a while I would sneak a look at the other students. Charlotte was in this class. So were Julian and Henry. Miles wasn\u2019t. <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Mr. Browne had written on the chalkboard in big block letters:<\/span><\/p>\n P-R-E-C-E-P-T! <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOkay, everybody write this down at the very top of the very first page in your English notebook.\u201d As we did what he told us to do, he said: \u201cOkay, so who can tell me what a precept is? Does anyone know?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n No one raised their hands. Mr. Browne smiled, nodded, and turned around to write on the chalkboard again: <\/span><\/p>\n PRECEPTS = RULES ABOUT REALLY IMPORTANT THINGS!<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cLike a motto?\u201d someone called out. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cLike a motto!\u201d said Mr. Browne, nodding as he continued writing on the board. \u201cLike a famous quote. Like a line from a fortune cookie. Any saying or ground rule that can motivate you. Basically, a precept is anything that helps guide us when making decisions about really important things.\u201d He wrote all that on the chalkboard and then turned around and faced us. \u201cSo, what are some really important things?\u201d he asked us. <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A few kids raised their hands, and as he pointed at them, they gave their answers, which he wrote on the chalkboard in really, really sloppy handwriting:<\/span><\/p>\n RULES. SCHOOLWORK. HOMEWORK. <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat else?\u201d he said as he wrote, not even turning around. \u201cJust call things out!\u201d He wrote everything everyone called out. <\/span><\/p>\n FAMILY. PARENTS. PETS. <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One girl called out: \u201cThe environment!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n THE ENVIRONMENT. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He wrote on the chalkboard, and added: <\/span><\/p>\n OUR WORLD! <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSharks, because they eat dead things in the ocean!\u201d said one of the boys, a kid named Reid, and Mr. Browne wrote down <\/span><\/p>\n SHARKS. <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBees!\u201d \u201cSeatbelts!\u201d \u201cRecycling!\u201d \u201cFriends!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOkay,\u201d said Mr. Browne, writing all those things down. He turned around when he finished writing to face us again. \u201cBut no one\u2019s named the most important thing of all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We all looked at him, out of ideas. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cGod?\u201d said one kid, and I could tell that even though Mr. Browne wrote \u201cGod\u201d down, that wasn\u2019t the answer he was looking for. Without saying anything else, he wrote down: <\/span><\/p>\n WHO WE ARE!<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWho we are,\u201d he said, underlining each word as he said it. \u201cWho we are! Us! Right? <\/span><\/p>\n What kind of people are we? What kind of person are you? Isn\u2019t that the most important thing of all? Isn\u2019t that the kind of question we should be asking ourselves all the time? <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat kind of person am I? <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDid anyone happen to notice the plaque next to the door of this school? Anyone read what it says? Anyone?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He looked around but no one knew the answer. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt says: \u2018Know Thyself,\u2019 \u201d he said, smiling and nodding. \u201cAnd learning who you are is what you\u2019re here to do.\u201d \u201cI thought we were here to learn English,\u201d Jack cracked, which made everyone laugh. <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOh yeah, and that, too!\u201d Mr. Browne answered, which I thought was very cool of him. <\/span><\/p>\n He turned around and wrote in big huge block letters that spread all the way across the chalkboard: <\/span><\/p>\n MR. BROWNE\u2019S SEPTEMBER PRECEPT: <\/span><\/p>\n WHEN GIVEN THE CHOICE BETWEEN <\/span><\/p>\n BEING RIGHT OR BEING KIND, CHOOSE KIND.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n #####<\/span><\/p>\n