Critical Thinking Activities for the Classroom

Name/Adjective Combinations: ask students to come up with an adjective that begins with the first letter of their name and also describes their personality. This is a great warm-up activity for beginners.

Word Jumbles: write a series of random letters on the chalkboard and ask students to write down as many words as they can. This is also a great way to review new vocabulary.

Chain Stories: begin a story and have each students add on a new sentence or two. Each new section must relate to the previous one, making one continuous story.

Riddles/Logic Puzzles: puzzles or riddles that challenge students to think and problem-solve. For example: “A man rides into town on Friday and leaves town two days later on Friday. How can this be?” Answer: his horse is named Friday.

Ordering: tell your students to organize themselves into a line based on their date of birth (from the youngest to the oldest). Tell them that they can only speak English during the exercise. This will encourage them to work together as a team and think logically.