Description
Tell your students to put on their thinking hats with this engaging critical thinking and discussion lesson built around the Six Thinking Hats strategy. This instructional approach encourages students to examine a problem from multiple perspectives, helping them move beyond surface-level opinions and toward thoughtful, evidence-based reasoning.
In this collaborative nonfiction analysis activity, students read an article excerpt that explores the potential negative effects of children watching horror movies. Using the Six Thinking Hats framework, students evaluate the issue from emotional, logical, creative, and ethical viewpoints before working together to address the central question, Should horror movies be banned?
This lesson promotes student-led discussion, problem-solving, and productive collaboration. As students share ideas and negotiate differing viewpoints, they build communication skills, critical reasoning, and student ownership of learning. The structure naturally supports civil discourse and encourages students to justify their thinking with evidence from the text.
Teachers are provided with clear instructions to guide implementation, along with materials that support analysis and discussion. Students use article-based worksheets and printable thinking hat descriptions to organize their ideas and contribute meaningfully to group conversations.
This resource is ideal for middle school and high school ELA classrooms, argumentative discussion lessons, media literacy units, or activities focused on critical thinking and collaborative learning.