What Is It?: A Critical and Creative Thinking Skills Model

Talents Unlimited
What is it?
A Critical and Creative Thinking Skills Model
Highlights:
 Enhances students’ critical and creative thinking.
 Designed to help teachers recognize and nurture the

multiple talents of children .
 Based on the needs of the world-of-work.
 Goes hand in hand with the Common Core standards,

because it teaches a process that works any time and is
applicable to different situations.
Presented by: Susan Heyer 4-20-15

A Critical and Creative Thinking Skills Model Why the
Talents Unlimited
Talents Unlimited model?

The Talents Unlimited Model of
Critical and Creative Thinking Skills
focuses on metacognition . . .
through the explicit teaching of higher order thinking skills.
- THINKING ABOUT THINKING -
“Teachers can help students become 21st-century problem

solvers by introducing them to a
broad range of thinking tools.”
Educational Leadership, Summer 2008, “Preparing Creative and Critical Thinkers,” Donald J. Treffinger.
A Critical and Creative Thinking Skills Model Rationale for teaching metacognitive skills:
Talents Unlimited
We don’t know all the information that today’s students will need or all
the answers to the questions they will face.
Indeed, increasingly, we don’t even know the questions.
We must empower students to become

creative thinkers, critical thinkers, and
problem solvers – people who are
continually learning and
who can apply their new knowledge to
complex, novel, open-ended challenges;
people who will proceed confidently and competently into the
new horizons of life and work.
Talents Unlimited
Awareness: Lack of Challenge/Relevant Work
Research on High Ability Learners Found

Students Who:
• received little or no reading instruction
• spent reading instruction time reading
independently, often at levels below
their challenge level
• surfed the web with no direction
• did busy work
Approximately 40-50% of traditional classroom

material could be eliminated for targeted students.
A Critical and Creative Thinking Skills Model Developing Creative
Talents Unlimited
Thinkers and Doers

Teachers trained in Talents
Unlimited will be able to
lead students toward becoming
innovative, self-directed,
and resilient learners and
leaders.
Explicit language for

thinking is used to
guide students.
Talents Unlimited The message is very clear…
From Get Off My Brain, by Randy McCutcheon, illustrated by Pete Wagner
“As children’s freedom has declined,

so has their creativity.”
Psychology Today, Post published by Peter Gray on Sep 17, 2012 in Freedom to Learn
A Critical and Creative Thinking Skills Model Hmmm . . .
Talents Unlimited
What can be done to provide more
interesting material to
challenge and
engage students?
How do we increase enjoyment,

engagement and enthusiasm?
Talents Unlimited
For starters,
“. . . we must accept the fact that we have
gone through the agricultural age,
and the industrial age – now, we have. . .
(Chapter 25: The Josey-Bass Leader Educational Leadership, p.442)

Talents Unlimited
. . . entered the creativity age.”
(Chapter 25: The Josey-Bass Leader Educational Leadership, p.442)

Talents Unlimited World-of-Work: reflect/forecast
“During the recent recession,
the rate of the unemployment
for the creative class was
below 5% . . .
Talents Unlimited
when the overall unemployment in the
United States was more than
14%.
In the two years following the recession, Working Class

occupations had an unemployment rate of 14.6 percent;
over three times greater than the unemployment rate for
creative occupations (4.1 percent).
Richard Florida (2012), director of the Martin Prosperity Institute and professor
of business and creativity at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.
Talents Unlimited
Thinkers and Doers – A Must!

“Nearly all students are talented;
that is, can be above average
in at least one of the
many important
intellectual talents
we can now measure.”
Dr. Carol Schlichter, creator of Talents Unlimited

Talents Unlimited
Thinkers and Doers

“Using the Multiple Talent Approach,
thinking skills instruction
is embedded in the
content of the discipline
being taught. . .
Students develop their talents

while simultaneously
growing in knowledge.”

Talents Unlimited
Thinkers and Doers
“The Multiple Talent Approach

is a complex process incorporating
cognitive,
affective, and
psychomotor components.”

Talents Unlimited Developing Creative Thinkers and Doers
Talents Unlimited
“Every student in the classroom can

become successful in at least
one talent area.
Nine out of ten children will be

above average in at least
one of these talent areas.”

Talents Unlimited – the 5 thinking talents
• Productive Thinking
• Communication
• Forecasting
• Planning
• Decision-Making
Talents Unlimited - Overview
The Common Core Standards are designed to be robust and

relevant to the real world.
Through the Talents Unlimited model, students are guided to

increase rigor and to move vertically up Bloom’s taxonomy.
Students are intentionally taught to move beyond recall and

understanding.
They are taught the processes needed to be successful in the

21st century work force.
Utilizing Talents Unlimited
• Productive Thinking
The focus of this talent is for students to use

four well-documented creative thinking skills:
• Fluency – many ideas

• Flexibility – varied ideas/mental shift
• Originality – unusual ideas
• Elaboration – add to ideas to make
them more interesting.
• Communication
This talent involves six different, but related,

skills toward producing oral, written or
non-verbal language.
“Development of the ability to communicate

needs, feelings and ideas to others is
important for achieving success in
today’s world.” Dr. Carol Schlichter
• Communication (cont.)
1. Give many, varied single words to describe something.
2. Give many, varied single words to describe
someone’s/something’s feelings.
3. Think of many, varied comparisons in the form of a simile.
4. Let others know that you understand how they feel by
sharing a personal experience.
5. Make a network of ideas using many, varied complete
thoughts in oral or written language.
6. Show your feelings, thoughts and needs without using
words.
• Forecasting
The forecasting talent includes two skills.

One asks students to look to the past to think of logical
causes for the situation to have occurred.
1. Make many, varied predictions about the causes

of a situation.
“This kind of inferential thinking can

help students avoid simplistic,
pigeonholed thinking.”
• Forecasting (cont.)
The other skill asks students to look to the future of a
situation to predict possible effects that might occur.
2. Make many, varied predictions about the effects

of a situation.
“This kind of inferential thinking can

help students avoid simplistic,
pigeonholed thinking.”
• Decision-Making
The decision-making talent helps students

learn to make thoughtful, accountable
decisions by guiding them through
five skills when making a choice
related to academic studies.
Think about your audience.

• Decision-Making (cont.)
1. Think of many, varied things you could do.
 Alternatives
2. Think of the varied questions you need to ask about these
things you could do.
 Criteria
3. Use your answers to help you make a decision.
 Weighing
4. State your final decision.
 Decision
5. Give many, varied reasons for your decision.
 Reasons
• Planning
The planning talent helps students learn skills
needed to organize their actions by thinking
through specified projects or actions toward
completion.
This type of instruction leads students toward

independence and success in both school
activities and life-related situations.
• Planning (cont.)
1. Think of what you are going to plan so someone will
know what your project is.
2. Think of all the materials and equipment you will need
for your project.
3. Think of all the steps needed to complete the project and
put the steps inn order.
4. Think of any problems that could keep you from
completing the project.
5. Think of ways to improve your plan.
Determine your audience.

Talents Unlimited Developing Creative Thinkers and Doers -
Imbedding Talents Unlimited
Teaching For Thinking –

Creative and critical thinking as
instructional objectives.
“The traditional academic talent,

plus the five thinking talents,
represent some of the ways in which
people express intelligence and their
diverse strengths in higher order
thinking, especially
creative thinking and creative problem-solving.”

Talents Unlimited
Talents Unlimited
It's not enough to know something,
you have to know you know it!
Mobile, Alabama- Dixon Elementary Principal Cathy Rogers
has been named one of the nation’s top principals,
she was awarded the title of National Distinguished Principal.
“We’re not just about saying we’re ‘proficient,’”

Rogers said, referring to a label given to students
who pass the state’s standardized reading and math tests,
“we’re about working toward higher standards in
everything we do and about being able to
apply everything we do to the real world.”
The school follows the Talents Unlimited approach to teaching.

Talents Unlimited
Talents Unlimited
Focus:
thinking about thinking ...
Explicit instruction in
higher order thinking skills.
Repeat of the Rationale
Talents Unlimited for teaching
metacognitive skills:
We don’t know all the information that today’s students will need or all
the answers to the questions they will face.
Indeed, increasingly, we don’t even know the questions.
We must empower students to become

creative thinkers, critical thinkers, and
problem solvers – people who are
continually learning and
who can apply their new knowledge to
complex, novel, open-ended challenges;
people who will proceed confidently and competently into the
new horizons of life and work.
Talents Unlimited
Talents Unlimited
In closing . . .
It’s all about “thinking about thinking” . . .
Remember -
It's not enough to know something,
you have to know you know it!
The last slide reveals a GREAT quote to focus
our perspective and set our goals.
Talents Unlimited
Talents Unlimited

What Is It?: A Critical and Creative Thinking Skills Model

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Talents Unlimited

 Enhances students’ critical and creative thinking.

 Designed to help teachers recognize and nurture the

 Based on the needs of the world-of-work.

 Goes hand in hand with the Common Core standards,

Presented by: Susan Heyer 4-20-15

Talents Unlimited model?

“Teachers can help students become 21st-century problem

Indeed, increasingly, we don’t even know the questions.

We must empower students to become

Research on High Ability Learners Found

Approximately 40-50% of traditional classroom

Thinkers and Doers

Explicit language for

From Get Off My Brain, by Randy McCutcheon, illustrated by Pete Wagner

“As children’s freedom has declined,

How do we increase enjoyment,

(Chapter 25: The Josey-Bass Leader Educational Leadership, p.442)

. . . entered the creativity age.”

(Chapter 25: The Josey-Bass Leader Educational Leadership, p.442)

In the two years following the recession, Working Class

Thinkers and Doers – A Must!

Dr. Carol Schlichter, creator of Talents Unlimited

Thinkers and Doers

Students develop their talents

Dr. Carol Schlichter, creator of Talents Unlimited

Thinkers and Doers

“The Multiple Talent Approach

Dr. Carol Schlichter, creator of Talents Unlimited

“Every student in the classroom can

Nine out of ten children will be

Dr. Carol Schlichter, creator of Talents Unlimited

The Common Core Standards are designed to be robust and

Through the Talents Unlimited model, students are guided to

Students are intentionally taught to move beyond recall and

They are taught the processes needed to be successful in the

The focus of this talent is for students to use

• Fluency – many ideas

This talent involves six different, but related,

“Development of the ability to communicate

The forecasting talent includes two skills.

1. Make many, varied predictions about the causes

“This kind of inferential thinking can

2. Make many, varied predictions about the effects

“This kind of inferential thinking can

The decision-making talent helps students

Think about your audience.

This type of instruction leads students toward

Determine your audience.

Teaching For Thinking –

“The traditional academic talent,

Dr. Carol Schlichter, creator of Talents Unlimited

“We’re not just about saying we’re ‘proficient,’”

The school follows the Talents Unlimited approach to teaching.

Indeed, increasingly, we don’t even know the questions.

We must empower students to become

It’s all about “thinking about thinking” . . .

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