Edison U. Ratio Smart: Teaching Thinking Skills: I Think Therefore

I Think Therefore…

If you completed the sentences with “I am” you fell for one of the oldest tricks in solving a mystery, the red herring. Now grant it you did not have all the clues. Just remember from here on, that a great detective collects all the clues and then thinks.

Thinking is the key to becoming a great detective. In fact Blue of Blue’s Clues has a special chair just for thinking. Thinking or pondering the clues takes a while. It generally does not lead to the answers immediately. If you find you are thinking for a while about a mystery, that’s perfectly normal. Just keep putting all the clues together till you find the answer. Taking time to think is the key. This way you won’t jump to conclusion.

No jumping to conclusions is not jumping around like a kangaroo. Jumping to conclusions is getting the wrong answer because you didn’t take the time to think about the clues. Many times mysteries will have red herrings, trick clues, to send you in the wrong direction. If you are not careful, the red herrings will cause you to jump to conclusions. So THINK, PONDER, and THINK some more until you find the ONE RIGHT answer.

One of the biggest things to remember when thinking like a detective is, there is only ONE RIGHT answer. When you find that one right answer it is like a light bulb goes off in your head. You might even feel like shouting, “I’ve got it!” You won’t have to pretend to get it, you’ll know the difference as you practice your detective thinking.

Essential Questions:

1. What tools does a detective use to solve a mystery?

2. When do you use detective thinking skills?

See you next time,

Edison U. Ratio Smart

P.S. Activities, books and websites to practice your detective thinking are coming soon. Don’t be a stranger and check back often.