This download contains five printable crossword worksheets that introduce important concepts and vocabulary relating to learning power, metacognition and self-regulated learning. It also includes a PowerPoint presentation with instructions as well as extension and assessment tasks for students. Students should work in pairs or small teams: teachers can differentiate the lesson for different ability and age groups by changing the size of the teams. This download contains everything you need for at least one teaching session, the resources can also be used to supplement and enhance a lesson you already have planned.

After the huge success of our printable lesson wrappers, we wanted to make a lesson wrapper teachers could use that would require no printing: a virtual lesson wrapper. This saves time (since no printing is required) and it saves resources which is good for both the environment and the budget. This lesson wrapper is delivered via PowerPoint and features fifty metacognition and self-regulated learning activity slides; twenty-five that can be used at the start of lessons and twenty-five that can be used at the end of lessons. It also features an interactive ‘randomiser’ feature so that teachers can quickly load up the PowerPoint and generate random reflection tasks for the start and end of lessons. For simplicity and convenient this download includes: The Virtual Lesson Wrapper Generator [Auto-Play Version] The Virtual Lesson Wrapper Generator [Editable Version] Teachers can load The Virtual Lesson Wrapper Generator alongside the resources they are using for there lessons. The download also includes separate files so that teachers can easily copy and paste any of the slides into their own presentations, incorporating metacognitive and self-regulated learning reflection activities into the lessons they have already prepared.

The Learning Power Quiz focuses on topics related to learning, self-regulation, metacognition and education; the download contains complete resources for a fun one-hour team quiz lesson. Students love team-quizzes and they’re a great way to foster engagement with new ideas, expand students’ vocabulary and build team-work skills. The Learning Power Quiz contains fifty questions that are displayed over six different rounds: Multiple Choice True or False Solve the Anagram What’s The Missing Word? Answer The Question What’s The Best Definition? The answers are revealed via the included PowerPoint presentation file after the quiz has been completed: a teacher’s answer sheet is also included. To enhance the value of the quiz in terms of metacognition and self-regulated learning each question slide also includes a student reflection extension question. Teachers can award extra points to students who give good answers to these reflection questions which will encourage students to engage in the reflection questions. The quiz is suitable for students aged 11-16 and can be differentiated for different age and ability groups by changing the size of the teams. The download includes an easy to use ‘auto-play’ version as well as an editable version for teachers who would like to make amendments. This resource is perfect for a fun end-of-term lesson for teachers hoping to inspire metacognitive reflection and self-regulated learning behaviours! Copyright The Global Metacognition Institute (2020)

This thought-provoking philosophy teaching resource focuses on ethics and meta-ethics: instead of focusing on specific moral issues (which is covered in a different session on ‘Applied Ethics’ this re-usable lesson explores the fundamental nature of ethics, the difference between ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, the function of moral language, different theories of normative ethics, different ways of thinking about how we ought to live, and deeper issues around the metaphysical status of good and evil. This session is ideal for teachers who want to explore philosophy with students and is of particular value to teachers who want to nurture the moral development of their students (perhaps in an SMSC or PSHE context) and trigger deeper reflections on the fundamental nature of ‘right and wrong’; we’ve carefully selected the most significant issues and questions relating to normative ethics and meta-ethics so that young learners can engage in fun philosophical discussions and debates. This session explores topics such as: The fundamental nature of good and evil Different ways of evaluating the morality of actions Virtue ethics and what it means ‘to be a good person’ Whether or not morality is absolute or relative (e.g. to different cultures and time-periods) The degree to which moral judgements refer to objective facts The degree to which moral judgements are baseless and arbitrary The big question asked in this session is “What is the fundamental difference between good and evil acts?”. Using a variety of engaging activities students will discuss and debate a wide range of other philosophical questions such as: What makes it reasonable to call a specific action “good”? Are there some actions that we can say are always evil in all situations, time periods and cultures? What is the role of empathy in compassion in determining the most morally correct course of action in life? and What is the most important virtue to cultivate in life? Students will also analyse and evaluate an eclectic mix of philosophical claims such as: “Some actions are morally permissible even when they create suffering for others.” “Some people are born evil” and “It is impossible to truly know the difference between right and wrong, good and evil.” This resource is suitable for teachers of all school subjects who are looking to introduce philosophy, philosophical thinking and critical thinking. The file is a PowerPoint Show: no planning or preparation is required, just run the file and the intuitive menu system will make delivering a powerful philosophy session very easy!

This thought-provoking philosophy teaching resource focuses on applied ethics and explores some of the most important moral issues of our time. Applied ethics refers to the practical application of moral considerations. It is ethics with respect to real-world actions and their moral considerations in the areas of private and public life, the professions, health, technology, law, and leadership. (Disclaimer: this session does not discuss abortion or matters relating to sexual ethics, reproductive ethics and/or relationship ethics (which will be covered in separate sessions). We have tried to create a resource that allows young learners to explore applied ethics in an age-appropriate fashion; nonetheless, the session explores controversial issues and should be thoroughly vetted by individual teachers before using it with their students to check that it is suitable for their classes.) This session is ideal for teachers who want to explore moral decision making with students and is of particular value to teachers who want to nurture the moral development of their students (perhaps in an SMSC or PSHE context) and trigger deeper reflections on the fundamental nature of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ and how we can apply these reflections to our own lives; we’ve carefully selected the most significant moral issues and ethical challenges of our age so that young learners can engage in fun philosophical discussions and debates. This session explores topics such as: The rights of animals Moral challenges presented by new technologies Moral and immoral uses of the internet Ethical & unethical career choices Medical ethics and moral challenges presented medical technologies Artificial Intelligence The big question asked in this session is “What is the most important moral issue in the world right now?”. Using a variety of engaging activities students will discuss and debate a wide range of other philosophical questions such as: To what extent is testing new cosmetics and medicines on animals morally acceptable? To what extent it is morally preferable to use drone weaponry on the battlefield over human beings? What are our moral duties and obligations to future generations? When, if ever, is taking a human life the most moral course of action? This resource is suitable for students aged 8-16; due to the flexible nature of the sessions design it can be used for multiple hour-long sessions or as a short stimulating tutor-group activity. The file is a PowerPoint Show: no planning or preparation is required, just run the file and the intuitive menu system will make delivering a powerful philosophy session very easy!

This multi-use interactive philosophy lesson explores ‘Philosophy of Science’: the branch of philosophy that’s concerned with the nature, foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ultimate purpose of science. This session is ideal for teachers who want to explore philosophy of science with students aged 8-16; we’ve carefully selected the most significant issues and questions relating to philosophy of science so that young learners can engage in fun philosophical discussions and debates. This session explores topics such as: The nature of science The ways in which scientists pursue knowledge Strengths and weaknesses of the scientific method The nature of pseudoscience and how to identify it It outlines and explores different concepts from philosophers of science including empiricism and naturalism as well as the views of Aristotle, Bacon, Descartes, Duhem, Feyerabend and Cartwright (in the advanced reading section). The big question asked in this session is “To what extent is science the most valid way to gain knowledge?”. Using a variety of engaging activities students will discuss and debate a wide range of other philosophical questions such as What is science? What is the difference between ‘scientific knowledge claims’ and other types of knowledge claim? How can we tell the difference between pseudoscience and actual science? To what extent is the materialist view (that only physical matter exists) accurate? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the scientific method of pursuing knowledge? This session uses our unique format for philosophy teaching resources and features an integrated menu that allows teachers to select from a variety of starter, main, plenary, assessment and end-of-lesson reflection activities. With a massive selection of activities designed to trigger philosophical discussions, debates and reflections: you can re-use the resource numerous times with the same group. This resource is especially suitable for teachers of science who are looking to explore the nature of science and the scientific method more deeply with students and bring philosophy, philosophical thinking and critical thinking into their science lessons. The file is a PowerPoint Show: no planning or preparation is required, just run the file and the intuitive menu system will make delivering a powerful philosophy session very easy! This resource is suitable for students aged 8-16; due to the flexible nature of the sessions design it can be used for multiple hour-long sessions or as a short stimulating tutor-group activity.

This ‘Fun Philosophy Lesson’ is focused on philosophical and ethical issues that relate dance and dancing. It’s ideal for dance teachers to use with students aged 8-16 in order to help them understand the importance of dance on a deeper level. This interactive multi-use learning session is useful as a part of your schools performing arts provision and is of particular interest to teachers of dance it focuses on a wide range of topics such as: The value and purpose of dance The evolutionary psychology of dance Ecstatic Dance and the role of dance in spiritual development Ethical conduct and good manners on the dancefloor The importance of dance in social and emotional development The benefits of dancing for wider society and culture Dance Movement Therapy and the role of dance in fostering good mental health and treating mental illness . . The big question asked in this session is “Why do people dance?”. Using a variety of engaging activities students will discuss and debate a wide range of other philosophical and ethical questions such as: What, fundamentally, is dance? Why do some people enjoy dancing to music that evokes “negative” emotions such as anger, rage, tragedy or sadness? In what ways might a psychotherapist use dance as a tool for healing and treating mental illnesses? Why might dancing in a group or with a partner be uniquely beneficial in comparison with dancing alone? To what extent is it reasonable to say that “it is human nature to dance”? To what extent is there something politically rebellious about dancing freely and expressing oneself through dance? In terms of what one is doing with one’s mind: what is the essence of “skilful dancing”? . . This resource is suitable for students aged 8-16; due to the flexible nature of the sessions design it can be used for multiple hour-long sessions or as a short stimulating tutor-group activity. The file is a non-editable PowerPoint Show: no planning or preparation is required, just run the file and the intuitive menu system will make delivering a powerful philosophy session very easy!