Take a Second Look: Building Critical and Creative Thinkers

This week's Town Meetings explored an essential skill: learning to ask questions, seek evidence, and look beyond first impressions. From Preschool through 8th grade, students practiced strategies for looking more closely, seeking the full story, and checking their thinking. Building on last week's 'From “Oops” to “Aha”!' theme, this week's meetings continued our focus on developing critical and creative thinkers, a cornerstone of our Portrait of a Graduate.

We began with a simple discovery: sometimes what we see isn't the whole picture. Our youngest students enjoyed the picture book "Duck! Rabbit!" (in which one drawing can be seen as either animal) and used imaginary magnifying glasses to guess what a zoomed-in picture could be. When two students saw different things, they practiced considering different perspectives and ideas.

Our older students explored optical illusions to illustrate that our brains sometimes fill in the blanks and make mistakes. This helped students understand how we can be fooled by what we see online, from edited photos to AI-generated images to deepfakes. Students immediately saw the connection: If simple lines can trick our brains, more sophisticated technology absolutely can.

Grades 3 through 8 built on this by analyzing a cropped photo that seemed to show a person in distress, only to reveal the full image of exhilarated roller coaster riders having the time of their lives. The lesson was clear: context and the full story matter. These students then investigated the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus through a polished website complete with scientific language and conservation efforts for a creature that doesn't exist. This hoax showed students the importance of asking questions like "Who created this?" and "Where else can I find information about this?" Students also learned to spot clues like extra fingers and distorted backgrounds in AI-generated images that signal the need to investigate further.

Students in grades 3 through 8 watched a demonstration showing how video footage can be edited to change meaning. Middle schoolers went deeper, exploring deepfakes and learning the SIFT method: Stop, Investigate the source, Find better coverage, and Trace to the original.

In a world where AI-generated content is everywhere and misinformation spreads instantly, these Town Meetings reinforce essential skills built throughout our curriculum: pause before reacting, ask questions, and seek evidence. These skills will serve them throughout their lives as they solve complex problems and engage thoughtfully with the world around them.