Year 5 Critical thinking: Summer 2 worksheet

“Should homework be abolished?” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 5 critical thinking unit “Critical thinking: Summer 2”, for children aged 9 to 10, and takes about 22 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 31 to 36 of the year, 6 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Should homework be abolished?

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 5 · Critical thinking · about 22 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can spot reasoning flaws in a structured debate about homework.

A Look back3 min

1.
Ali asked three children what they like for lunch. He says every Year 5 likes pizza. Circle the flaw in his claim.
Hasty generalisationFalse dilemmaRed herringAd hominem
2.
Sam wrote down only the times homework helped him learn. He left out the times it did not. Circle the flaw.
Red herringHasty generalisationConfirmation biasAd hominem
3.
Kit says the 9 children who are against homework are just lazy. Circle the flaw.
Ad hominemFalse dilemmaRed herringHasty generalisation

B Watch me, then you4 min

In a structured debate, each speech has a job. Here is how the start of one runs.

Watch me

First, a speaker makes a claim.

Then they back the claim with evidence.

Then the other side gives a counter-argument.

Now you

1.
In the same debate, which speech comes straight after the counter-argument? Circle the best answer.
RebuttalClaimEvidenceClosing summary

C Your turn8 min

This chart is made up. It shows how one class voted on whether homework should stay.

1.
Put each card in the right column.
14 children voted Keep it.Fewer chose Abolish it than Cut it down.Homework helps every child learn.Every child in the school voted.
We can see this in the chart We cannot tell from the chart
2.
Ava wants to show that most of Class 5B want homework to stay. Which bar is her best evidence? Circle the best answer.
Keep itCut it downAbolish it
3.
Ali says: “Only 2 children want to abolish homework, so nobody really wants it gone.” Circle the best answer.
Fair: the chart proves nobody wants it goneNot fair: 2 children did choose Abolish it.Fair: 2 children is enough to speak for the whole school
4.
Write one sentence about what this chart does not tell us.

Say it out loud: Say it out loud: which words in each card are about the chart, and which words go beyond it?

D Spot the mistake3 min

A wooden ballot box on a classroom table with a few folded paper slips beside it

Ava says: “14 children in our class want homework to stay, so homework must help us learn.”

1.
Write one sentence explaining why Ava's jump is wrong.

E Think deeper4 min

1.
Write one red herring a speaker could use in the homework debate. Then say which real question it hides.

How did it feel?

Which reasoning tool was hardest to spot in the debate? Tell your grown-up why.

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Should homework be abolished? · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. Hasty generalisation If your child picks False dilemma, ask how many children Ali asked. Three children is too few to prove a claim about every Year 5.

2. Confirmation bias If your child picks Red herring, ask whether Sam is talking about a different question. He is noticing only the evidence that agrees with him.

3. Ad hominem If your child picks Hasty generalisation, ask whether Kit is judging the idea or insulting the people. Insulting the person is the flaw here.

B

1. Rebuttal If your child picks Closing summary, remind them the summary comes last and adds no new points. Ask what the speaker does after a counter-argument.

C

1. We can see this in the chart: 14 children voted Keep it., Fewer chose Abolish it than Cut it down. · We cannot tell from the chart: Homework helps every child learn., Every child in the school voted. If your child puts Every child in the school voted under we can see this, ask which numbers the chart shows. It only shows one class.

2. Keep it

3. Not fair: 2 children did choose Abolish it. If your child picks Fair: 2 children is enough, ask whether 2 children can tell you what the whole school wants.

4. Look for: says the chart does not show why children voted, whether homework helps learning, or what other classes think

D

1. Look for: says a vote shows what children want, not whether homework helps learning; wanting something does not prove it works If your child only repeats the number, ask: does a vote tell you whether something helps learning, or only what people like?

E

1. Look for: a point about something other than homework and learning, such as screens, sport or bus times, plus the real question it hides

Words to use

Say“Show me the claim and the evidence. Does the evidence really prove the claim, or only show what people want?”

Instead of“Tell me who won the debate.”

After the sheet

At dinner, each person makes one claim about screens or homework. Everyone else names one flaw they hear, like ad hominem or a red herring.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

5 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

Judging Persuasive Writing Fairly(with a plan)
Spotting tricks in arguments(with a plan)
Thinking About My Thinking(with a plan)
Reviewing Your Own Reasoning(with a plan)
Catching our own errors(with a plan)

Every Year 5 critical thinking worksheet

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