Free-time fun in 15 minutes or less! Each of the 24 creative yet challenging crossword puzzles in this unit focus on synonyms and/or antonyms. Word clues challenge students to identify the similar or opposite word from the given list. Examples: The synonym for Full is: Horrible, Hold, Stuffed... The antonym for Dull is: Arid, Boring, Sharp... Comprehension skills are given a great workout with these activities.

These figurative language crossword puzzles are as fun as a barrel of monkeys! Each of the 24 creative yet challenging crossword puzzles in this unit focuses on common idioms and proverbs. Twelve simile or analogy words are featured with each puzzle. Clues challenge students to identify the appropriate word to complete the phrase. Examples: Break the ___ (Earth, Beans, Ice) Shell is to Egg as Skin is to ____ (Vine, Porcupine, Apple) Comprehension skills are given a great workout with these activities.

Free-time fun in 15 minutes or less! Each of the 24 creative, yet challenging, crossword puzzles in this unit focus on: Combination Words (smoke + fog = smog) Short-Form Words (gymnasium = gym) Contractions (he will = he’ll) Abbreviations (gallon = gal.) Compound Words (green + house = greenhouse) In some exercises, a list of words are featured and clues are given. In others, questions are simply posed. Comprehension skills are given a great workout with these activities.

GOOGLE SLIDES LESSON for NOVEMBER 11th! Veterans Day!!! Taken from our NEW Daily Comprehension- November Google Slides, this lesson is for THIS Week… November 11th. Don’t miss out. :) ABOUT DAILY COMPREHENSION - NOVEMBER: A lesson a day in November! These fun and informative interactive Google Slides offer a different nonfiction story for each day of the month, which was chosen because of its particular significance on that date. These high-interest/low-reading level stories are followed by engaging activities designed to improve overall reading comprehension while focusing on specific skills. Whether used as morning work or homework… you will never run out of usable activities again! EASY-TO-USE: We’ve done the work for you! Simply download this Google Slides lesson to your Google Drive and assign it to your students. Its ready to go… VERSATILE LESSONS: Ideal for teaching in person, through distance learning, or both. Versatile Google Slides can be completed online and can ALSO be printed as a set of pdf lessons! Need a larger font size? Have the students use the ZOOM Magnifying Tool in their Google toolbar. Want to enlarge each slide for easier viewing & reading? Again the Zoom Magnifying Tool does the trick! The slides can be easily enlarged… making them a larger, scrollable document… This interactive feature makes them ideal for students of ALL abilities. DAILY COMPREHENSION SERIES INCLUDES: Crossword Puzzles Word Search Puzzles Fill-in-the-Blanks Multiple Choice Using a Map Using a Graph Sentence Writing Drag & Drops True & False Questions Extended Research Activities Answer Key included and more! Reading Level: Grades 3 - 4 Interest Level: Grades 4 - 12

This is a chapter slice from the November Daily Comprehension book. ABOUT DAILY COMPREHENSION - NOVEMBER: A lesson a day in November! These fun, interactive Google Slides offer a different nonfiction story for each day of the month, which was chosen because of its particular significance on that date. These high-interest/low-reading level stories are followed by engaging activities designed to improve overall reading comprehension while focusing on specific skills. Whether used as morning work or homework… you will never run out of usable activities again! (see product preview) EASY-TO-USE: We’ve done the work for you! Simply download this Google Slides lesson to your Google Drive and assign it to your students. Its ready to go… VERSATILE LESSONS: Ideal for teaching in person, through distance learning, or both. Versatile Google Slides can be completed online and can ALSO be printed as a set of pdf lessons! Need a larger font size? Have the students use the ZOOM Magnifying Tool in their Google toolbar. Want to enlarge each slide for easier viewing & reading? Again the Zoom Magnifying Tool does the trick! The slides can be easily enlarged… making them a larger, scrollable document… This interactive feature makes them ideal for students of ALL abilities.

Taken from our NEW Daily Comprehension- November Google Slides, this lesson is for November 5th. ABOUT DAILY COMPREHENSION - NOVEMBER: A lesson a day in November! These fun, interactive Google Slides offer a different nonfiction story for each day of the month, which was chosen because of its particular significance on that date. These high-interest/low-reading level stories are followed by engaging activities designed to improve overall reading comprehension while focusing on specific skills. Whether used as morning work or homework… you will never run out of usable activities again! EASY-TO-USE: We’ve done the work for you! Simply download this Google Slides lesson to your Google Drive and assign it to your students. Its ready to go… VERSATILE LESSONS: Ideal for teaching in person, through distance learning, or both. Versatile Google Slides can be completed online and can ALSO be printed as a set of pdf lessons! Need a larger font size? Have the students use the ZOOM Magnifying Tool in their Google toolbar. Want to enlarge each slide for easier viewing & reading? Again the Zoom Magnifying Tool does the trick! The slides can be easily enlarged… making them a larger, scrollable document… This interactive feature makes them ideal for students of ALL abilities. DAILY COMPREHENSION SERIES INCLUDES: 30 Short, Nonfiction Stories Crossword Puzzles Word Search Puzzles Fill-in-the-Blanks Multiple Choice Using a Map Using a Graph Sentence Writing Drag & Drops True & False Questions Extended Research Activities and more! Reading Level: Grades 3 - 4 Interest Level: Grades 4 - 12 Answer Key

“Evaluation” is the most abstract and complex level of critical thinking. To evaluate or make judgments, students must accept a given criteria as the standard before being able to come to an accurate conclusion.The 25 lessons in this unit provide practice with personal values, accuracy of facts, recognizing bias, and using reference sources.Example: “You want to go to a summer camp. What makes a good one?”The sequential activities featured here are sure to develop critical thinking skills.

“Synthesis” is the ability to combine parts of a whole in new and different ways. It requires students to think flexibly, determine alternatives, and find new ways to accomplish a given task. A more advanced level of abstract thinking is needed for synthesis. The 25 lessons in this unit encourage students to go beyond the obvious to more original thoughts. Example: An illustration of a bulb connected to a battery is presented. “Electricity is stored in a battery.” Look at the accompanying pictures of batteries, wires, and light bulbs. “Which bulbs do you think will light up?”The sequential activities featured here are sure to develop critical thinking skills.

Using analogies to teach problem solving!Example: Yogurt is to Soft as Potato Chip is to _____.As students use clues to solve the puzzles, they must make comparisons, analyze attributes, find associations, use visual/verbal discrimination, and form logical patterns.The 21 lesson pages featured here first pose simple concrete analogies and then progress to more abstract problems. With these step-by-step exercises, children are sure to get plenty of critical reasoning practice.

Applying information. “Application” is the use of information that is recalled and understood. When students use acquired facts and skills in a new situation, they are practicing the transfer of solutions from one problem to another. The 26 lessons in this unit provide plenty of practice in applying knowledge to practical situations. Students are asked to do alphabetical ordering, work with dictionary definitions, sequence time/size/money, compare shapes, finish sentences, and more using information provided or recalled.

Promote thinking!Analysis is the ability to break a whole into its component parts and understand how each functions as part of the whole. The ability to reason logically is a major skill at this step of the critical thinking process. The 27 lessons in this unit include a variety of analogies and puzzles. As students work the exercises they learn to examine the whole, make judgments about the pieces, and finally see how these pieces relate to each other.Example: “Hoot. Clang. Creak. Yelp. Whinny…: A door that needs oiling would ____. A hungryHorse would ____. A frightened puppy would ____.”These sequential activities are sure to improve thinking and logic skills. And, because they seem more like games than work, students will have loads of fun.

Reasonable thinking! The 22 lessons in this unit cover five major areas of reasoning skills. The sequential activities featured here will most certainly help young learners develop critical thinking skills.Real vs. Make-believe: A fairy godmother? A bumpy road? A magic banana?Inferring: What does not belong? “Happy: humming a merry tune, a lost kitten, a closed door…”Fact vs. Opinion: Write one fact and one opinion about this picture of an alligator.Assumptions: “If the thermometer is at 5 degrees, you can assume you are going to feel _____.”Cause and Effect: “Sara took a basket on her walk because she knew the berries were ripe. Cause? Effect?”

Using object classification activities to exercising important thinking skills! Example: The category is Food. Think of an object in this category that begins with each letter of the alphabet.As students create categories using words and pictures, they develop analysis, discrimination, comparison, and logical thinking skills.The 22 lesson pages featured here pose classification problems - first on a simple, concrete level and then progress to more abstract activities. With these step-by-step exercises, children are sure to give their logic and thinking muscles a good workout.

Teaching humor! It’s not at all absurd. In fact, absurdity is at the core of both critical cause-and-effect thinking and basic humor.Example: “We took our dog to training classes so he could learn to chase cars.” The reasoning here is absurd. Can you rewrite the sentence to make a little more sense?From slapstick comedy to abstract puns, absurdity plays a key role. Research now offers evidence of the value of humor as a tool for promoting emotional balance, stimulating intellectual growth, and improving physical well-being. In this learning unit, you’ll find 24 “absurdly” enlightening lessons. The step-by-step exercises are sure to improve thinking and logic skills.

Putting knowledge to work. Comprehension implies the understanding of information and the ability to see basic relationships. The 26 lessons in this unit provide plenty of practice in areas that emphasize comprehension. Students are involved in interpreting verbal and visual communications (A dinosaur “size chart” is provided. “How long was the Tyrannosaurus?”), making comparisons (Using the Table of Contents provided: “Which chapter is shorter?”), and finding relationships with the “big picture” (Using the map of the Lone Star Camp: “Where does the trail from the cabin lead?”). The sequential activities featured here are sure to develop critical thinking skills.

Teach problem solving! The 24 lessons in this unit are designed to help students turn abstract problems into graphic, semi-concrete formats. This ability is an important step in the development of effective problem-solving techniques. Example: "Planted four rows of flowers. Six plants in each row." How many flowers? Draw a picture to show how to solve each problem.By creating a visual representation of the components of a problem, students can more easily perform necessary operations. They can also see the logic – or absence of logic – in their solutions. The sequential activities featured here will most certainly help young learners develop critical thinking skills.

Informed thinking! “Knowledge” is defined by Bloom’s Taxonomy as “the obtaining and recall of information.” As such, it is an important step in building effective thinking and problem solving skills. When students are able to absorb information or easily recall it, their ability to effectively think and reason is expanded.The 26 lessons in this unit provide plenty of practice in areas that emphasize knowledge.Classifying shapes and words: (“Things you put air in: beach ball, saw, tires, skis…”), analyzing images: (“If the sentence is a FACT you can prove by the picture, write FACT on the line.”), distinguishing real from make-believe (“Mr. Bibble sent his nephew a monkey that could make a banana cream pie.”) are just some of the exercises featured.

Just the facts please!The 23 lessons in this unit are designed to provide a variety of sources from which students extract factual information. The practical yet interesting formats encourage students to analyze signs, product packaging, advertisements, diagrams, receipts, and more. Example: Smith’s Bicycle Shop displays a “Store Hours” sign in the window. “How many hours longer is the shop open on Friday than Saturday?”From money math and word problems, to shoe sizes and calendar questions, student will develop the thinking skills of analysis, comprehension, and application. They will also use language and math skills in practical, everyday situations.

Seeking out more information. From “Rocks and Minerals” to “Butterflies” and “Planets,” this book presents over 100 “science” topics for students to research. Each category presents a word search puzzle from which students choose a specific research topic. (“Mollusks: Sea Slug. Oyster. Squid. Octopus…”) A series of statements follow, encouraging students to find specific information. (“Describe its appearance.” “Its young are born _____.”)To put what they have learned to use, guidelines for the structure of a report are included.

Reading. Thinking. Writing! Illustrations and corresponding sentences are combined in the 25 lessons featured here to challenge discrimination and comparison abilities. Rather than multiple choice answers or underlined responses, students are asked to write complete sentences. This extra step will reinforce the thinking process as students work through each of the intriguing activities. Difficulty progresses with each exercise.