The circus theme of this book makes mastering short vowels a big top adventure filled with clowns juggling rhyming word balls, tightrope walkers boasting short-vowel words on their shirts, and flag-topped tents waiting to be filled with the short-voweled answers to riddles. There is even a lion tamer ready to teach students their short A, E, I, O, U's. Specifically designed for the student who has been introduced to short vowels but still needs further practice, this 46-page book is packed with interactive exercises. Phonemic awareness is an essential component to reading success and this book gives students plenty of practice.

Now you can prepare students for standardized tests easily and thoroughly without disrupting your on-going curriculum!Easily incorporated into your daily routine, E-Z Test Readiness offers small units of practice featuring the concepts, format, and response styles of major standardized tests. These "mini-tests" offer repeated practice of sample items in a standardized testing format. The multiple-choice questions and corresponding bubble sheet are sure to add to the realistic experience.Based on the most widely used national standardized tests, E-Z Test Readiness will: reduce test anxiety, build confidence, improve test scores, increase mastery of content, and more!

Now you can prepare students for standardized tests easily and thoroughly without disrupting your on-going curriculum!Easily incorporated into your daily routine, E-Z Test Readiness offers small units of practice featuring the concepts, format, and response styles of major standardized tests. These "mini-tests" offer repeated practice of sample items in a standardized testing format. The multiple-choice questions and corresponding bubble sheet are sure to add to the realistic experience.Based on the most widely used national standardized tests, E-Z Test Readiness will: reduce test anxiety, build confidence, improve test scores, increase mastery of content, and more!

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.

Promote thinking!The 23 lessons in this unit take a variety of approaches to identifying similarities and differences. Picture puzzles reinforce visual discrimination. Word search activities promote single-word and short-phrase analysis.Examples: - Find at least 10 ways in which these pictures are different. - What makes these words similar: duck, chicken, turkey?Difficulty peaks with finding the similarities and differences in sentences. These step-by-step activities are sure to improve thinking and logic skills. And, because they seem more like games than work, students will have loads of fun while they learn.

Putting basic logic into practice! Because logic is the basis for all reasoning skills, it is important to teach it in as many different formats as possible. The 24 lessons in this unit involve the basic skills of language, math, and visual perception. Students must analyze each problem, evaluate possible solutions, and follow sequential steps to arrive at a conclusion. Example: Choose the ending that is most logical: “My bike has a flat tire, so: A) I need a new bike. B) I should fix the tire. C) I’ll ride it anyway.”The sequential activities featured here will most certainly help young learners 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.

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.

Boost test scores to new heights with this practice-packed book!The fun, easy-to-do lessons will guide your students through important skills, one-by-one, while the appealing illustrations are sure to keep interest soaring. Part of the Score Booster Series, this comprehensive, teacher-designed workbook is loaded with high-interest lessons that focus on many of the essential skills students are required to know on standardized tests. Easy to incorporate into the daily curriculum, these high-interest activities are sure to improve the reading, math, and language skills of even the most reluctant learner. 144-page book includes an answer key.

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.

“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.

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?”

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.

Learning a life skill! At a very young age, children encounter the need to follow verbal directions. As they grow, the directions become more complex. The 23 lessons in this unit use math, language, art, and listening skills - as well as reasoning, logic, and visualization - to develop critical thinking. The primary purpose of each activity is to focus on following directions. Example: Count all the members of your family - even your pets. How many feet are in your family?The activities featured begin at a fairly simple level and gradually become more difficult.

Test logical thinking! Solving the oodles of picture problems and word logic puzzles in this book will keep students’ minds active and promote logical thinking. Children must learn to organize the clues presented so they can reach the logical solutions. In all, there are 25 exercises that progressively increase in difficulty.

Teach the thinking process! Experts agree that when “thinking power” is improved, reading, comprehension, problem-solving, and writing abilities will follow suit. The 28, highly visual lessons in this unit utilize word searches, puzzles, and color coding to teach students to identify inferences. (“I have black and white fur. I live in the forest. Sometimes I smell bad. What am I?).Following directions are also covered. (Write the names of each creature pictured. “Fred is the biggest. Ned is bigger than Jed. One is named Ted. Jed is not the smallest.”)The inclusion of creative illustrations greatly assists the learning process. The easy-to-use activities are sure to improve critical thinking skills.

Teach the thinking process! Experts agree that when “thinking power” is improved, reading, comprehension, problem-solving, and writing abilities will follow suit. The 26, highly visual lessons in this unit utilize word, image, and shape associations to make students aware of the similarities and differences between objects and word meanings. “See how the pictures are different. How many differences can you find?”) Analogies are also covered. (“Bite is to Dog as Sting is to ___: Bee, Hurt, Bear.”)The inclusion of creative illustrations greatly assists the learning process. The easy-to-use activities are sure to improve critical thinking skills.

Exercise thinking skills and build vocabulary! In each of the 24 lessons in this unit, student must first answer a series of random letter-placement clues. If their “logic” is correct, the letters spell a word. Students are then challenged to write an original sentence using the word. The vocabulary featured is at an easy level so that the focus is on thinking more than on word knowledge. Creative illustrations and coloring activities add to the fun of learning.