“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.

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.

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?”

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.

Improve attention span! The 23 visual activities in this popular unit are designed to increase students’ concentration and attention to details. One exercise, for example, includes two versions of a picture – each depicting two boys fishing on a riverbank. Students are challenged to find 10 differences between the drawings. The game-like exercises found here range from hidden objects and memory graphics to word pyramids and categorizations. Children are sure to have loads of fun while stimulating their thinking skills.

Structured practice in visual discrimination and perception! The 25 lessons in this unit take children a step beyond simply differentiating between “like” and “different” objects by requiring them to specify HOW two objects are similar and different. This extra step helps children begin to recognize and put into words the characteristics they observe.Visual clues are used for students to compare.Example: An image of a calendar and a drawing of a clock are shown. “How are these alike? How are they different?”

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 a variety of activities to teach logic. (Read the clues and write down what Buster does on each day of the week listed. “Buster has a soccer game on Thursday. He has swim lessons 3 days before soccer…..”)Of course, reason is also covered. (“Mom asked Jill to stir the soup so it would not burn. What does Jill need to get?)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 25, highly visual lessons in this unit utilize art, calendars, advertisements, signs, and more from which students draw solutions. (A playground is pictured. “Draw a red line to show one way to go from the swings to the pond.”) Finding facts are also covered. (A May calendar is shown. “What is the number of the first Monday?”)The inclusion of creative illustrations greatly assists the learning process. The easy-to-use activities are sure to improve critical thinking skills.

Boost language skills to new heights with this step-by-step, practice-packed book! The sequential, easy-to-do activities will guide your students through important concepts, one-by-one, while the illustrations are sure to keep interest soaring. Part of the Skill Booster Series, this flexible book is superb as an introduction or review. Its specific focus allows repeated practice and is a terrific way to help students prepare for standardized tests. In addition, it can be incorporated into both skill-based and whole-language programs. You will find this book an effective teaching tool for many age and ability levels.

Motivate reluctant writers! Five different formats are utilized in this 25-lesson unit to help stimulate creative writing:Story Starters:“I woke up in the morning and discovered I was 7 feet tall!”Topics with Corresponding Word Lists:“Use these words to write a story: beach, sand, buried…”Q&A:“Imagine you are the Statue of Liberty. What interesting things have you seen?”Visual Representation:“Write a story to tell what you think has happened in this picture.”News Story Completion:“Farmer Says Neighbors Are Aliens: Write a news story telling the who, what, where and when.”

Fine tuning alphabetization! More challenging than Alphabetizing: Book 1, the 24 lessons found in this book include letter before, letter after, letter between, and ordering to the second and third letter. Imaginative illustrations make the exercises visually interesting. Example: A picture of a snow skier is presented with his clothing and equipment labeled. Students are asked to use 1st and 2nd alphabetizing to order the words. “Sweater. Pole. Bindings. Goggles….”Student are sure to enjoy learning and get plenty of practice with this essential skill.

The A, B, C’s of alphabetizing! To introduce young students to this essential skill, numerous short-vowel words are presented for alphabetical ordering. Imaginative illustrations make the 25 exercises found here visually interesting. Plenty of practice is provided so students can begin to master everything from initial sound alphabetization (“And. Bit. Cab. Dim…”) to beginning, middle, and last dictionary placement (Pan. Pass. Pat.) to complete A-Z word ordering. (“At. Bat. Cat….X-ray. Yet. Zap.”)