Critical Thinking

Show off your knowledge of American Trivia by answering these 150 fascinating, sometimes quirky questions about the United States. As with all WordTeasers decks, each card contains a wide range of information about the place or person discussed on the card! Sure to be a big hit among kids of all ages.

This easy-to-implement resource includes accompanying document-based questions that focus on key strategies for breaking down informational text to help students build cross-curricular reading skills. A document-based assessment sheet is also provided for each passage so students can investigate the text in even deeper and more meaningful ways.This resource is aligned to state and national standards and supports the development of college and career readiness skills.

Brain Quest is beloved by kids, trusted by parents, used and recommended by teachers. It's the curriculum-based, fast-paced, question-and-answer game that challenges kids on the stuff they need to know, when they need to know it. It's the brand that says "It's fun to be smart!" And it delivers.For the fourth edition every deck is thoroughly revised and includes 20 percent new material. The content aligns with national and state standards and is overseen by the Brain Quest Advisory Board, a panel of award-winning educators, each a recent state teacher-of-the-year award winner or a recipient of the prestigious Milken Educator Award. The covers and cards have a refreshed design, giving Brain Quest a cooler, updated look.

These highly-effective, literature-based critical thinking activities develop the analysis, synthesis, and vocabulary skills students need for exceptional reading comprehension. This 192-page activity book is especially effective at helping underperforming students in Grades 6-12+ understand challenging critical reading concepts such as making inferences, drawing conclusions, determining cause and effect, using context clues to define vocabulary, and making predictions and generalizations. Students read and analyze short literature passages and stories that include fiction and nonfiction genres. Then they answer multiple-choice and short-response questions, citing sentence evidence to support their answers. Concepts and skills covered include:Literary Analysis Skills• Define vocabulary using context clues• Recognize figurative language• Identify main idea, supporting details, and theme• Recognize literary devices• Identify story elements: theme, plot, setting, and charactersReading Detective® Beginning includes the following genres:Award-Winning Literature Excerpts• The House on Mango Street• The Face on the Milk Carton• Sarny• River• Out of the Dust• Sing Down the Moon• Call of the WildStories and Articles• Mystery• Humor• History• AdventureNonfiction Topics• Science• Math• Geography• History• Biography• Inventions• SportsThe Grades 6-12+ remedial (Rx) level is organized into single-skill units with a concluding mixed-skills unit and provides an introductory lesson for each skill. Rx activities are "prescriptive" to help under-performing students in Grades 6-12+ improve their comprehension skills. Reading level is Grades 4–6; story content is Grades 6+. Teaching Support includes pretests, post-tests, lesson guidelines, and answers with detailed evidence. Reading and literary analysis skills are based on grade-level standards.

From SmartGames, the worldwide leader in single player puzzle games, comes Day & Night. Re-create shapes and designs, block by block, with this beautifully crafted 3-D wooden puzzle. Young kids can begin with challenges whose blocks are revealed in the light of day, while more advanced puzzles have only the silhouettes visible. Day & Night is a fun way to develop problem solving and logical thinking skills as well as spatial reasoning abilities.

How has lighthouse technology changed over time? How do zookeepers keep zoo animals happy and healthy? Created in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution, this STEAM book set devoted to finding creative solutions builds students' literacy skills while fostering curiosity, creativity, and innovation.The hands-on STEAM challenges are ideal for makerspace activities and guide students through each stage of the engineering design process. The real-world examples give students insight into how the engineering design process is used to solve real-world problems.With dynamic images and intriguing text features to enhance the reading experience, this set will engage students' minds and imaginations! This set includes (titles may be substituted):• Building Lighthouses• Finding the Right Container• Making More Doughnuts• Making Water Safe• Pulling Taffy• Solving Problems at the Zoo

All the information you need to solve the mystery is in the puzzle story; everything you need to deduce, reason and organize your thoughts is in the handy grid below. A great addition to our Perplexors puzzle collection, Grid Perplexors teach kids a step-by-step process that keeps their thinking linear and focused. Great practice for standardized tests that reward logic skills. Paperback; 50 puzzles on 56 pages.Recommended Ages: Ages 8 to 9

Improve critical thinking skills and you're sure to improve reading comprehension, problem solving, writing skills and more! This book is part of the Critical Thinking Skills Series that includes over 400 pages of step-by-step activities, carefully structured to give students the thinking and logic skills they need to master every area of learning. The delightful exercises challenge students to think using a variety of methods such as analogies, classification, drawing solutions, and more! Each book is arranged sequentially to help learners develop critical thinking in easy-to-digest steps. A terrific way to give your students the tools they need for success in school as well as in their daily lives!

Foster your first grader's critical thinking skills and see confidence soar! Children are naturally inquisitive from infancy, yet creative and problem-solving skills need to be nurtured as children grow. Like reading and math skills, critical thinking skills require practice. The variety of fun and creative activities in this series will challenge your child to use higher-order thinking skills based on Bloom's Taxonomy. Every page provides a new and interesting activity that will help your child: • Think outside the box and use higher-order thinking skills through open-ended questions and challenges• Tap into his or her creativity with art projects and hands-on activities• Become a better learner by practicing critical thinking skills in cross-curricular activities (based on science, math, social studies, and language arts content)The 100+ activities are organized around these 1st grade themes:• Animals: Cats and Dogs; Giraffes and Elephants• Plants: Trees and Flowers; Fruits and Vegetables• Transportation: Cars, Trucks, and Buses; Planes and Trains• Places: The Playground and the Beach; Home and SchoolGrade 1 activities include puzzles, word problems, drawings, and matching that involve critical thinking skills such as: • Analyze• Solve• Reason• Decode• Create, and more!Plus, each page lists the critical thinking skill(s) so that you know what your child is practicing. Use Skill Sharpeners: Critical Thinking for enrichment at home and help your child become a confident problem solver! Includes answer key.

The mind-building lessons and activities in this 176-page book teach topics and skills drawn from state and national science standards to prepare students for more advanced science courses and new assessments that measure reasoning, reading comprehension, and writing in science.Students read lessons that include a variety of charts, tables, and graphs. Then they answer critical thinking questions to improve their understanding of the science concepts and develop their reading comprehension, inferential and deductive thinking skills. Students can't just scan the story for answers—they must carefully analyze and synthesize the information from the text and the charts, tables, and graphs to explain and support their answers.Many questions in this book ask students to use complete sentences to explain their thinking. The ability to express their thoughts—supported by evidence—in writing, is not only important in science assessment, it is essential when communicating with other people in school and work. It also promotes better understanding of the concepts being studied. The questions in Science Detective® A1 are modeled after questions found on science assessments but require more critical thinking. There is a growing trend to evaluate responses to open-ended questions in the context of logical reasoning, and many science students score poorly on these test items. The carefully designed questions in this book will not only develop thinking, reading, and writing skills, but will also familiarize your students with questions found on contemporary science assessments.Teaching SupportIncludes teacher and student introductions, a chart of topics and key ideas to help select activities, and detailed answers.Concepts covered in Science Detective® A1 include:Physical Science: Measuring Matter: Mass, Volume, and Density Physical and Chemical Properties of Matter Physical and Chemical Changes in Matter Atoms, Elements, and Compounds Chemicals: Helpful and Harmful Kinetic and Potential Energy Force and Motion Simple Machines: Inclined Plane, Lever, Machines and Work Simple Machines: Wheel-and-Axle and Pulley Thermal Energy Sound and Light Energy Static Electricity Circuits Electromagnets Electric Energy Energy Sources and ConversionLife Science: Cells Cell Parts and Functions Reproduction and Growth of Cells Genetics DNA Uses of Genetics Skeletal and Muscular Systems Circulatory and Respiratory Systems Nervous System Digestive System Reproductive System Classification of Organisms Function of Plant Parts Reproduction in Plants Invertebrates Vertebrates Earth's Biomes EcosystemsEarth Science: Plate Tectonics: Mountains, Volcanoes, and Earthquakes Rock Cycle, Erosion, and Deposition Properties of Rocks and Minerals Geological Time Natural Resources Ocean Exploration Ocean Resources Earth, Moon, and Sun Weather: Measurement, Causes, and Changes Classification of the Sun and Other Stars Inner and Outer Solar System

This easy-to-implement resource includes accompanying document-based questions that focus on key strategies for breaking down informational text to help students build cross-curricular reading skills. A document-based assessment sheet is also provided for each passage so students can investigate the text in even deeper and more meaningful ways.This resource is aligned to state and national standards and supports the development of college and career readiness skills.

Critical thinking skills are more important than ever in academic and real-world situations. Daily Higher-Order Thinking provides you with daily activities that build and grow students' problem-solving skills in engaging formats such as logic and visual puzzles, brainteasers, creative writing, picture comparison, word play, and "what if" questions. Daily 20-minute practice lessons help students apply critical thinking skills across subject areas. The lessons develop students' higher-order thinking skills and allow them to integrate their learning and make deeper connections between their learning and the real world. Use Daily Higher-Order Thinking for warm-up exercises, extension activities, early finisher tasks, and small-group center activities to develop your students' critical and creative thinking skills. How it works:• Monday-Friday: Full-page daily activities focus on a specific behavioral verb each day. The verb is defined at the top of the page so students become aware of when and how they are using the thinking skill. • Each full-page activity gives students an opportunity to practice a higher-order thinking skill in the context of a different curriculum area. • Questions and tasks are open-ended and can be used to promote peer-to-peer discussions as students share and discuss answers, while also fostering critical thinking skills. • An answer key provides sample responses for each day's activities. Evaluate students' responses based on your own expectations and on what content your students have encountered.Grade 3 activities include: logic puzzles, creative writing, picture comparisons, and "what if" questions. Daily lessons practice higher-order thinking skills such as: • Analyzing• Predicting• Modeling• Composing• Organizing • Evaluation• Designing • Critiquing