The Balance Math™ & More! activities sharpen students' critical thinking and computational skills, and develop algebraic reasoning. Each book is made up of three different types of puzzles: Balance Math: Students examine the balances to deduce the missing value. Inside-Out Math: Students need to reverse their thinking, using the inverse relationships between addition and subtraction and multiplication and division to solve the puzzle. Tic Tac Math: Students figure out the correct order to complete all rows, columns, and diagonals. Level 2 focuses on multiplication and division of whole numbers, but has a few problems involving fractions. The spiraling difficulty level is designed to scaffold a student's conceptual understanding of the targeted operations from beginning to advanced. Teaching suggestions and detailed solutions are included. Try one of these intriguing puzzles—and then try to stop!

An analogy is a comparison between two things. It points out the similarities between two things that might be different in all other respects. Analogies cause us to think analytically about forms, uses, structures, and relationships. First Time Analogies is the ideal launching pad to start nonreaders on the road to real thinking experiences with these pictorial and symbolic analogies that are both challenging and motivating. The book is divided into four sections that let you introduce analogies in a developmental way. The levels are: recognizing relationships; choosing one item to complete the analogy; given two items, choosing two other items that have the same relationships; and pairing up four items to complete two related pairs. Exercises are presented on worksheets that require circling the correct answer, as well as cutting out pictures and pasting them in the correct spaces. Attractive illustrations will draw students into the engaging exercises. While they think they are just solving fun puzzles, they will be doing serious thinking and building a basis for future experiences in critical thinking.

An analogy is a comparison between two things. It points out the similarities between two things that might be different in all other respects. Analogies cause us to think analytically about forms, uses, structures, and relationships. This all-time favorite resource not only gives students a chance to practice solving analogies, but also invites them to open their minds to a completely new way of analyzing the elements of analogies. Each page introduces several categories of analogies. Each category expands students' way of viewing the world and contrasting and comparing elements. Thinking Through Analogies also instills the tools whereby students can create relationships to enhance their creative and formal writing, as well as to heighten their critical thinking in test taking.

One-Hour Mysteries offers five motivating mysteries that your students can solve using clues and logical reasoning. Your students will become crime scene investigators, analyzing clues found at a crime scene and applying forensic techniques in their analysis. Each mystery includes a complete set of teacher instructions and reproducible handouts that may be photocopied for classroom use. This exciting book features the following mysteries:Mystery at the Mall, The Coaster Caper, The Case of Santa's Blackmail, The Case of the Missing Tiara, and A Hollywood Crime. What better way to motivate critical thinking than with a whodunit? Skills include deductive reasoning, inferring, taking notes, organizing data, and analyzing evidence. Get ready for real thinking combined with cloak-and-dagger fun!

An analogy is a comparison that points out the similarities between things that are different in all other respects. Teaching students how to solve analogies not only develops their logical thinking, but also builds visual awareness and verbal proficiency. The seven different types of visual analogies and 14 different verbal analogies in Analogies for Beginners are perfect for beginning lessons in logical reasoning, flexible thinking, and vocabulary. Each page gives students an example of the type of analogy that is being introduced and then provides 7 (visual) or 10 (verbal) problems for them to solve. This combination of verbal and visual formats is an ideal way to introduce logical thinking in primary grades. Whether you have time for one analogy a day, or a worksheet a week, students will benefit in many ways when analogies are part of your curriculum. The use of visual analogies is beneficial for developing visual analysis even for older students, but especially useful for nonreaders and students with developing English skills. The verbal analogies provide students with exercises that require them to use word comprehension and also to examine various characteristics, uses, and relationships.

Teachers loved Mary Ann Carr's One-Hour Mysteries and asked for more! In this follow-up to her wildly popular book, Carr offers five More One-Hour Mysteries. This book offers motivating mysteries that your students can solve using clues and logical reasoning. Your students become crime scene investigators, analyzing clues found at a crime scene and applying forensic techniques in their analysis. Each mystery includes a complete set of teacher instructions and reproducible handouts that may be photocopied for classroom use. This exciting book features the following mysteries:Miss Moneybags' Last Will and Testament, The Doggone Mystery, The Case of Forged Houdini, Who Took the Video Game, and Aunt Sally's Secret. What better way to motivate critical thinking than with a whodunit? Skills include deductive reasoning, inferring, taking notes, organizing data, and analyzing evidence. Get ready for real thinking combined with cloak-and-dagger fun!

Students carefully analyze each Mind Benders® story and its clues, identifying logical associations between people, places, and things. The key is to start with the most obvious associations, then deduce less obvious associations until everything finally fits together. The Verbal book uses auditory processing with no charts. Includes step-by-step instructions and detailed answers.

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. Available in Grades 1-6.

The Balance Math™ & More! activities sharpen students' critical thinking and computational skills, and develop algebraic reasoning. Each book is made up of three different types of puzzles: Balance Math: Students examine the balances to deduce the missing value. Inside-Out Math: Students need to reverse their thinking, using the inverse relationships between addition and subtraction and multiplication and division to solve the puzzle. Tic Tac Math: Students figure out the correct order to complete all rows, columns, and diagonals. Level 1 focuses on addition and subtraction of whole numbers. The spiraling difficulty level is designed to scaffold a student's conceptual understanding of the targeted operations from beginning to advanced. Teaching suggestions and detailed solutions are included. Try one of these intriguing puzzles—and then try to stop!

Understanding analogies and the ability to reason analogically (reasoning used to identify, evaluate, and solve an analogy) are important problem-solving skills. Problem-solving is an essential part of mathematical development. Analogies teach students to break problems down into their component parts, making it easier to recognize familiar formats that enable students to produce solutions. The Level 2 Math Analogies asks students to draw and verbalize their answers. The drawings develop fine motor skills, and the verbalization develops communication skills. The analogies in this book are designed around the grade-appropriate standards identified by the National Council of Teaching Mathematics.

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. Available in Grades 1-6.

In addition to waking up sleepy brains for the day's lessons, these short, fun daily activity pages develop the most important reading comprehension skill found on all standardized reading tests. Synthesizing disparate information and using the result to produce a reasonable conclusion is an essential skill assessed on standardized reading tests. This comprehension skill usually determines a student's reading score–and every Daily Mind Builders™ activity develops this skill. Each daily activity page includes two puzzles. The first puzzle is a short, true mystery. Its solution requires careful reading, inferential reasoning, and deductive thinking. The second puzzle involves a process of elimination involving the meanings of words or relationships between words. Try the samples and you'll be hooked!