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 Beginning level 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.

It's never too early to start building thinking skills—skills that will spill over into other areas of the curriculum and into real life. Primarily Logic consists of a series of units designed to introduce logical thinking to young students. It is an excellent, easy-to-use starting point for teaching well-established forms of logical thinking. Each skill is introduced with examples, and then worksheets give students an opportunity to practice the skill. Group lessons and worksheets provide practice in: finding relationships, analogies, thinking logically using “all” and “none” statements, syllogisms, and deductive reasoning using logic puzzles. Logical thinking is both enjoyable and challenging for students as they build a sound foundation for further instruction in critical thinking. Suggestions for related activities are included in the Instructions for Teachers section.

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.

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!

What a tantalizing treat for young minds! Seven different thinking skills—relationships, analogies, sequences, deduction, inference, pattern decoding, and critical analysis—are presented in a format designed to appeal to the prereader. Lollipop Logic employs visual and pictorial clues to introduce and reinforce high-powered thinking. This one-of-kind tool gives wings to prereaders and nonreaders. This unique book introduces complex thinking skills without the fetters of lexical meaning. Lollipop Logic is the perfect instrument for many young learners. It is simple to use and easy for youngsters to understand. Best of all, it alleviates the encumbrances of reading ability for young minds ready to soar into the stratosphere of thinking skills far beyond their reading levels.

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.

In Writing Detective®, students in Grades 3-6 act as investigative reporters writing articles for a local newspaper. To write the article, students must use higher-order thinking skills to synthesize clues they identify in the story to solve the mystery. Every activity requires students to put clues together and then evaluate the evidence to infer or deduce what happened in the story. The stories are high interest to make it easy to motivate students to do the analytical work needed to piece together the evidence and write the article. Before writing, students complete an outline detailing When, Who, What, Where, and How or Why. These fun, easy-to-use activities develop reading comprehension, higher-order thinking, and writing and organization skills. Answers for the Reading Comprehension questions and Outlines as well as Article sample answers are provided. There is a simple scoring rubric to make grading easier.

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. Includes step-by-step instructions and detailed answers.

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. Includes step-by-step instructions and detailed answers.

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!

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.