81 Fresh & Fun Critical-Thinking Activities Engaging Activities and Reproducibles to Develop Kids’ Higher-Level Thinking Skills by Laurie Rozakis secwotastric PROFESSIONAL BOOKS New York Toronto London = Aukland = SydneyDedication With love and thanks, I dedicate this book to all the fine teachers who have enriched my life: Barbara Bengels, Chris LaRosa, Ed Leigh, Jack McGrath, Jim Pepperman, Jennifer Richmond, Elizabeth Simmons, Lenore Strober, and Tom Thibadeau. Scholastic Ine. grants teachers permission to photocopy the activity sheets ftom this book for class- room use. No other part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without written permission of the pub- lisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Professional Books, 585 Broadway, New York, NY 10012-3999, Cover design by Jaime Lucero Interior design by Jaime Lucero and Robert Dominguez for Grafic Interior illustrations by Maxie Chambliss ISBN: 0-590-37526-1 Copyright © 1998 by Laurie Rozakis. All rights reserved. Printed in the U. 81 Fesh & Fun Critical Thinking Activites © Laure Rozaks, Scholastic Teaching ResouresIntroduction «0.6.6... cece cece eee een eeee 4 Recognizing and Recalling Activities................000005 6 Distinguishing and Visualizing Activities ................00. 20 Activities for Following Directions and Classifying........... 36 Sequencing and Predicting Activities ................004. 50 Activities for Inferring and Drawing Conclusions............ 64 Evaluating Activities ©... 2.0... cece eee eee eee 74 Analyzing Activities... 0... 6... cece eee eee eee eee 88 Synthesizing Activities ............. 00... cece ee eee eee 102 ATISWERS 5. 5 wre» uy 6 eum 8 ote og mre Faw om owen wees wo Bw 9 oe 115 81 Fresh & Fun Critica: Thinking Activites © Laure Rozaks, Scholastic Teaching ResourcesIntroduction Today's students will inherit a complex and rapidly changing world, a world in which they'll be required to absorb new ideas, examine and interpret informa- tion, apply knowledge, and solve unconventional problems. To deal with the information explosion of the twenty-first century, students will need to develop systematic ways of thinking and reasoning. Critical-thinking skills will be essen- tial. What is critical thinking? It's the ability to: jolve problems + make products that are valued in a particular culture + be flexible, creative, and original + think about thinking + locate the appropriate route to a goal + capture and transmit knowledge + express views and feelings appropriately Effective critical thinkers use one or more of the seven multiple intelligences identified by Dr. Howard Gardner: 1. verbal/linguistic 2, logical /mathematical 3. visual/spatial 4. bodily /kinesthetic 5. musical/rhythmic 6, interpersonal (the ability to work cooperatively in a group) 7. intrapersonal (self-identity) Research indicates that critical thinking is neither inborn nor naturally acquired. In fact, fewer than half the adults in America today have the ability to reflect upon their thinking and explain how they solved a problem. Fortunately, critical thinking can be taught and learned. This book, and its companion volume for younger grades, will help you teach students to reflect upon their own thinking processes and become more successful, active learn- ers. Both professional educators and parents can use this book to help children learn to think critically. In our daily lives, we use many critical-thinking skills simultaneously—and not in any prescribed order. For the purposes of this book, however, the critical- thinking activities are arranged in a hierarchy, beginning with the skills of 4/ /~— 81 Fish & Fan Cite Thinking Activites © Late Ross, Stat Teasing Resossrecognition and recall and working up to the more advanced skills of analysis and synthesis. This arrangement will help you and your students more clearly understand and identify the specific critical-thinking skills they are using For each thinking skill in this book, there are two kinds of activities: (1) those that you, as the teacher, will lead, and (2) student reproducibles for indepen- dent work. On the introductory pages for each section of the book, you'll find ideas for introducing and using the student reproducibles. You can use the Try This! activity at the bottom of each reproducible as an extension of the lesson, a challenge activity, or a homework assignment. Here are some ways you can use the lessons to help students become more effective thinkers: 1. Read each activity aloud or have a child read it aloud to the rest of the group. 2. Allow children ample time to think and respond. 3. Ask students questions to assess their understanding of the problem. 4. Welcome different strategies for solving the problem. Encourage divergent thinking. 5. Observe children as they work in order monitor their problem-solving skills. 6. Give helpful hints to those children who are having difficulty finding ways to approach the problem. 7. Guide children to link the problem to others they have already solved. 8, Encourage children to check their work. 9, Help children explore their thinking and identify the strategies that worked—and those that didn't. 10. Invite students to share their results. Since critical thinking doesn't end when an individual project does, you will want to give students sufficient time to evaluate their thinking strategies. Guide students to formulate ways they might adjust thetr critical-thinking strategies with the next problems they solve. Finally, model critical thinking for students by sharing your own problem-solv- ing strategies and accepting unusual and unexpected strategies and solutions. Your participation as an active learner will further reinforce the critical-thinking skills you teach. Above all, encourage your students to see themselves as thinkers. 7 <5 81 Fish & Fan Cite Thinking Activites © Late Ross, Stat Teasing Resoss yRecognizing and Recalling Activities To begin thinking critically, students must first learn to recognize and recall key information. These skills are important for the mastery of higher-level skills such as classification, inferring, and analyzing. ‘The activities in this section will help students tap their prior knowledge to iden- tify and remember key facts. You can present each of the following activities as a complete lesson or integrate the activities into lessons in different curriculum areas. The section begins with the easier activities and concludes with more diffi- cult ones. Instructions for teacher-led activities appear on the same page as the activity. Use the teacher notes that follow for the student reproducibles, Cross-Curricular Links Activity Content Area ‘Time Capsule language arts Mind Squeeze language arts ‘Trivia Trackdown math, science/social studies Wordplay Tanguage arts Making a Menu science/healih Recycled Words Tanguage arts What Am I? language arls/science/social studies Aretic Facts science/social studies Antarctic Facts science/social studies What's Up & What's Down? _17— science/social studies Transformations mathematics Teacher Notes for Student Reproducibles Page 9: Mind Squeeze ‘This activity tests students’ observation and memory skills. After the class com- pletes the reproducible, discuss various strategies that students used to recall the items on the page. For example, they might have memorized them in rows or columns; they might have classified them into groups. Page 10: Trivia Trackdown ‘Trivia Trackdown is a great way to sharpen students’ recognition and recalling skills. You might begin by having students complete this page independently or with a partner. Then have the class research general information on science, ae /~- 81 Fish & Fan Cite Thinking Activites © Late Ross, Stat Teasing Resossart, music, literature, sports, geography, history, and other subjects. Students can write questions on index cards with the answers on the back. Collect the cards and divide the class into teams. Have the teams line up on different sides of the room and take turns answering the questions as you call them out. Award points for correctly answered questions. Page 11: Wordplay Before students begin this page, you might want to review the parts of speech— noun, pronouns and verbs—essential to a sentence. Invite students to read their word lists and paragraphs aloud to the class. Page 12: Making a Menu You may wish to have students work with partners to complete this page. Encourage the teams to share their “menus” with the class. Page 13: Recycled Words Before assigning this page, review what students know about open and closed compound words. Point out that compound words can also be proper nouns. Page 14: What Am I? After students complete the page, work with the class to come up with more definitions for other words beginning with h. Students might also enjoy acting out some of their definitions. Page 15: Arctic Facts ‘This page helps students recognize, recall, and organize facts. It also gives them practice in extrapolating important information from a passage. Encourage stu- dents to paraphrase the information they include in the web. Page 16: Antarctic Facts ‘This page is similar to page 15. Completing the web will help students recog- nize, recall, and organize facts from a nonfiction passage. Discuss with the class why these are important skills. Pages 17-18: What's Up and What’s Down? Students will need to review the information on pages 15 and 16 before playing this game with a partner. Encourage the teams to make up additional questions for others to answer. Page 19: Transformations ‘This page calls for students to use shape, size, and color to identify a pattern. You may wish to complete the first item with the class to be sure students understand what they are expected to do. ak £1 Fish Fun Ca Thinking Ate © Lae Rois, sla TeahingResaes {~~Time Capsule Here’s a unique way to use literature to help your students recog- nize and gather key ideas. Begin by selecting a novel or short story that the entire class has read fairly recently. Write the title and the name of the main character on the chalkboard. Then ask students to list six to ten items from the book that were impor- tant to the main character. This can be done individually or in ‘small groups. If the students read Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet, for example, the list might look like this: “anplone Next, ask students to put themselves in the main character's place. As the main character, which of these items might they want to save in a time cap- sule? What other items might they add? Have each student create a short list of things they would put in a time capsule for the main character. Stu- dents should be able to explain their choices. You can expand this activity by having students make real time capsules for characters in other books and stories or for themselves. What items might best express other characters’ personalities—or their own? What items best capture the fictional or real experience? You might want to create a class time capsule. Ask each student to contribute one item. Then bury the cap- sule somewhere on the school grounds. 3 / /~— 81 Fish & Fan Cite Thinking Activites © Late Ross, Stat Teasing ResossMind Squeeze ‘Take two minutes to look at the words and objects on this page. Then turn the page over and see how many you can recall. Good luck! EZ HOMEWORK SUMMER VACATION STUDY! Do It Again Repeat the activity. Can you improve your performance? 81 Fresh & Fun Critica: Thinking Activites © Laure Rozaks, Scholastic Teaching ResourcesName Trivia Trackdown How many of these questions can you answer? 11. i2. 13. 14, 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. How many squares are there on a checkerboard? What is the name of Mickey Mouse's dog? What kind of animal is Babar? What was the name of the Wright Brothers’ airplane? What is the capital of New York? What do frogs have in their mouths that toads don’t? Who was the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court? What nations border the continental U.S. on the north and south? Who created The Cat in the Hat? How many queen bees are in each hive? Who was the second president of the United States? How many teaspoons make up a tablespoon? What two states share Kansas City? Who is the Friendly Ghost? Name the Great Lakes. Who painted the “Mona Lisa”? What substance inside corn makes it pop? How many sides are there on a snowflake? How many wings does a bee have? How many pints are in a quart? Try This! Think of Another Think of another trivia question for a classmate to answer. 81 Fesh & Fun Critical Thinking Activites © Laure Rozaks, Scholastic Teaching ResouresName Wordplay Imagine you live in a world with only 20 words. You can use these 20 words as much as you want, but you cannot use any other words at all. In the space below, list the 20 words you'd pick: 2 12. 3 13. 4 4. 5. 15. 6. 16. 7. 17. 8. 18. 9%. 19. 10. 20. Use Your Words Now, write a paragraph using only your 20 words! Make sure your paragraph has at least five sentences. 4 81 Fresh & Fun Critica: Thinking Activites © Laure Rozaks, Scholastic Teaching ResourcesName Making a Menu It’s dinner time, but what are you going to eat? Complete this page to help you think of a menu. Food that begins with b: Food that grows below ground: a 2. 2. 3. 3. 4 4. 5. 5. Fast food: Dey Food that grows on trees: CB I LL 2. 2. 3. 3. 4 4 5. 5. Food that is white: Now, list your five favorite foods: I L 2. 2. 3. 3. 4 4, 5. Favorite Foods Make a graph showing the five favorite foods of your classmates. ai2/ 2 / 81 Fesh & Fun Critical Thinking Activites © Laure Rozaks, Scholastic Teaching ResouresName Recycled Words You probably recycle cans and newspapers, but did you know that you can recycle words too? You can use the same word to make many different words and phrases. For example, you might use the word ice to make the words ice skate, iceberg or ice water. For each row, add the same word on the lines to make new words. Example: coat check coat room coat of arms I tassh iprow 20 ight 2 mark = samiine ________ scape 3. born Ss ___ England Year’s Day 4. work test block 5. around away off 6. shape wreck yard 7% bow coat dance 8s storm = __ SS séplow ____ shoe 9. pen = sours ____ room 10. roll shell nog Try This! Use the Words Use the words that you made in sentences. 13 / 81 Fresh & Fun Critica: Thinking Activites © Laure Rozaks, Scholastic Teaching ResourcesName What Am I? Below is a list of definitions for words that begin with the letter h. See how many you can guess. Words That Start With h 1. Balls of ice that fall from the sky 2. A 17-syllable Japanese poem 3. Not whole 4. A patty of chopped beef 5. An allergy to grasses and weeds 6. The organ that pumps blood 7. A great person; someone people admire 8. Opposite of low 9. The study of past events 10. A country known for its tulips Try This! Define It write a definition for each of these h_ words: Y hello, handkerchief, horse. 14 81 Fresh & Fun Critica: Thinking Activites © Laure Rozaks, Scholastic Teaching ResourcesName Arctic Facts Read the passage about the Arctic. Then fill in the web with facts from the passage. Include at least three facts for each heading. ‘The Arctic is a large region of the earth around the North Pole. This region includes the Arctic Ocean, Greenland, Iceland, thousands of smaller islands, and the northern parts of three continents: North America, Europe, and Asia. Many of the inhab- itants are Eskimos, people native to the region. Still others are Lapps, Yakuts, and Chukchi “Sty This! Wildlife in the Arctic includes wolves, polar bears, foxes, many birds, caribou, lemmings, voles, walrus, and Arctic hares. The most common Arctic fish is the char, a kind of trout. The Arctic climate is harsh. Tem- peratures can reach 70 degrees below freezing in the winter. Blustering winds make the weather even more bitter. Summers are short and cool. Add More Add another circle to the web. Label it “Plants”. Then find three facts to put in the circle. 81 Fresh & Fun Critica: Thinking Activites © Laure Rozaks, Scholastic Teaching ResourcesName Antarctic Facts Read the passage about the Antarctic. Then fill in the web with facts from the passage. Include at least three facts for each hea Antarctica is the continent at the South Pole. Antarctica is surrounded by three oceans—the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian. It is the fifth largest conti- nent and the coldest place on Earth. Because it is below the equator, winter in Antarctica takes place when it is summer in the United States. Metal shatters like glass in the brutal Antarc- tic winter. Temperatures drop to 120 below zero; a person without the right clothing would freeze solid in just a few minutes. Winds gusting up to 200 miles per hour come screaming down the ice, tearing into the piles of snow. Ee With the exception of a few insects, Antarctica has no animal life on its land. However, penguins, seals, whales, krill, and seabirds thrive in the oceans around the continent. Likewise, few plants besides mosses grow on the ice-covered land of Antarctica. No people live permanently on this continent, but Antarctica is known for its scientific stations. Many nations, including the U.S., Chile, Norway, Great Britain, and Australia have large research centers where scientists study earthquakes, gravity, oceans, and weather conditions. Learn More Find out about the first people to explore Antarctica. Add another circle to the web to show what you learned. 81 Fresh & Fun Critica Thinking Activites © Laure Rozaks, Scholastie Teaching ResourcesName What's Up and What's Down? See how much you learned about the Arctic and Antarctic by playing this game with a partner. Here’s how: 1. Cut apart the cards, shuffle them, and place them in a stack facing down, 2. Take turns picking a card and asking your partner a question. 3. If their answer is correct, pick another card and ask another question. If they answer incorrectly, they pick a card and ask you a question. 4. The player who answers the most questions correctly wins. What continent is the What is the coldest Who lives at the North South Pole on? place on the earth? Pole today? leonasepuy Lwoynyg ‘sey ‘synyey What large birds live At which Pole can you find Who lives at the South near Antartica? wolves, foxes, and polar Pole today? [arog yoy yp] [uo sysquaros Suis] Find More Use a book to find more animals that you can add to this page. 417 81 Fresh & Fun Critica: Thinking Activites © Laure Rozaks, Scholastic Teaching ResourcesName What kinds of plants What is a char? In what region of the grow at the South Pole? earth would you find Greenland? What oceans surround Antarctica? What do scientists ‘What animals live perma- What is the fifth largest study on Antarctica? nently on Antarctica’s land? Write a Question Make up a question of your own about the Arctic or Antarctic. Have your partner answer it. 81 Fresh & Fun Critical-Thinkng Activites © Lauri Roraks, Scholastic TeachName Transformations Study the first pair of shapes in each example. Think about how A changes into B. Then look at C. Which of the six numbered shapes changes in relation to C in the same way that A changes to B? Find that shape. Circle the number of your answer. oy) ‘ Explain Write a sentence or two to tell why you chose the answer you did. 19 81 Fresh & Fun Critica: Thinking Activites © Laure Rozaks, Scholastic Teaching ResourcesDistinguishing and Visualizing Activities When students become skilled at distinguishing between important and unim- portant data and visualizing problem-solving strategies, they naturally develop more logical and effective patterns of thinking. The activities in this section will help students learn to identify specific items and form strong mental images. Use the chart to help you relate the activities in this section to your class cur- riculum. In general, the easier activities appear at the beginning of the section, and the more difficult ones follow. Instructions for teacher-led activities are on the same page as the activity. Notes for using the student reproducibles follow the chart. Cross-Curricular Links Activity Content Area Set the Scene art/language arts The Qqqqqooooo art/language arts Tight Fit art/mathematics Within a Word language arts Real Estate social studies/ mathematics Tricky Twins art/mathematies Stargazing ‘science Triangle Challenge mathematics Tangrams math /multicultural/ art How Do You Hide an Elephant? language arts Magic Words language arts Anagram Adventure language arts Origami multicultural /art Teacher Notes for Student Reproducibles Page 23: The Qqqqqoo000 As a follow-up to this activity, you might have students write a story about the creature they create. Invite students to share their artwork and stories with the class. 20 / /~— 81 Fish & Fan Cite Thinking Activites © Late Ross, Stat Teasing ResossPage 25: Within a Word In this activity, students must visualize the word bar in other, longer words. Follow up by having students write a sentence using each of the words they identify. Page 26: Real Estate Before students complete this page, you might want to discuss the term real estate to make sure everyone knows what it means. Follow up by talking about the variety of homes pictured and how and why homes differ around the world. Page 27: Tricky Twins To further enhance students’ visual skills, have them describe each pair of cats that they identify. Page 28: Stargazing Follow up by having students find at least one fact about each of the names on the puzzle. Page 29: Triangle Challenge Before students begin working on the page, have them identify the kind of trian- gle they see (equilateral). What other kinds of triangles can students name? What other geometrical shapes? Page 30: Tangrams Have students identify the geometrical shapes that make up the seven tangram pieces. Create a bulletin board display with the tangram pictures students make. Page 31: How Do You Hide an Elephant? Point out to students that they can use the hidden word idea as a code. Chal- lenge them to write coded messages. Page 32: Magic Words In this activity, students must visualize and rearrange letters into different word configurations. Challenge students to use the new words in complete sentences. Page 33: Anagram Adventure This page builds on the activity on page 32. However, students are now asked to rearrange letters to create more than one word. Again, encourage students to use the words they create in complete sentences. 81 Fresh Fan Cita Thinking Atites © Laue Roa, olaticTeahing Resouces /—Set the Scene One way to enhance student's visualization skills is to have them create dioramas or other three-dimensional representations of spe- cific scenes from literature. Ask students to bring in shoe boxes. Begin the activity by reviewing the stories, poems, novels, and plays the class has read during the year. Discuss scenes that are especial- ly dramatic. List some of these scenes on the chalkboard. ‘Then invite students to select a scene to bring to life. They may want to sketch the scene on a piece of paper before transforming it into three-dimensional form. Students can use construction paper and small objects such as pebbles, sticks, and blocks in their scenes. Encourage them to experiment with depth and space by placing figures and objects in the background, middle ground, and foreground of their scenes. Students can use strips of fanned paper to anchor the figures and objects. ZF — Glue here to position on wall Ge folded sup tocatout \ ok Bure song here. poston on oor. Back of cut-out rinse 81 Fesh & Fun Critical Thinking Activites © Laure Rozaks, Scholastic Teaching ResouresName The Qqqqqooooo What’s a Qaqaqoooo0? It’s a make-believe creature made from letters. Make a letter creature of your own. It can be a real animal or a make-believe one. Here’s what you'll need: old newspapers or magazines scissors pen or pencil construction paper glue Here’s what to do: 1. Pick any two letters. 2. Cut a pile of these letters from old newspapers or magazines. 3. Put the letters together to make a creature. When you like the way they look, glue the letters down in the frame on this page. and write a brief description of it, including where it lives, what it eats, and what makes it special. it Try T his! Introduce Your Creature Give your creature a name 81 Fesh & Fun Critical Thinking Activites © Laure Rozaks, Scholastic Teaching ResouresTight Fit suishing and visualizing both positive and negative space. Materials: construction paper crayons scissors Directions: I. Arrange students in small groups of four or five. Give each group a stack of paper, some crayons, and a pair of scissors per student. 2. Have each student fold one sheet of paper in half and draw a geometric design along the folded edge. Caution students not to copy each other's drawings. 3. Then have students cut out their shapes along the fold so that they have two pieces of paper—the shape and the leftover paper. 4, Have each group select a member to collect all the cut-out shapes. This person becomes the first player. 5. The rest of the group makes a circle around the player and displays one of the cut papers, unfolded. 6. The player must try to visualize which “negative” each cut-out “positive” fits and then place the shape in the open space. 7. When the player has correctly fit each shape to its template, have each group select a new player and repeat the round. 8. After two or three rounds, invite groups to exchange their cut-outs and negatives and continue playing. / 24 /~— 81 Fish & Fan Cite Thinking Activites © Late Ross, Stat Teasing ResossName Within a Word Can you find the word bar in the word for each of these pictures? Write the word on the line. @ B Find More Think of at least three more words with bar in them, 81 Fresh & Fun Critica: Thinking Activites © Laure Rozaks, Scholastic Teaching ResourcesName Real Estate Look carefully at the homes on this page. Then answer the questions. 1. How many homes have only 5. How many homes float? twolwindowih end. ons acer? 6. How many homes have flags How many homes have no flying? ? windows 7. How many homes have 12 or How many homes are not for more windows? 2 People? 8. How many homes have a porch? How many homes do not have walls made of wood? Try This! Draw draw a picture of another home. Then reread the questions. How do the answers change? 26 / 81 Fesh & Fun Critical Thinking Activites © Laure Rozaks, Scholastic Teaching ResouresName Tricky Twins The cats are having a party. Most of the cats are twins dressed just alike and standing the same way, but three single cats are at the party, too. With a colored pen or pencil, find and number the 12 pairs of identical twins. Then circle the three cats that have no twin. ae ep Try This! Draw choose one of the single cats. Draw a twin for that cat. 81 Fresh & Fun Critica: Thinking Activites © Laure Rozaks, Scholastic Teaching ResourcesName Stargazing It’s time to study the skies, but you won't need a telescope! Why? Because some stellar things are hidden in this puzzle. Find each of the heavenly bodies listed below. The words go across, down, and backwards. Find these words: Orion Saturn Earth North Star Moon Sun Milky Way Mars Venus Pluto T WwW Y U oO A B B nA PreBrcanrmrz qcqox~ovdcaawn R Ss s T Oo U oO WwW <> ex nAr-z o Try This! Classify Look at the names you found. Think of a way to classify them into groups. 81 Fresh & Fun Critica: Thinking Activites © Laure Rozaks, Scholastic Teaching ResourcesName Triangle Challenge How many triangles can you find in this shape? Use colored pencils to outline each triangle. Write your total in the space below. ‘There are triangles, how many triangles are there? is Try T his! Look Again Remove one line from the shape. Now 29/ 81 Fresh & Fun Critica: Thinking Activites © Laure Rozaks, Scholastic Teaching ResourcesName Tangrams A tangram is a Chinese puzzle made from a square cut into seven pieces—5 triangles, 1 square, and 1 rhomboid. You can use tangram pieces to make different figures. Here’s how: 1. Cut out the square. 2. Cut on the lines to make the five triangles, one square, and one rhomboid. 3. Arrange the shapes to make the figure on this page. 4. Now make your own tangram pictures. Glue the pieces in place for the picture you like the best. Try This! Make More Use all seven tangram pieces to make a vehicle. 81 Fesh & Fun Critical Thinking Activites © Laure Rozaks, Scholastic Teaching ResouresName How Do You Hide an Elephant? You probably can't hide an elephant in your room, but you can hide one in a sentence. Let’s start small. Can you find the goat that is hiding in the sentence below? Lisa will go at dinner time. The two words go at spell goat when you put them together. Now, find these animals in the sentences below. Under- line the letters that spell the animal names. ape deer horse rat kitten owl dog bear lamb hen pony mice - Go fish or see what we have to eat in the refrigerator. . Be artistic and paint a picture for me. |. She needs a new cover for her book. . Tom iced the cake for the birthday party. . Do girls like soccer or baseball? 2. 3. 4, 5, 6. Ms. Dee read a book to the class. 7. What a big bowl of noodles you have! 8. Hop on your bicycle and let’s go for a ride. 9. Jess took a peek into the package. 10. “Slam bam!” the ball hit the rim with a crash! 11. Jay did kick it ten times in row. 12. Please have dinner at my house on Monday. Try This! Don't Forget the Elephant Now about that ele- - phant. Write a sentence that hides an elephant. Then switch papers with a friend and see if you can find one another's elephants. 81 Fresh & Fun Critical Thinking Activites © Laure Rozaks, Scholastie Teaching ResourcesName Magic Words Sometimes a word is just a word. But other times, words can be magic! Just move letters around and you have new words. Take a look at the examples below: Original Word New Word on no now won pot top bat tab ‘See if you can rearrange the underlined words below to match the clues. . Change sore to a thorny flower. » Change bus to a type of underwater transportation. & Change add to a word for father. = Change not to a word for 2,000 pounds. a . Change stone to little messages. - Change panel to a flying machine. N . Change net to the number of fingers and toes you have. - Change low to a very wise bird. = Change raw to a word for battle. 10. Change sale to an animal. Try This! More Magic what other magic words can you think of? Write some on a separate sheet of paper. 32 81 Fresh & Fun Critica: Thinking Activites © Laure Rozaks, Scholastic Teaching ResourcesName Anagram Adventure An anagram is a word that is made by rearranging the letters of anoth- er word, For example, here are four anagrams from the word post: stop pots tops spot Can you form at least two anagrams from each of these words? 1, dare 2. teas 3. meat 4. pear 5. stale 6. pans 7. snail 8. acre 9. slap Try Thi s! More Anagrams See if you can form a third anagram for three of the words above. 33 81 Fresh & Fun Critica: Thinking Activites © Laure Rozaks, Scholastic Teaching ResourcesOrigami A great way to build visualization skills is by introducing students to the Japanese art of paper folding, origami. Give students these step-by-step instructions for creating an origami rabbit: 1. 7. 34 / = Label points on the sides of a square with the letters A-H as shown. Be sure to write the letters on both sides of the paper. Fold the square in half hori- zontally (G to H). Unfold. Fold in half vertiacally (E to F) and unfold. Fold point A to point D, creating diagonal CB. Unfold and fold point B to point C, making the diagonal AD. Unfold. These four folds are “helping” folds, made to crease the paper so that sub- sequent folds will be easier. Fold line AC to line GH and then fold line BD to line GH. Fold points A and B down to lie on horizontal line EF. Place thumbs inside two cor- ner pockets and pull points A and B outward and down to make triangular points. Place an O at the center of the top line of the figure. (Be sure to check with illustration No. 4.) From top point O make diago- nal folds to points A and B. Fold bottom corners C and D back. 81 Fesh & Fun Critical Thinking Activites © Laurie Rozaks, Scholastic Tes Resources8. — Fold model in half (reversing cen- terfold). 8. 2. s 9. Fold the tail inward (a “squash fold’). Push thumb into point to -* keep the fold even and pinch the ° entero. sides together. Rabbit is taken from Papercrajts by lan Adair (David and Charles Holdings, Ltd., 1975), 81 Fesh & Fun Critical Thinking Activites © Laure Rozaks, Scholastic Teaching ResouresActivities for Following Directions and Classifying After students feel comfortable distinguishing and visualizing different aspects of a problem, it is time for them to work on following directions and classifying information. The ability to follow directions helps students work through a process one step at a time. Knowing how to classify information helps them to bring order to a problem by organizing its pieces into groups based on common features. Consider presenting one or more of these activities at the start of class every day to remind students of the importance of following directions with regard to all their work. You'll find instructions for teacher-led activities on the same page as the activity. Notes for student reproducibles follow the chart on this page. As in the other sections of the book, the easier activities appear first. As students complete the activities, encourage them to think aloud. This will help you observe the thought processes that they are using. Use the following chart to help you coordinate the activities with other parts of your curriculum. Cross-Curricular Links Activity Content Area Quick Draw art ‘Wrong Rhymes Tanguage arts Turn-Around Numbers mathematics ‘Are We There Yet? social studies Save Yourself Social studies Scrambled Sentences language arts On the Wild Side, Parts T&T science Get Set mathematics In Groups: language arts/social studies Prime Time Numbers mathematics /~- 81 Fish & Fan Cite Thinking Activites © Late Ross, Stat Teasing ResossTeacher Notes for Student Reproducibles Page 39: Wrong Rhymes Before students begin work on this page, you may wish to remind them that some long vowel sounds can be spelled in more than one way. Follow up this activity by challenging students to use one or more sets of the rhymes in a poem. Page 41: Are We There Yet? In this activity, students must write, read, and follow directions. You may wish to have students try out the directions they write before they pass them on toa classmate. Post the finished maps on a bulletin board. Page 42: Save Yourself! If necessary, review the use of a map scale and a compass rose to determine distance and direction. Pages 44-46: On the Wild Side, Parts I-IL ‘The activities on these pages call for students to classify information. Tell stu- dents that although their classifications may differ slightly, they should be pre- pared to explain their reasoning. Page 47: Get Set ‘This page gives students experience in identifying different kinds of sets. Remind students to be ready to justify their thinking. Page 48: In Groups In this activity, students must first determine what the group is and then iden- tify the item that does not belong. Students must also explain why that item does not fit the group. Page 49: Prime Time Numbers Ask students to demonstrate why some numbers are not prime numbers. 81 Fresh Fan Cita Thinking Atites © Laue Roa, olaticTeahing Resouces /~