On Thinking

Is the program really easy to use. I have a cluster of 4 language arts students and a cluster of 4 math students in my homeroom of 25. Within that 25 students I have kids reading at 30 words a minute (DIBEL) and 130 words a minute (DIBEL). Students will have to be able to [...]

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Please tell me more about the renzulli programe with computers. I have had some training with the triad program, although it is no longer used in my school. I teach third.
Thanks.
JKS

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hi. Have just received a bunch of resources from you that are amazing. Included in these was a book “Leading Questions” by Jamie McKenzie. I have been very disappointed with this and wonder if any of your staff have really looked through it. The content is very negative and this guy [...]

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Assuming you have bough the Torrance Creativity test with the circles, here’s my adapted scoring sheet. I adapted it to save time on scoring when you are testing large numbers of children; it seems to correlate pretty well with the original test, in scoring for fluency, flexibility and elaboration.
I hope you find it useful!
In return [...]

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RESOURCES
I’m often asked what resources should parents buy for their children. Here’s my answer:
1. Use your local library- save yourself money! If they don’t have what you want, ASK THEM TO STOCK it.
2. Although some children love filling in workbooks and worksheets, make sure you’re also encouraging lots of hands-on stuff. Buy the glue-gun, markers, [...]

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How to manage and enrich groups without driving myself crazy?
While you spend the first 10 mins or so of the lesson working with students who need remedial help, here are some ideas for the other students so that they are not just doing busy-work or even MORE worksheets:

Have a MULTIMEDIA CENTRE. A computer with headphones [...]

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Here’s a powerful motivator and extender- it’s an online programme, and it costs less than US$2 a week per child. Yes that’s right! AND it’s been invented by Prof Joseph Renzulli, one of the great ‘gurus’ in thinking skills over the past 30 years.
What is it? In a nutshell, students answer a questionnaire which determines [...]

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Does teaching thinking skills enhance academic achievement? YES
What kinds of specific skills and techniques are there?
-study skills
-creative thinking skills
-critical thinking skills
-metacognition
-reflection
-inquiry training
Is ‘infusion’ teaching of thinking skills better, or a separate thinking skills programme?
BOTH work well, but teaching a skill specifically and THEN applying it is recommended. So it appears that direct [...]

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If you love finding out all about the workings of the human brain, here’s a wonderful site for you. It’s a BBC site showing the series of Reith lectures on the brain . Sample lectures/topics:

synapses and the self
The Artful Brain
Synaesthaesia (when some people literally ’see’ red when they see the number 5, or green when [...]

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I’m reading a brilliant book called “Understanding Thinking” by John Evans, and although only a third of the way through it, I have to tell you that this is an amazing book! Evans makes fascinating connections and parallels between thinkers in history, thinking models, and societal belief structures… this is so good I just have [...]

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Here’s a creative thinking activity that kids just love. Besides offering a creative thinking outlet, this activity also offers CHOICE and a challenge if the child wishes:
1. Click on the image below (or drag it to your desktop) to enlarge it, and print a copy. Cut off the sample at top right so your child [...]

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THINKING BEHAVIOURS
Underpinning all learning and thinking are your THINKING BEHAVIOURS – also known variously as Habits of Mind or HOM (Art Costa), learning behaviours, and thinking dispositions.
Do these (or the lack of them) sound familiar in your classroom or with your children?

showing persistence in pursuing ideas and solutions (I stick to it, [...]

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I’d like to share with you, some broad-based issues or themes which allow children to explore others’ viewpoints, their own interests, and do some real-life problem-solving. Each of these themes can be broken down into a myriad of sub-topics, which allows lots of healthy choice! As an example, the first topic FOOTPRINTS could be [...]

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Teaching Thinking Skills
by Jean Edwards , Nelson NZ
Want to get more serious about teaching and encouraging thinking skills?

This page is offered freely for reproduction – we simply ask that you please acknowledge the work that went into this by quoting the source: “How To Teach Thinking Skills” by Jean Edwards ; [...]

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ICQC means that you’re encouraging students to move logically and easily (and memorably) from lower to higher-level thinking. It’s easy for students and teachers to remember the 4 steps:
1. IMMERSE = similar to Renzulli’s Stage One Learning, where the students are exposed to artefacts, videos, visitor/speakers, book, pictures etc etc – all building [...]

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