Thinking Skills

By Patricia DwyerDealing with behaviour problems, students with difficulties, developing policies, promoting positive strategies, resolving disputes – are core concerns for teachers, principals, management, parents and policy makers. Indeed there are few more challenging issues in education today. The work of Patricia Dwyer at the Centre for Education Services addresses all of these concerns in a most effective, resourceful and practical manner. This guide weaves together the key elements...

Creative and critical thinking by Bess Wellner and Jan Yoder Activities for Developing Thinking Skills provides instruction and suggestions for the explicit teaching of thinking skills to all students. It provides a balanced approach to creative and critical thinking, developing both divergent and convergent thinking skills as part of the thinking process. The book is divided into two halves each having four sections as follows: SECTION 1: PRODUCTIVE THINKING Fluency Flexibility Elaboration...

Activities to engage with young people to improve attendance, time management, study skills, positive thinking, conflict resolution and anger management By Stephanie George. Engaging with young people as a mentor can be difficult but Stephanie George draws on years of experience to provide tried-and-tested activities that will help. The activities provide specific structured tasks that can be used during mentoring meetings and to support mentoring intervention. The activities will build rapport,...

A practical guide to goal setting and positive thinkingBy Michael GiffordAll That I Can Be! provide a practical guide for students who need help to focus on their end-of-school and life goals; whether these are related to further study or employment. The author has gathered together a range of brilliant ideas and motivational stories into two easy-to-use photocopiable books.Book A contains eight sections: attitude and state – be in zone!; motivate me – please!; principle-centred living – a...

A practical guide to goal setting and positive thinkingBy Michael GiffordAll That I Can Be! provide a practical guide for students who need help to focus on their end-of-school and life goals; whether these are related to further study or employment. The author has gathered together a range of brilliant ideas and motivational stories into two easy-to-use photocopiable books.Book A contains eight sections: attitude and state – be in zone!; motivate me – please!; principle-centred living – a...

by Elizabeth SimonIn this book you will find that critical thinking is not simply a question of children 'doing something harder', but a way of thinking that is distinct and discerning. You will be able to use the suggested activities and tasks to teach children the essential skills of working in collaborative groups and asking questions that position them in relation to the information they receive and communicate. This stimulating environment sparks children’s desire to share their ideas and...

A How-to Guide for Successful Behaviour by Mark Le Messurier This book is for educators, counsellors and health professionals. It is for those who wish to explore the notion that children always do better when they are encouraged to stretch their self-awareness and independence. Using cognitive behavioural training (CBT), students are explicitly taught to acquire new skills and solve problems with organisation, planning, remembering, perseverance, motivation, confidence and more. With...

A workbook for professional learning teams by Clinton Golding Creating a culture of thinking is about more than just using a thinking tool or a graphic organiser with your class. To support students in learning to think, teachers must understand the theory of thinking themselves and be able to model it for their class. Trying to create a thinking class when you haven’t trained your own thinking is like trying to teach someone to play guitar when you haven’t learned yourself! Developing a...

A handbook for educators by Michael Pohl How can we make a thinking curriculum part of the culture of every classroom? With a greater understanding of brain function and the reality of an ever-changing world, teachers are looking towards a thinking-focused curriculum. Infusing thinking into content delivery, the use of the language of thinking and the explicit teaching of thinking are helping to make a thinking curriculum a constant feature of classroom practice. Developing a Thinking...

How Neuroscience Supports the Learner-Friendly Classroom By David A. Sousa and Carol Ann Tomlinson Students are becoming more academically and culturally diverse, making it more important than ever to shift away from a one-size-fits-all approach to teaching and learning. The second edition of this best-selling book will help you create truly effective, brain-friendly classrooms for all learners. The authors share an array of updated differentiated instruction examples, scenarios, and exercises,...

Author: Michael PohlThis book seeks to clarify how teachers may create a positive learning environment for all by providing appropriate levels of challenge for all students and allowing various ways for students to demonstrate understanding. Terminology such as differentiation, inclusive practices, complex thinking tasks and classroom culture of thinking are discussed and clarified. A learning environment is described that provides for challenge; allows for differences; and is inclusive of the...

- Consolidating Values Through Everyday Communication -by Peter Clutterbuck The three books in the Everyday English series bring new teaching activities, relevant to the English curriculum and easy to implement in class work. Structured in two forms of approach to communication - one social/cognitive and the other practical - the books cover three ascendant levels of skills and values, from the lower to the senior Primary. As the series advances, the stories gain more detail, their meanings...

by Peter Clutterbuck Fair Play! Classroom Games is an essential two book resource series for classroom teachers and teacher aides. The games have been designed for use with pairs, small groups or teams of students. Alternatively they can be used by a classroom support person who is working on developing social interaction skills with individual students. Other skills targeted cover listening, following instructions and team work. Each game acts as a reinforcement for a number of basic literacy,...

by Peter Clutterbuck Fair Play! Classroom Games is an essential two book resource series for classroom teachers and teacher aides. The games have been designed for use with pairs, small groups or teams of students. Alternatively they can be used by a classroom support person who is working on developing social interaction skills with individual students. Other skills targeted cover listening, following instructions and team work. Each game acts as a reinforcement for a number of basic literacy,...

Activities that Help to Develop Empathy By Naomi Roche This photocopiable resource supports students to understand complex situations through other people’s eyes. Having good relationships and empathy with others are founded on this important skill. This book encourages students to think about events from other perspectives, look at people’s motivations and consider the consequences of actions. The book is focused around five themes. Each theme contains a story told from three points of view....

a practical approach for classroom teachers By Adrian Rennie The 16 Habits of Mind, devised by Art Costa and Bena Kallick, encompass the thinking processes that underpin the kind of successful problem solving that leads to improved learning outcomes. This resource details how the Habits of Mind can be applied to a school and classroom setting. Sections include:What are HOM? How the HOM can improve student performance Which HOM will suit the students in my classroom? What do HOM look like in the...

Author: Ralph PirozzoEnhancing student thinking does not have to be difficult. Improving Thinking in the Classroom (2nd Edition) provides teachers with useful and practical strategies that will enable them to offer the most engaging, exciting and challenging learning environment for all students.Features:Combines the strengths of both Bloom’s Taxonomy and Multiple Intelligence Theory to create twice as many activities that will engage students as they learnProvides a matrix for teachers to...

A Thinking Approach to Teaching Literature by Tina McDougall In Full Bloom gives teachers the tools to help students become thoughtful, strategic and independent readers. It outlines a literacy program based on Benjamin Bloom’s six levels of cognitive thinking, and contains interactive literacy tasks to capture students’ interest and develop in them a lifelong love of reading. Designed to engage even the reluctant or disinterested reader, this flexible resource explores story structure through...

Author: Anne VizeIncluding All Children introduces teachers and educators to the strategies, practices and approaches that support the inclusion of all children with diverse needs in educational settings. It is strongly evidence-based and focused on encouraging the development of strategies that have a sound basis in research and are effective in a diverse range of teaching and learning situations.The book is ideal as a training tool to support the consideration of issues and challenges such as...

Help students build resiliency and self-esteem by finding their inner strengthsBy Nikki GiantUse these Inner Strength Cards in discussions and other activities to help young people to adopt a more positive, healthy mindset, strengthen their inner sense of self and become more emotionally intelligent.The Inner Strength Cards can support the process of positive thinking and help young people to: Cope with stressful events Manage disappointments and setbacks Build healthy, long-lasting...