2 A Path to Critical Thinking

2
A Path to Critical Thinking
By Vera Schneider
Recommended for grade 1
Critical thinking skills are essential to every aspect of learning. Studies show
that the earlier these skills are introduced, the greater a child’s chances for
academic success. A child who can think critically will be a better reader,
writer, test-taker, and learner—both inside and outside of the classroom.
Stepping Stones is one of few published programs designed to develop
critical thinking skills at the primary level. As children are learning to read,
Book 2 teaches them to reason verbally through sentence completions,
sequencing tasks, and logic exercises. Students create original solutions to
problems that they encounter every day in the classroom and at home.
How to Use the Following Pages:
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Online:
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Recommended Companion Material
Try these critical thinking exercises with your entire
classroom, a small group, or an individual student.
Ask your students to look carefully at and think about
the relationships between each picture. How are they
the same? How are they different?
Encourage your students to think of a logical item to
complete the pattern. If each child has their own
paper, ask them to draw their answers. Suggested
answers are given in the margin, but accept any
answer the child can justify or explain.
You may get many solutions to the same problem.
Share them by initiating a discussion, displaying the
completed pages, or sending them home with your
students.
See our Companion Material recommendations on page 6 for great materials
that complement Stepping Stones.
E D U C AT O R S P U B L I S H I N G S E R V I C E
Stepping Stones, A Path to Critical Thinking, Book 2. Copyright © 2002 by Educators Publishing Service. Permission is granted to reproduce this page.
www.epsbooks.com. Suggested answer: map.
Name
Date
Circle an answer or draw one of your own. Think about the
pictures and the words carefully before you choose your answer.
Sam realized that he was lost.
He knew that he needed to find a ____________________.
map
watch
TV
13
2
beach ball
Stepping Stones, A Path to Critical Thinking, Book 2. Copyright © 2002 by Educators Publishing Service. Permission is granted to reproduce this page.
www.epsbooks.com. Suggested answer: sad face, happy face, happy face.
Name
Date
Color the happy face if the last sentence is probably true.
Color the sad face if the last sentence is probably false.
1
Basketball players are very tall.
Anna is very tall.
Anna must be a basketball player.
All living things need water.
2
Plants are living.
Plants need water.
All frogs can hop.
3
Freddie is a frog.
Freddie can hop.
27
3
Stepping Stones, A Path to Critical Thinking, Book 2. Copyright © 2002 by Educators Publishing Service. Permission is granted to reproduce this page.
www.epsbooks.com. Suggested answer: sad face, sad face, sad face.
Name
Date
Color the happy face if the sentences make sense.
Color the sad face if something is wrong with the sentences.
1
Diego called a tow truck and then got a flat tire.
2
Peter was in a hurry. He ran upstairs and put on his shoes.
3
Dad put the lawn mower away and then mowed the lawn.
Then he looked for his socks.
49
4
Stepping Stones, A Path to Critical Thinking, Book 2. Copyright © 2002 by Educators Publishing Service. Permission is granted to reproduce this page.
www.epsbooks.com. Answers will vary.
Name
Date
E x p l a i n w h y o r h o w. Wr i t e o r d i c t a t e y o u r a n s w e r.
There are three tables.
Each table has six chairs.
Seven children want to have lunch together at the same table.
How can they solve this problem?
81
5
Recommended Companion Material
EPS offers a wide range of products and programs that complement the critical thinking activities in Stepping Stones. We recommend the
following series to help young readers develop critical thinking, reasoning, and comprehension skills.
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Play
Word
Primary Analogies: Critical and Creative
Thinking
Find an item
in the Answer
Box to
together in the
same way. Circle put in the empty box so both
pairs go
the item in the
box.
Recommended for grades K–3
1
This systematic program teaches analogous
thinking on many levels. Students complete picture
and word analogies in five major categories:
descriptive, comparative, categorical, serial, and
causal. These thinking, reasoning, and analogy
skills help improve students’ reading, writing,
and test scores.
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2
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4
corn
C O M PA R AT
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or,
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tern.
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contin
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er. To
patte
ow ma
a numb
to the
m bel
nine is
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proble
or, and
each
Add on
in
col
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a
rds
bla
e is
______
after
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mber
______
ions:
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______
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one ad
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______
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ms.
______
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proble
______
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other
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______
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Places
stamp
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Bus
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Airpla
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Ways
Travel
grand
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______
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blue,
______
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______
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______
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t, apple
rs, ___
______
2. coa
rn, plie
______
, ax, ba
______
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use
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ho
, ___
______
mer,
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______
3. ham
______
y, horse
_____
______
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______
in, lion
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UNIT
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WOR
NING
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15
mill
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■
LEVEL 2
19
•
•
•
Rhyming Word
Pictures
R
H
Y
M
I
N
G
DIRECT
IONS:
1. Name
the pic
ture car
2. Sort
ds.
by ma
tching
rhyming
pairs.
W
O
R
D
O NU
S
B
P
I
C
T
U
R
E
S
Use both words from the rhyming
pair in a sentence.
Example:
After school we’ll swim in the pool.
•
•
•
Answers on page
278.
25
Search and Sort
Reasoning and Reading
Recommended for grades K–4
Recommended for grades 3–8
Word sorting is an excellent way for children to
learn the patterns of language. Search and Sort
contains over 200 pre-designed, reproducible
word and picture sorts that can be incorporated
into any curriculum. These hands-on activities build
students’ decoding, spelling, and critical thinking
skills while encouraging cooperative and interactive learning.
This series provides excellent follow-up programs
once students have mastered basic critical thinking
skills. Reasoning and Reading integrates reasoning, language, and reading comprehension to
foster more advanced thinking skills.
For more information about these series or to place an order, visit www.epsbooks.com
or call 800.225.5750 to speak to a customer service representative.
E D U C AT O R S P U B L I S H I N G S E R V I C E