“There are often dangers from snow and wolves and night.” Bram Stoker’s “Dracula’s Guest,” which may or may not have been the first chapter of the original Dracula manuscript, is the focus of a Directed Reading Thinking Activity...

Reading out loud can be a real thrill for some, and a real issue for others. Teach your class that reading with inflection and fluency can be as easy as singing a song. They'll first analyze two Bobby McFerrin songs for intonation,...

The enigmatic expression of Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" prompts kids to imagine what this famous lady is thinking. First they fill in a thought bubble and then they explain why they believe these are her thoughts.

Direct readers' thinking with a DRTA activity that asks them to make predictions about The Book Thief based on an examination of the cover of Markus Zusak's novel and a reading of the prologue.

Are these the end times? Combine current events with religious prophecy in this activity, where scholars analyze a 2007 political cartoon in the context of current issues. Background information explains the Four Horsemen of the...

Read this interesting background information regarding the presidential election of 2008. Your class will read the provided passages and then answer four critical thinking questions that require them to consider the reading and what they...

Students examine the importance of tracking time. In this critical thinking lesson, students discuss how people and animals track time and consider the consequences if people did not have clocks or calendars.

Students explore Visual Thinking Strategy as a way to examine art and photography. They discuss the strategies, and analyze and discuss photographs using the Visual Thinking Strategies techniques.

Students complete an art creation where they are given a squiggle and have to design a picture around it. In this squiggle art lesson plan, students use flexible thinking, and draw 6 pictures around 6 different squiggles.

Here’s a reading strategy that can be used with any text. Class members examine portions of a novel, and make predictions about the theme or subject matter of the book. Although designed for Christopher Paul Curtis’s Newbery Medal...

Before reading Chapter Six, "The Platinum-Blond Man" in Matilda, readers preview the illustration of Mrs. Wormwood dropping her plate of food, and think about what may have happened to cause the scene. After reading the chapter, class...

To conclude a study of Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida, class members sharpen their critical thinking skills by engaging in a Socratic seminar discussion of Martinez's novel.

All models are better in three dimensions. A hands-on lesson asks learners to create 3-D models of a rock layer using a template. They arrange the puzzle piece sides together to create models that are scientifically correct. Once the...

With the speed and easy access of online communication today, young learners often do not consider the full implications of their speech. Remind them to THINK (is it true, helpful, inspiring, necessary, and kind) before using...

In this algebraic reasoning worksheet, students solve 4 multiple choice and true/false problems. Students determine which statements about equality are true. Students find the appropriate representation of a given symbol in terms of...

In this algebraic reasoning worksheet, students determine which of 4 given answers correctly replaces a questions mark shown at the end of a balance scale sequence.  An answer key is included.

For this algebraic reasoning for grade 5 worksheet, 5th graders answer 10 multiple choice questions, not interactively, about equations and operations, with answers available online.

In this creativity worksheet, students use imagination to think of different uses for each of 8 common objects. Students tell how they could use a bell, toaster, pencil, drum, clock, seashell, fan and strawberry. The worksheet does not...

Learners discover competition and trickery by participating in a class game. They participate in a role-playing game called "Survivor" in which students utilize critical thinking skills to identify who is the "Bad Guy." Students win the...

Good endings are hard to find. And write. This, the final activity in a six-part series devoted to study of the ingredients of a good story, focuses on crafting endings. Class members draft ideas about what should happen to each of their...

Quizzes can be a fun way to review math concepts while building proficiency. Kids answer sixteen different problems that cover algebraic reasoning, geometry, addition, multiplication, and word problems. This is a dynamic quiz that is...

Is there a way to connect creative thinking, logical reasoning, mathematical understanding, and humor? You bet there is! Kids begin by creating creative math quizzes, which require creative thinking to solve. For example, 1+1=24, one...

As scholars begin reading more difficult text, they need to acquire an arsenal of comprehension strategies. Here are few helpful ones to guide new readers through the informational text About Trees, which is linked here for...