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: ● ● ● Three easy ways to order: Toll free: Fax: Online: 800.225.5750 888.440.BOOK (2665) www.epsbooks.com ● 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. t up tha that gro er of done. a memb has been nk of e up, thi first on h gro how the . For eac D. See below D C, and table s A, B, t the ter ou C Fill the let ions: with Direct starts B ry truck 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. bump 2 mat :: run talk rug 3 ate :: 3 2 zoo too 4 corn C O M PA R AT IVE ANALO GIE :: grain Foods Animals s Name or, is a col one, red ttern, mber pa In nu ue the tern. the contin rn in ke a pat er. To patte ow ma a numb to the m bel nine is e word proble or, and each Add on in col ck. a rds bla e is ______ after The wo er, blu mber ______ ions: a numb d a nu Direct ______ one is one ad ______ _ mber ______ ______ in nu ms. ______ ______ proble ______ ______ other _ ______ e, black, Places stamp :: Delive Bus ne Airpla ations Occup Answer Box damp Cab A p Grou to Ways Travel grand ___ ___ nin ______ ______ blue, ______ rt,____ ar, shi ______ er, pe ______ _____ , sweat ______ ______ t, apple rs, ___ ______ 2. coa rn, plie ______ , ax, ba ______ ______ use ___ ___ ho , ___ ______ mer, , pigeon ______ 3. ham ______ y, horse _____ ______ , blueja ______ in, lion , ______ ______ cer ___ 4. rob sk, sau ______ wl, de ______ st, le, bo gu tab , rly, Au 5. cup er, Ca Octob , on rch, Jas 6. Ma UNIT , one, 1. red 1 { D WOR NING MEA 15 mill S ■ 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