Customer Reviews

Critical Thinking Activities in Patterns, Imagery & Logic / Grades 4-6 (Blackline Masters)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

...but they work just fine!

This is a book of blackline masters designed for grades 4-6. There are three sections in the book: patterns, imagery and logic. Each section has three different levels of activities, ranked from one star to three star.

The patterns section has design patterns, number patterns, calendar patterns, letter patterns, number chains and more. The imagery section has cube patterns, stare and compare, puzzle shapes, order by design and more. The logic section has all different kinds of logic problems using numbers, stories, attributes and more.

The book is designed to be photocopied for use as handouts or overheads so there is no color inside. There are 177 pages including answers in the back. It would be a good book for a critical thinking homeschool class or to use to work at home with a child after school.

I used this book when I was teaching fourth grade. I made packets that mixed the types of problems and kids had them to work on individually or in small groups if they finished their class work, or indoor recess, etc. They really enjoyed them, especially when they worked through them together. I liked to walk around and listen to them talk about their thinking, gaining insight into their learning process. We regularly did some of them as a class in order to model the different thinking skills used to attack the problems, and talk out different ways that students came up with answers. These skills are often neglected in school curriculum, and students really need instruction and practice in critical thinking (one of the 21st Century Skills).

I used these books, that is the K-3 and 4-6 versions, as a kid. These are about the only books I found mentally stimulating and I still look at them when I am at home (I'm 25 now). They emphasize how to THINK about math and problem solving instead of repetition, as in normal textbooks, which I found as a student to be useless and, now as a taxpayer, a complete waste of money.

For full disclosure, I know one of the authors personally, as he is my childhood mentor and good friend. However, that should reinforce my positive review since I am doing my PhD in the sciences at the University of Chicago and these books were certainly part of the education that got me where I am today.