Analytical Thinking for Advanced Learners, Grades 3–5

Book excerpt: Analytical Thinking for Advanced Learners, Grades 3–5 will teach students to think scientifically, systematically, and logically about questions and problems. Thinking analytically is a skill which helps students break down complex ideas into smaller parts in order to develop hypotheses and eventually reach a solution. Working through the lessons and handouts in this book, students will learn strategies and specific academic vocabulary in the sub-skills of noticing details, asking questions, classifying and organizing information, making hypotheses, conducting experiments, interpreting data, and drawing conclusions. The curriculum provides cohesive, scaffolded lessons to teach each targeted area of competency, followed by authentic application activities for students to then apply their newly developed skill set. This book can be used as a stand-alone gifted curriculum or as part of an integrated curriculum. Each lesson ties in both reading and metacognitive skills, making it easy for teachers to incorporate into a variety of contexts.