This innovative text teaches elementary school students the techniques of critical thinking and problem solving and applies those methods to mathematical word problems. It supplements traditional fourth, fifth, and sixth grade textbooks and increases students' thinking and problem solving abilities. Students are taught the fundamentals of these processes by applying them both to simple and multi-step problems which are provided. These problems -- many written by elementary school pupils --gradually increase in difficulty, making learning both fun and stimulating. Special attention is given to typical errors and sources of conceptual difficulty.

The fundamental premise of "Thinkback"--based on overwhelming scientific evidence--is that intelligence is not fixed at birth and that, with consistent effort, we can dramatically improve our capacities. It counters the claims of some psychologists that it is impossible to increase intelligence because that ability is determined at birth.
"Thinkback" builds on the Think Aloud strategies in Arthur Whimbey and Jack Lochhead's popular and widely used volume, "Problem Solving & Comprehension," now in its sixth edition. Since its publication, thousands of students have used these techniques for improving thinking and analytic reasoning to increase test scores, win National Merit
Scholarships, and gain admission to top-ranked professional schools. Now, "Thinkback" shows how these powerful strategies can be applied to a range of important academic areas including mathematics, language arts, social studies, and science.
Thinkback is a tool for student empowerment--a strategy they can use to improve both their ability to think and their ability to learn. The Thinkback classroom, on the other hand, is a design for teacher liberation--enabling them to see learning more clearly than they ever could before.
This is the only book currently available that contains detailed models of metacognitive dialogues in the classroom. These dialogues enable teachers and teacher educators to observe thinking processes that have previously been invisible and undetectable. Based on over 20 years of careful cognitive research, the dialogues provide teachers with important insights into the nature of thinking and problem solving. Thinkback is a picture window on the working mind.
This book:
*Describes the Thinkback strategy for making thinking strategies explicit, easy to teach, and easy to learn.
*Includes numerous detailed examples that demonstrate the Thinkback technique. Six quite different learning strategies--derived from the work of David Perkins, Barry Beyer, Arthur Whimbey, Joseph Novak, John R. Hayes, and Lev Landa--are presented to illustrate the range of contexts in which Thinkback can be used.
*Spans the wide gap between unstructured constructivist-style instruction and lock-step memorization drills. The Thinkback technique can convert a teacher-centered rote memory lesson into an intellectually challenging student-centered exploration, while at the same time maintaining specific content mastery objectives. Or it can be used to add subtle structure to an open-ended creative exercise, allowing students of all levels to benefit and insuring that no one is left floundering.

"Thinkback" is an important new resource for teachers and students in high schools, community colleges, and introductory college programs; industrial trainers; home schoolers; parents; and anyone else who would like to see learners become more intelligent and are willing to work to see that they do.

This innovative text teaches elementary school students the techniques of critical thinking and problem solving and applies those methods to mathematical word problems. It supplements traditional fourth, fifth, and sixth grade textbooks and increases students' thinking and problem solving abilities. Students are taught the fundamentals of these processes by applying them both to simple and multi-step problems which are provided. These problems -- many written by elementary school pupils --gradually increase in difficulty, making learning both fun and stimulating. Special attention is given to typical errors and sources of conceptual difficulty.

The fundamental premise of Thinkback--based on overwhelming scientific evidence--is that intelligence is not fixed at birth and that, with consistent effort, we can dramatically improve our capacities. It counters the claims of some psychologists that it is impossible to increase intelligence because that ability is determined at birth. Thinkback builds on the Think Aloud strategies in Arthur Whimbey and Jack Lochhead's popular and widely used volume, Problem Solving & Comprehension, now in its sixth edition. Since its publication, thousands of students have used these techniques for improving thinking and analytic reasoning to increase test scores, win National Merit Scholarships, and gain admission to top-ranked professional schools. Now, Thinkback shows how these powerful strategies can be applied to a range of important academic areas including mathematics, language arts, social studies, and science. Thinkback is a tool for student empowerment--a strategy they can use to improve both their ability to think and their ability to learn. The Thinkback classroom, on the other hand, is a design for teacher liberation--enabling them to see learning more clearly than they ever could before. This is the only book currently available that contains detailed models of metacognitive dialogues in the classroom. These dialogues enable teachers and teacher educators to observe thinking processes that have previously been invisible and undetectable. Based on over 20 years of careful cognitive research, the dialogues provide teachers with important insights into the nature of thinking and problem solving. Thinkback is a picture window on the working mind. This book: Describes the Thinkback strategy for making thinking strategies explicit, easy to teach, and easy to learn. Includes numerous detailed examples that demonstrate the Thinkback technique. Six quite different learning strategies--deri

This popular book shows students how to increase their power to analyze problems and comprehend what they read using the Think Aloud Pair Problem Solving TAPPS] method. First it outlines and illustrates the method that good problem solvers use in attacking complex ideas. Then it provides practice in applying this method to a variety of comprehension and reasoning questions, presented in easy-to-follow steps. As students work through the book they will see a steady improvement in their analytical thinking skills and become smarter, more effective, and more confident problem solvers. Not only can using the TAPPS method assist students in achieving higher scores on tests commonly used for college and job selection, it teaches that problem solving can be fun and social, and that intelligence can be taught.

Changes in the Seventh Edition: New chapter on "open-ended" problem solving that includes inductive and deductive reasoning; extended recommendations to teachers, parents, and tutors about how to use TAPPS instructionally; Companion Website with PowerPoint slides, reading lists with links, and additional problems.

This popular book shows students how to increase their power to analyze problems and comprehend what they read using the Think Aloud Pair Problem Solving [TAPPS] method. First it outlines and illustrates the method that good problem solvers use in attacking complex ideas. Then it provides practice in applying this method to a variety of comprehension and reasoning questions, presented in easy-to-follow steps. As students work through the book they will see a steady improvement in their analytical thinking skills and become smarter, more effective, and more confident problem solvers. Not only can using the TAPPS method assist students in achieving higher scores on tests commonly used for college and job selection, it teaches that problem solving can be fun and social, and that intelligence can be taught. Changes in the Seventh Edition: New chapter on "open-ended" problem solving that includes inductive and deductive reasoning; extended recommendations to teachers, parents, and tutors about how to use TAPPS instructionally; Companion Website with PowerPoint slides, reading lists with links, and additional problems.