This engaging 320-page book develops the critical thinking skills necessary for success in reading, writing, math, science, social studies, and standardized tests in Grades 2-3. The Building Thinking Skills series is the bestselling thinking skills program in the world! The engaging, highly-effective activities are developmentally sequenced. Each skill (for example, classifying) is presented first in the semi-concrete, figural-spatial form and then in the abstract verbal form. Students also learn important academic vocabulary, concepts, and skills as they analyze relationships between objects, between words, and between objects and words by:
- Observing, recognizing, and describing characteristics
- Distinguishing similarities and differences
- Identifying and completing sequences, classifications, and analogies

These processes help students develop superior thinking and communication skills that lead to deeper content learning in all subjects. Activities are modeled to reinforce skills and concepts. An an

Figural-Spatial Skills
-Describing shapes
-Figures: compare / describe /copy / enlarge / divide
-Diagrams: overlapping classes / Venn / branching / cycle
-Mental pattern folding / symmetry
-Directionality / Position in space
-Mental rotation / reflection / tumbling / stacking / folding of 2-D objects
-Congruence / area / volume
-Analogies: size / color / orientation / detail
-Visual motor integration and memory
-Use of graphic organizers

Verbal Skills
-Spelling / Vocabulary / Writing: describing things and words
-Following and writing 1-, 2-, and 3-step directions
-Antonyms / synonyms
-Analogies: kind of / part of / used to / association / action
-Deductive / Inductive reasoning
-Parts of a whole
-Map reading
-Writing directions
-Logic: if-then / yes-no / true-false
-Orientation: person / place / time
-Auditory memory
-Language acquisition

Building Thinking Skills provides highly effective verbal and nonverbal reasoning activities to improve your children's vocabulary, reading, writing, math, logic, and figural-spatial skills, as well as their visual and auditory processing. This exceptional series provides a solid foundation for academic excellence and success in any assessment.

The activities are developmentally sequenced. Each skill (for example, classifying) is presented first in the semi-concrete figural-spatial form and then in the abstract verbal form.

Children learn to analyze relationships between objects, between words, and between objects and words as they:

• Observe, recognize, and describe characteristics.
• Distinguish similarities and differences.
• Identify and complete sequences, classifications, and analogies.

These processes help children develop superior thinking and communication skills that lead to deeper content learning in all subjects