Inservice approaches to curriculum development for teachers of gifted students should emphasize the approach. Teachers should understand thinking skills so that they can help pupils think efficiently and then express those thoughts. (CL)

Learning disabled students need systematic instruction in thinking skills. Both individual clinical studies and group programs have proven such training effective. Some important thinking strategies include goal clarification, previewing, organization, questioning, imagining, predicting, checking results, humor, and self-monitoring techniques. (DB)

Action Research begins by identifying goals as perceived in the community; input is sought in neighborhood hearings or by running a series in the local newspaper and inviting response. Once a research group is organized, Action Research continues as a five-stage flexible study plan for practitioner improvement involving turning goals into…

Computers should be used to educate students in thinking skills, not rote memorization. Provides examples of uses of computers and videos to promote thinking skills. (MD)

This paper describes how secondary teachers can use the Purdue Three-Stage Model as a framework for instruction that facilitates talent development in both heterogenous and homogenous classrooms. In the first two stages, students master the core content of a discipline and practice thinking creatively and critically about the content. In the third…

Instruction in thinking skills is possible and desirable, but educators must guard against assumptions that undermine the process. Eight fallacies that obstruct the teaching of critical thinking skills are presented. (MD)

This guide presents suggestions to committee chairpersons for making meetings more effective. The three broad sections of this guide address: (1) preparation of the agenda and physical arrangements for the meeting; (2) management of meetings to avoid negative outcomes; and (3) methods to overcome blocks in conflict resolution and decision making.…

This paper demonstrates a variety of activities designed to enrich the learning environment for all children through the use of divergent thinking activities. The first activity involves structural indexing, whereby students brainstorm words found in a reading selection and construct sentences using a bingo formation, with the concentration on…

E. Paul Torrance's Instructional Model uses an integrated approach to teach thinking skills and creative productivity along with subject content for gifted students. Thinking skill objectives include such skills as developing originality, keeping open, imagining the future, using movement, etc. Two sample lessons apply the model to creative…

This paper discusses a multicomponent approach to assessment of productive thinking with gifted students. It presents a model of productive thinking encompassing creative and critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making. Emphasis is on planning/profiling, instruction, evaluation, and documentation. Profiling, performance assessment,…

Louis Raths has pointed out the relationship between thinking capability and certain identifiable student behaviors. This article presents eight student behavior patterns that, according to Raths, show evidence of impaired thinking skills. Discusses activities that contribute to growth in thinking and identifies teacher behaviors that inhibit…

Normally achieving students (n=119) and students with mild handicaps (n=83) in grades 3-6 were instructed to create and answer computation items similar to samples given. Students with mild handicaps understood item characteristics enough to create like items, though averaging three years behind normal achievers. A sample instructional activity is…

This trainer's guide is designed to assist Head Start administrators in implementing the Bringing Out Head Start Talents (BOHST) project designed to identify and develop programs for potentially gifted/talented Head Start children. The trainer's guide is divided into three sections. Section 1, the Administrator's Guide, consists of the following…

Compiled to illustrate that teachers in New York state--in all curricular areas and at all grade levels--are working to improve students' ability to think logically and creatively, this document outlines programs on thinking skills across the curriculum, from kindergarten through grade 12. The document begins with a chart listing program titles,…

The Invent America program addresses the need to provide K-8 students with opportunities to learn critical and creative thinking skills through the process of inventing. Students apply problem-solving skills as they turn their own creative ideas into inventions. It is an effort to integrate the curriculum, help students synthesize knowledge, and…