The Thinking Alphabet

Book excerpt: The Thinking Alphabet is an alphabet book written in a humorous style. It can be used in grades one, two, three and four. It contains strategies and techniques for teachers to use in all of the curriculum areas. The lessons are geared to improve academic performance by strengthening a child’s thinking skills. The book tries to make learning challenging and exciting in the “Content Areas”. The strategies and techniques found in the book help children to logically analyze various comprehension skills. Ultimately, the children make meaningful judgments based on critical thinking skills. My book tries to imbue in children a love for reading. In the book, I incorporated reading for meaning with the teaching of phonics ad word attach skills. There are thirty-one stories. Each story emphasizes one of the following seven comprehension skills: 1. Critical Thinking Suptopics: a. Is the story real or make-believe b. Is the story fact or opinion? c. Another critical thinking skill that is taught is the Teacher of Persuation. 2. How to draw inferences. 3. How to find the main idea. 4. How to determine sequence of time. 5. How lo locate as answer 6. How to find and relate details. 7. How to predict outcomes. The book contains two sections. One is the Children’s Book; it has a Children’s Table of Contents and the other a Teacher’s Table of Contents which gives a synopsis of each lesson and a Teacher’s Manual for each of the children’s thirty-one stories. The Teacher’s Manual is a “walk through” for each lesson for the inexperienced as well as experienced teacher. Although the lessons are structured, the teacher is encouraged to use her and/or the children’s creativity and input. The lessons within the book can be tailored to be simple or more complex. The teacher may use her own judgment, considering the grade level of her children and/or her experience. The book contains the following curriculum areas: Reading, Listening, Speaking-Conversational Skills, Critical Thinking Skills, Spelling-Writing Skills – Creative Expression, Arithmetic, Science, Music-Singing, Art, Physical Fitness, Proper Social Behavior and Conflict Resolution. In every lesson there is an enrichment activity. The teacher is encouraged to give meaningful homework assignments that are listed in every lesson. The child’s parents are given support to assist with this type of family homework. The lessons are Cross Referenced. This will help teachers as an instructional guide. The book was field tested in seven different schools within District 8. It was received with great enthusiasm. It was acclaimed by the Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent and other personnel within District 8, Bronx, N.Y.