Kick Off Critical Thinking

It's about time, teachers to kick off your students' critical thinking!

Critical thinking skills are a crucial part of any child's education.  To get your students off on the right foot, try these HINK PINKS & HINKY PINKIES - Foot Edition.

If you have never tried HINK PINKS, et al., you are in for a real treat. These riddles are wonderful for developing vocabulary, synonyms, grammar, and rimes; all worthwhile pursuits. But, even better, HINK PINKS, et al. require your students to analyze data, evaluate their conclusions, and create rhyming word pairs as answers. (Bloom would be so proud!) The very best part, however, is that your kiddos will love them. My students literally beg for more HINK PINKS. I love watching the gears move in their brains. You will, too.

Never give up.  Great things take time.

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A Presidents' Day Treat

For today's February Freebie, I am offering my newest product, Destination: Imagination via Creative Thinking Vol. 2.

These 18 activities allow students to share projects and ideas with a purpose. They are a wonderful home-school connection that directs eager parents to work with their children in a constructive manner. An eclectic collection of activities developed for use in gifted and talented classrooms, the goal is to promote the 4 traits of gifted children: fluency, flexibility, elaboration and originality. But really, what child wouldn't benefit from working on those aspects? I have found the project works very well with heterogeneous groups and have successfully used it with 1st - 5th graders.

The activities are structured to be used in 1 week intervals: assignment sheets go home with a due date; products are shared one week later. Included are copy ready assignment sheets, notes to the teacher, and participation certificates. Some are designed to be used seasonally; others are appropriate to any time of the year.

If you haven't tried Destination: Imagination via Creative Thinking Vol. 1, be sure to take a look.  These activities are extremely popular with parents and, of course, children.  Try them, I think you'll like them.

The ABCs of Architecture

It's about time, teachers, for the ABCs of Architecture.   As an enrichment specialist for my district, I work with students in 2nd - 5th grades. The focus is not limited to academics. My fourth graders endowed with artistic talent embarked on an architectural adventure that resulted in a published book. It was an awesome experience for all involved.

Two local groups, the Preservation and Conservation Association (PACA) and the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC), asked me to conduct a project in which elementary students would learn about local, historic buildings.  In the process, they hoped to impress upon the students the value of preservation. They offered to subsidize a field trip for my 4th graders, complete with chaperons from their groups! How could I possibly say, "No?" 

My students began with a study of basic architectural elements, such as lines, shapes, textures, and form. Inspired by Diane Maddex's book, Architects Make Zigzags, Looking at Architecture from A to Z,  we made it our goal to produce an alphabet book about architecture found on historic buildings in our hometown.  

The next step entailed finding an architectural term or terms for each letter of the alphabet.  What followed was a flurry of old fashioned research as my charges constructed an impressive list.  We only had to stretch to find a term for X, settling on railroad crossing.  You may have just done an eye roll, but I was quite proud of my students' reasoning. They learned that our community grew around a railroad crossing for the Illinois Central railroad.

Armed with their alphabetical lists and sketchpads, we embarked on a bus and walking tour of the downtown region.  Can there be anything sweeter to a teacher's ears than the zealous exclamations of 9 & 10 year olds as they recognize a cupola, gargoyle, or keystone?  While our hosts gave us facts and fascinating stories about the buildings on our tour, my students sketched.

Back at school, the 4th grade crew drew pen and ink illustrations of the elements they sketched.  They composed the text explaining their terms and identifying the buildings upon which they were found.  PACA and HPC provided enough funds to allow us to professionally bind several copies of our books.  Those copies can now be found at the city library, our school library, in the offices of PACA and HPC, and in the city building. Each student received a copy fresh off the school's copy machine.  

Following are some excerpts from our book:

And finally, here are some of the comments my students had at the end of this project:

In my opinion, this project was the embodiment of enrichment.  

Until next time...

If you love enrichment, you may be interested in these units:

Valentine's Day Hink Pink FREEBIE

Ever since I attended my 1st state conference for Gifted and Talented Education early in my career, I have seen, heard and read about Hink Pinks.  These vocabulary building, problem solving, critical thinking riddles are staples in GATE.  Perhaps my connection with Hink Pinks, et al, is best explained by the fact that my students absolutely love them!  They loved them when I was in the classroom and when I became an enrichment resource teacher, my pull-out students literally begged for more of them.

If you are new to the land of Hink Pinks, here's how they work:

• Hink Pinks are riddles wherein the clues lead you to a 2 word answer.  Each answer word must have just 1 syllable and the 2 answer words must rhyme.
• Hinky Pinkies are riddles seeking answers with 2 syllables in each word.  The 2 words must rhyme.
• Hinkity Pinkities are rhyming answer word pairs with 3 syllables each.

Some teachers like to distribute Hink Pink clues on a work sheet, but I continually strive to eliminate worksheets from my teaching. About 20 years ago, I started putting the clues on 1/4 sheet cards. By doing so, I was able to create a resource that was ready to use year after year, saving me bunches of time and conserving paper big time!  

Armed with my Hink Pink, et al cards, I was able to use them as an anchor activity when students were arriving each morning. They also work well as a sponge activity and are great at a literacy center.  Now, working as a pull-out enrichment specialist, I use these cards as a warm-up activity. Without a doubt, G/T students are enthralled with these riddles.  But, I also found that "average" students were intrigued and set their caps to solve them. 

It's about time, teachers, to offer you my FREE set of Valentine's Day Hink Pinks, Hinky Pinkies, and Hinkity Pinkities.  Here's a preview:

The answer to this Hink Pink is smart heart.

The answer to this Hinky Pinky is sandy candy.  

The answer to the Hinkity Pinkity below is valentine turpentine.

There are 24 cards in this FREE set.  Naturally, there is an answer key.  Did I mention that it is FREE?  You can retrieve your copy here.

I hope you enjoy Hink Pinks, et al as much as my students and I do.

If you like this product, you may like these, as well:

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Hink Pinks for Kinders

My followers surely know by now that I'm "the Hink Pink guru," having dozens of units of Hink Pinks, Hinky Pinkies, and Hinkity Pinkities in my teaching repository. I've even invented Hitinkity Pitinkities at the urging of my enrichment students. 

Recently, a lovely kindergarten teacher friend asked if I had resources for pre-readers. Indeed, I did not.   But, I have been inspired by her question. Thus, I take pleasure in . . .

Examine the picture while searching for a 2 word phrase that describes it.  The 2 words must rhyme and they can only have 1 syllable each.  Did you get it?  The answer is PINK DRINK.

Try these:

Obviously, 2 beach balls are pictured.  Note the green arrow.  It points to the smaller of the 2 balls.  Hence, the answer to this one is SMALL BALL.

It should be getting easier now.  After all, experience is the best teacher.  The answer to this one is BLUE SHOE.

Working with Hink Pinks has myriad benefits for students.  They offer fun word play and learning is always best when it's fun.  Hink Pinks challenge children to think critically and creatively.  They increase vocabulary and hone rhymes.  Although they may not know what a synonym is, your kiddos will quickly learn to think of words that mean the same thing.  And, Hink Pinks are even aligned with the CCSS.

I invite you to download my Freebie Hink Pinks for Kinders.   Introduce them to your students by solving ALL of them together, modeling your thinking as you do so. Hink Pinks can be tricky at first.  That's why it is key to work through several together.  Once your students get the hang of it, they will be hooked.  Then you can post a Hink Pink card at a center or use it for fast finishers.  Grab a card for a sponge activity or choose one each morning for an anchor activity.

Once your students are hooked, you may want to try these Hink Pink units for Kinders:

 

HP for Kinders I                             HP for Kinders II

G/T and Enrichment Differentiation

Do you find it taxing, daunting even, to provide challenges for your gifted and talented students?  Is differentiation difficult?  Do enrichment opportunities elude you?

If you answered "Yes" to any of these questions, then I have many gifts for you.

Because I am passionate about G/T, differentiation, and enrichment, I've been creating materials for these areas for more decades then I care to admit.  My experience with G/T and enrichment students ranges from teaching multi-age gifted students in a private school -- to creating district-wide programs for pull-out enrichment -- to providing differentiated instruction in my heterogeneous classroom -- to instructing university students in graduate level gifted education courses.

Among the materials I create are language arts curricula combined with critical thinking and problem solving.  One of the most popular categories is Hink Pinks, Hinky Pinkies, Hinkity Pinkities, and Hitinkity Pitinkities.  Kiddos love them because they are learning disguised as fun. Teachers can't get enough of them because they really make students think.

You can unwrap a FREE gift of these ridiculously fun and addictive word riddles by clicking here.  Currently, there are 3 more FREE Hink Pink, et al. products that you can grab by going here.  Try them; I think you'll like them.