In 1960, Jerome Bruner advanced the theory of The Spiral Curriculum. His hypothesis was that "any subject can be taught in some intellectually honest form to any child at any stage of development*." The key tenets of his theory are:
1. "The student revisits a topic, theme, or subject several times throughout their school career;
2. The complexity of the topic or theme increases with each revisit;
3. New learning has a relationship with old learning and is put in context with the old information."*
*https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED538282
In this modern era of instant information, with or without citation, I firmly believe our learners must become critical thinkers. So, in accord with Bruner's theory, I have created bundles of products that provide ample material for spiraled learning of higher order thinking skills. Even kindergarteners can exercise these skills.
A perennial favorite with my students is HINK PINKS, et al. These word riddles help children learn to problem solve, analyze, and create while exercising vocabulary skills (definitions, synonyms, parts of speech, rimes, syllables, ...).
SQUARE PUZZLERS are wildly popular in my classes. Like Scrambled Squares(TM), these differentiated, logic puzzles must be reconstructed so the images match on every interior side. They exercise critical thinking and problem solving, build perseverance and stamina, and stimulate the brain while disguising it all as fun!
TRIADS are fun-filled vocabulary developers that engage pupils' critical thinking while exercising the higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy - analysis, evaluation, and creation. At the same time, your students will be forming word relationships.
ONE DOLLAR WORDS provide a lot of bang for the buck! Learners work on vocabulary development, computation/calculator skills, traditional and/or internet research, and grammar, while exercising critical thinking. Moreover, these products provide a wonderful extension to Rob Buyea's book series about Mr. Terupt.
With STORY SLEUTHS, students will enjoy great literature, learn about artistic media, and participate in collaborative thinking. The IDIOMS bundle provides frequent and enduring practice with vocabulary, figurative language, and critical thinking. The bundle of PUN TASK CARDS will provide lots of humor as your pupils learn about these literary devices.
I've spent the time creating these products to provide frequent and enduring practice with critical thinking for my learners. Save your precious time by sharing them with your students. As always, bundles from my store save you 30%.
