Daily Mind Builders: Social Studies, Grade 5-12 / EA

This 136-page book is comprised of intriguing activity pages to wake up sleepy brains for the day's lessons. Each activity page takes about 5-15-minutes to solve and develops the most important reading comprehension skill found on all standardized reading tests. Synthesizing disparate information and using the result to produce a reasonable conclusion is an essential skill assessed on standardized reading tests. This comprehension skill usually determines a student's reading score—and every Daily Mind Builders: Social Studies activity develops this skill.

Each daily activity page includes two puzzles that are often solved in 5-15 minutes. The first puzzle is a short, true mystery. Its solution requires careful reading, inferential reasoning, and deductive thinking. The second puzzle involves deductive thinking, and is designed to build vocabulary and associative thinking skills. This puzzle uses a process of elimination involving the meanings of words or relationships between words. Try a sample and you'll be hooked!

The best use of these books is when presented as a non-threatening, non-graded, fun activity where students are praised for all logical answers even if they don't happen to be the correct answers. Remember, in critical thinking, the journey is as important as the destination, and all reasonable efforts at critical thinking should be commended.

These intriguing puzzles can also be used as a:
Motivational beginning activity as an addition to the curriculum.
Culminating activity after a lesson or at the end of the day.
Fill-in activity when there is an awkward time break during the school day.
Valid educational activity for students who finish assigned activities earlier than their classmates.