Thinking Power: Exercises for Vocabulary and Verbal Reasoning

Help students with special learning needs improve vocabulary and verbal reasoning skills as they examine topics relevant to their interests and life experiences. The stories and activities in this book provide opportunities for students to practice using vocabulary, verbal reasoning strategies, and critical thinking skills that are essential for success in the classroom curriculum. Exercises focus on vocabulary development, sequencing information, expressing opinions, making inferences, analyzing, and predicting.

The activities in this book are divided into two difficulty levels with five activity units in each level. Each level includes the following:

• Short Stories. Within each story situation, an unresolved problem is presented that relates to social interaction issues commonly encountered by students.
• Reproducible Worksheets. Three types of worksheets are included for each story.
• Thinking With Vocabulary. As students complete the worksheets, they define new words, create sentences, and use words in various ways.
• Reasoning Power. Students are asked to make inferences and to determine temporal sequences of the story events based on the information included in the passage.
• Thinking Power Challenge. Students analyze the situations presented in each story, predict what might happen, project possible consequences for the characters, and suggest what characters might say or do to solve problems.

Thinking Power provides flexible, motivating activities that can help students improve vocabulary and verbal reasoning skills within meaningful contexts. The activities strengthen language and thinking skills commonly emphasized within academic curriculum standards.