K-2 Nurturing Program

In Kindergarten through 2nd grade, the AIG program is designed to explore ability and nurture talent among all students. The AIG teacher works with EVERY student in grades K-2. I push in to each classroom to provide whole group lessons that encourage critical, creative, and higher order thinking skills.

The scope and sequence of the K-2 program is grounded in Primary Education Thinking Skills (P.E.T.S.).Primary Education Thinking Skills (PETS) is a systematic enrichment thinking skills program for K-3 students. Its purpose is to help primary aged students develop higher level thinking skills. PETS follows the taxonomy of thinking skills outlined by Benjamin Bloom, presenting lessons in analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Students are introduced to Dudley the Detective - Deductive Logic, Yolanda the Yarnspinner - Creative Thinking, Isabel the Inventor - Inventive Thinking, Max the Magician - Mental Manipulation of Shapes, Sybil the Scientist - Analytic Thinking, and Jordan the Judge - Evaluative Thinking. Each character introduces a higher level thinking skill used in his or her job. Each character guides students through a story and a series of activities to introduce and reinforce their type of thinking. Imaginative memory triggers are included with each introductory lesson.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the beginning of the year, students meet “Isabel the Inventor.” Isabel is the second out of six characters that students will “meet” throughout the year as we explore a variety of higher order thinking skills. Isabel’s specialty is divergent, or inventive, thinking. Characteristics of divergent thinking include the ability to brainstorm many ideas and solutions, generate original ideas, exhibit flexible thinking, problem solve, and elaborate.

In K-2, divergent thinking is explored and nurtured through hands-on activities. Students learn that in divergent thinking, we can:

• brainstorm many correct responses

• make ordinary things extraordinary

• see one thing in many ways

• Solve problems/invent solutions

Students who excel at divergent thinking tend to:

• brainstorm many ideas (fluency)

• see different perspectives (flexibility)

• develop an idea by adding details (elaboration)

• generate unique ideas and/or “think outside the box” (originality)

• use advanced vocabulary precisely

• display an unusual or mature sense of humor

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later on, students are introduced to meet Dudley the Detective. Dudley is the first of six characters students will “meet” throughout the year as we explore a variety of higher order thinking skills. Dudley specializes in convergent thinking/deductive reasoning and teaches us to use clues to find one and only one correct answer. Characteristics of convergent thinking, or “detective work,” as we call it, include the ability to grasp concepts quickly, reason logically, recognize flawed reasoning, see the interrelationship of clues, defer judgment, and intuitively identify answers without intermediate steps. During the unit, students will work with Dudley the Detective to evaluate visual and verbal clues and solve various “mystery” situations. Using hands-on activities and concrete thinking maps, students will tackle cases such as, “Mary’s Missing Dog” and “Max’s Magic Number.” Other hands-on activities, which require deductive thinking and logical reasoning, include Logic Links, attribute stacks, “Problem Solvers,” logic line-ups. Be sure to ask your child about the mysteries he/she is solving in class!

To learn more, be sure to ask your child about the projects he/she is doing in class. As always, you are also welcome to contact me. I would be happy to supply a more detailed description of the activities described above or answer any other questions you may have. E-mail is the best way to reach me.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Students Then meet Sybil the Scientist. Sybil’s special thinking skill is analytical reasoning. With Sybil, students learn how to:

· Make careful observations (study the parts of things)

· Analyze attributes

· Organize and/or sort information in meaningful ways

· Create categories and/or label groups

As always, classroom activities are hands-on, providing students the opportunity to explore, manipulate, experiment, and discover. Some of the projects your child will be working on will include solving figural analogies, sorting and classifying objects, and analyzing and applying patterns.