BOSTON– September 25, 2018– As the importance of teaching today’s students to become critical thinkers increases, the need for powerful and proven classroom strategies is more important than ever. To provide educators with those tools, national publisher of critical thinking–focused resources for K-12, Mentoring Minds, today announced the launch of ThinkUp!, a new product suite designed to expand students’ critical thinking skills and support educators as they develop a school culture of critical thinking.
“Developing critical thinking skills is essential for today’s students to be successful in college, careers and life,” said Shad Madsen, CEO of Mentoring Minds. “We are excited to bring these powerful resources to educators to help them imbue learning with engaging techniques that build critical thinking skills from the ground up.”
The new supplemental curriculum is comprised of ThinkUp! Foundations, which guides teachers and administrators on how to build a school-wide critical thinking culture, and Team ThinkUp!, an introduction to the 9 Traits of Critical Thinking – adapt, examine, create, communicate, collaborate, inquire, link, reflect and strive – through cross-curricular activities that incorporate grade-level appropriate math, science and English/language arts content. ThinkUp! offers a comprehensive and powerful set of tools for supporting student achievement and mastery while spurring development of critical thinking at the earliest stages of development and beyond.
Designed specifically for teachers and administrators, ThinkUp! Foundations addresses the need for a holistic approach to critical thinking, taking it beyond the classroom walls and to the entire school. Educators are given tips and tools for creating a culture of critical thinking that promotes student engagement, deeper understanding and insight for a lifetime of learning. Ideas for integrating critical thinking into the curriculum through specific strategies and activities while nurturing teacher development, student growth and family engagement, are key components of this dynamic new resource.
Available for grades K-6, Team ThinkUp! includes student activity books and teacher guides for enhanced learning. Nine units introduce the 9 Traits of Critical Thinking through full-color illustrations, high-interest texts and activities for English/language arts, math and science based on required content. The texts feature people, animals, events or literary characters to model each trait and every activity encourages student self-assessment of personal application across content areas. The activity books at the kindergarten level include interactive content for math and science and shared reading activities, using fairy tales, folktales or fables in poem form to enhance oral language development.
The teacher guides contain prompts designed to facilitate deeper discussion about critical thinking. It has suggested introductory activities to encourage teachers to build background knowledge along with cross-curricular application beyond the student activity books to support core curriculum. A concluding activity encourages student reflection for deeper thinking and additional resources offer guides for lesson planning and flexible delivery.
For more information about ThinkUp!, visit Mentoring Minds.
About Mentoring Minds, the Critical Thinking for Life company
Mentoring Minds is a national K-12 publisher with a mission to put critical thinking at the center of the classroom in order to support student achievement and empower educators to teach to higher standards. Mentoring Minds’ award-winning, research-based resources are designed to be flexible for classroom needs, supporting technology integration and standards mastery for Math, ELA, and Science. Mentoring Minds’ commitment to education extends beyond the classroom, as well; the company proudly sponsors groundbreaking administrators across the nation and supports community-based education initiatives through MindShare, an employee-driven grant program. For more information, call 800-585-5258 or visit mentoringminds.com.
