Thinking adventures for the adolescent language curriculum

Ages 12 through 18. The short stories and worksheet activities in this book offer meaningful contexts for teaching vocabulary and developing thinking skills. Your student will enjoy learning about historical events, languages, people and their customs, interpersonal communication, and other subjects. The reproducible lessons challenge students to think as they give synonyms and antonyms, describe semantic relationships, interpret the meaning of sentences, rephrase statements, incorporate new words into original stories, etc. Both oral and written language activities are included.

Each lesson is presented on a worksheet that may be reproduced. The topic of each worksheet can serve as a basis for group discussions. Lesson 1, for example, includes information about fortune cookies. The instructor might explore students' believes about how this popular treat originated, where they were first served, and how the fortunes are placed inside the cookies. By encouraging interaction, students become active participants in the learning process.

The activities can be used with students who have language disorders, learning disabilities, deficits in vocabulary or ESL students.

Sample Topics

Good Fortunes
The Things Parents Say
Bat Trivia
Surviving the Elements
Haunted Houses
Aromatherapy
Hidden and Implied Meanings
Winning the Lottery
Special Stones

 

The high-interest activities build language skills that are critical for effective communication and for meeting curriculum standards. Skills such as making comparisons, evaluating information, defining words, and using clues to make predictions are included within the activities.