Detectives Apply: The Critical Thinking Journal Class: Dive Into Fun Word, Number and Logic Challenges with Ms. Wendy!

This class is for kids who love to figure things out; whether it be a word puzzle, number mazes, anagrams, crack the codes, sudoku, silly sentences, deductive games or other brain twisters using math, language, logic and  Each week our detective thinking journals will change and grow with the students. 
Each week I will send out a new packet to work through which covers concepts related to critical thinking. Pages focus on pushing ourselves to solve puzzles, crack the code, find the suspect, be a detective, following directions, recognizing possibilities, semantic ordering, paraphrasing, recognizing whether text makes sense, understanding syntax, applying knowledge to problem solving and conceptual thinking.   We alternate pages that are related to  math and language arts into critical thinking problems.

This is a very dynamic class and we cover a lot of different methods of problem solving. We may cover phonics rules, sight words, word usage like homonyms, synonyms or antonyms, fixing sentences, silly sentences, & writing words or completing a sentence.  Our problem solving can vary between story problems, critical thinking puzzles where students need to complete math problems to solve the problem. I model and teach but also encourage students to independently work through problems.  We may draw, count, or compute in order to solve a problem.  
Other pages can include but aren't limited to magic triangles, magic squares, finding errors, fixing sentences, changing words in our silly sentences, using clues to problem solve, math facts games and puzzles, find the differences pages, Mystery Number, deduction puzzles and/or other critical thinking pages. 

Examples of Pages: 
Cracking the code to figure out the secret message
Soduku for Kids
Finding hidden treasure by analyzing clues
Anagrams
Laughing through silly sentences: picking words to make it even sillier and then choose words to have it make sense
Solving math facts and finding the path out of the maze
Memory challenges
Spot the difference
Listen to directions and draw.....compare drawings and discuss what happened?
Week of December 12th :

Reviews:
I absolutely love your instruction style and the way ***learner name*** reacts to you and respects you as a teacher.  Thank you for making this week special for him... because his effort made it special for us.

Ms. Wendy makes each class interesting and fun for her learners. We love this ongoing class where our daughter is making connections with her teacher and classmates while her thinking is challenged. She often runs to us after class to tell us the riddles they solved together.

Ms. Wendy is FANTASTiC!. She is very creative and makes learning really fun for the kids. This class is great, because its a mix of different things, like math, reading, writing, and so much more. It's definitely our sons favorite class and Ms. Wendy is his favorite teacher, so much so, he always wants to sign up for more Ms. Wendy classes. She is kind, understanding, very patient and always encouraging to all the kids in her class. Ms Wendy always makes new students feel welcome and included... This class fills up quickly, so if you see an opening don't hesitate to give this class a try, your child will probably really enjoy it, and want to come back again & again.


IMPORTANT:   Need to be able to print journal pages for the class. MUST HAVE A PRINTER!
Learners need to be able to write letters on lined paper. 
All absences can watch the recording. 
Makeup classes will occur on Friday (if any).

***Students must have a video on at all times and access to turn the microphone on during class participation. All students are expected to participate. 

PARENTS BEFORE CLASS: 
You'll need to turn on some notifications to receive communication from the teacher, weekly worksheets or changes in our class schedule. 
Please go to PROFILE and SETTINGS 
Under PRIVATE SETTINGS go to Select which email you receive
Under FOR PARENTS select ON for classroom conversations, class reminders, class feedback and class notifications