Gateway (Gifted and Talented Education With All Youth) Mission:    

To support all students through talent development and to identify, challenge, and encourage academically advanced and creative learners.

Hello Families!

Students have been busy challenging their brains by learning and practicing a different thinking skill each week.  The Primary Education Thinking Skills program (PETS) targets higher level thinking skills specifically designed for each grade level. Types of thinking skills include: convergent, divergent, visual/spatial and evaluative thinking.  This month we will highlight convergent thinking. 

Tier 3 students in grades one through three have been introduced to convergent thinking which combines deductive logic and analytic thinking to arrive at one correct or best solution.  When practicing convergent thinking, students must use logic and follow clues to narrow down ideas.  Examples of this type of thinking are multiple choice tests and logic elimination puzzles.

First grade students practiced convergent thinking by meeting Dudley the Detective.  We listened to Dudley’s story, identified clues and analyzed these clues to solve the mystery.  

Second and third graders became convergent thinkers by working together to solve logic elimination puzzles. Second grade students were introduced to a logic elimination grid where they organized clues to determine the answer.

Third graders were presented with a puzzle and tasked with finding clues then organizing and putting clues together to determine the answer.  

Here are some ways to practice convergent thinking at home:

• Sudoku puzzles
• Word games (Scrabble, Boggle, crossword puzzles)
• 20 Questions
• Riddles

We are enjoying getting to know our students and hope you enjoy the winter holidays with your families and friends!

Mrs. Tabor and Mrs. Zontini