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This bulletin offers guidelines to help parents and teachers improve the thinking skills of gifted children. It stresses the importance of encouraging thinking through the use of evocative questions, distinguishes between and defines critical thinking and creative thinking, and offers suggested questions to prompt either creative/divergent thinking or critical/analytical thinking. The need to foster such traits as persistence, open-mindedness, rationality, flexibility, and intellectual honesty is also stressed. A home which fosters thinking skills is described as one in which the family works together to solve problems. Suggestions are also offered for fostering children's metacognitive skills by prompts and questions that help them to monitor and evaluate their own thinking. General guidelines for nurturing thinking as well as criteria for classroom thoughtfulness are listed. (DB)

This article discusses the nature of critical thinking and ways to teach children to be critical thinkers. The need to model critical thinking is stressed and guidelines are presented for evaluating the credibility of a source (investigating clarity, expertise, objectivity, and accuracy record), and for evaluating the quality of evidence. (CR)

The set of three units, designed for middle and junior high school gifted students, includes 30 lessons on logic and critical thinking. Each lesson includes information on objectives, materials, and teaching presentation suggestions. Ten deductive reasoning lessons focus on such topics as fact and opinion, tests for validity of deductive arguments, and interpretation. The second unit, logic in advertising, presents 15 lessons, including such topics as facts as evidence, credibility, and literal and figurative words. The final unit, inductive reasoning, includes lessons on cause and effect and generalizations. Student worksheets are included for each unit. (CL)

Designed for use with gifted students in grades 6 through 8, the unit deals with suggestions for developing creativity through writing poetry. It is explained that the focus is on helping students recognize their own creativity before teaching poetry skills. Information on objectives, materials, and presentation methods is presented for the following lessons: you and creativity (limericks); what is poetry; word selection; poetry and movement; concrete poetry; snowball (a device for the creative use of language in which words are set down in progression); and a final workshop and writeup. (CL)

Designed for senior high gifted and creative students, the unit focuses on developing creativity in imagery production and technical skills in filmmaking. Five lessons provide information on objectives, materials, and presentation activities for the following topics: color, dialogue, score, angles and shots, film critique, creative imagery, and creativity assignment. (CL)

The unit on language is designed for presentation to middle school, junior high, and senior high gifted students. Information on objectives, materials, and presentation guidelines is presented for eight lessons on the following topics: purposes and process of language, successful/unsuccessful communication, precise/imprecise communication, connotation, image and language style, and creativity in language. (CL)

The unit, designed for junior and senior high gifted students interested in Chinese thought and art, is intended to to acquaint students with examples of Chinese painting, sculpture, and music along with examination of related philosophical ideas. Five subject areas are presented in terms of objectives, materials, and teaching presentation. The following subjects are covered: East meets West (historical perspective of Chinese culture and Sino-Western interactions); Taoism; Chinese art; Confucianism; and Chinese music. (CL)

The unit is designed for presentation to gifted junior and senior high students interested in aesthetics. The orientation is to familiarize students with a variety of arts pieces while exploring related philosophical ideas. Information provided includes a listing of objectives, materials, and ideas for presentation for the following nine subjects: the nature of beauty, the nature and variety of art, the purposes of art, traditional techniques, contemporary techniques, raditional art, contemporary trends in art, and the evaluation of art. Sample forms for informal evaluation of paintings are appended. (CL)

The unit on nonverbal communication is designed for presentation to elementary, middle, and junior high school gifted students. An introductory section lists four unit objectives leading to awareness of the nonverbal communication transmitted by students themselves and by others; expression and understanding of the nonverbal messages of gestures, postures, facial expressions, etc.; involvement in communication activities which develop self confidence and self expression; and development of creativity in and sensitivity to aesthetic movement. Following another section which lists suggested audiovisual and printed materials are nine lessons which cover such topics as critical analysis of nonverbal communication, creative movement, movement as interpretation of poetry, movement as interpretation of music, and aesthetics of movement. Information on each lesson includes the objectives, suggested materials, and presentation procedures. (SB)

The unit, designed for presentation to middle, junior high, and senior high school gifted students, contains a series of lessons which introduce the study of futures, teach several forecasting and problem solving techniques, provide students with the opportunity to examine and discuss problematic issues, and encourage students to take control and shape their futures and the future of society as a whole. Five objectives of the Alpha Unit are listed, such as encouraging students to work productively and efficiently, both independently and in groups. Following a list of suggested materials, lessons are arranged in a suggested sequence for a unit of approximately 22 hours. Provided for each lesson is information on its objectives, suggested materials, and procedures for presentation. Among the lesson topics are the following: scenario writing, problems of the future, and simulation games and independent projects. (SB)