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Language for Thinking

Grades: 1 - 3

Language for Thinking builds on the concepts, vocabulary, and statement patters introduced in Language for Learning, but focuses on the reasoning and critical-thinking skills. Sequence activities, vocabulary development, extensive practice, retelling exercises, and inference activities set the stage for reading comprehension and the grammatical analysis of written language.

Program Details

 Features:

  • Carefully organized sequences of exercises, including Classification, True/False, Analogies, and Absurdity that emphasize reasoning and critical thinking
  • Exceptional vocabulary development including work with homonyms, synonyms, opposites, and definitions
  • Many opportunities to use vocabulary words and concepts imbedded in sentences
  • Extensive practice with word usage including forming contractions and "untangling" sentences with double negatives
  • Sequencing and retelling exercises that challenge students to remember important details
  • Inference activities that require students to draw conclusions and explain their answers
  • Placement Test and 15 Program Assessments ensure that children are working on concepts appropriate for their ability

Research Base

  • Direct Instruction and Teaching of Early Reading
    This report summarize some of the research supporting the use of Direct Instruction to teach early reading skills. It also discuss some of the barriers educators face when attempting to implement Direct Instruction, specifically proponents of whole language teaching. Finally, researchers describe schools and teachers in Wisconsin that have achieved excellent results with Direct Instruction and how this is changing the minds of many critics.

  • Special Education and Direct Instruction
    Research shows strong evidence of success when Direct Instruction programs are used with students with special needs. In fact, Direct Instruction is one of only seven interventions proven effective (Forness, Kavale, Blum & Lloyd, 1997). With its research-supported design and systematic delivery, Direct Instruction is often referred to as a program for special education or at-risk students.

  • The Research Base and Validation of Direct Instruction Language Programs
    This report shows the seventeen studies have been published in peer-reviewed journals, 16 of which were group design studies (pre-experimental, quasi-experimental, experimental) and one of which was single case (A-B). All examined the effectiveness of one or more of the Direct Instruction language programs across a wide variety of settings and populations. All studies are described in the narrative.

Evidence of Success