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Benjamin Franklin's The Art of Virtue

Franklin's Philosophy of Life
in His Own Words

312 Pages $14.95

Reading Comprehension

Does More Than Simply Inform Students —
It Also FORMS them!

Welcome to ChoiceSkills.com, the home of Character Based Learning. Our sole purpose for existence is to provide curriculum enrichment resources designed to improve student performance. We utilize simple strategies that can be employed in any public, private or home school curriculum to increase student interest, motivation and commitment to learning. I invite you to spend a few minutes to learn how character based learning can help your students achieve their full potential.

Introducing "The Seven C's of Thinking Clearly"

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Reading ComprehensionBoys Developing Reading Comprehension skills
Improving reading comprehension is the primary objective behind the rich literature base in The Seven C's of Thinking Clearly. But, you will find that reading comprehension is taken to a whole new level as students are required to not only identify key ideas, but also distinguish between good ideas and bad ideas.

Following are a couple of sample lessons, one from grades 2-6 and one from grades 5-9. In each case take time to look at the Hindsight, Insight, and Foresight Questions and also the Discussion Opportunity Box.

Robinson Crusoe, a reading comprehension lesson for devloping emotional intelligenceIn Grades 2-6, Explore with your students what happened when Robinson Crusoe expostulated t'other way. Help them understand the enormous value of being able to expostulate t'other way when they find themselves in difficult circumstances. Robinson Crusoe Expostulates 'Tother Way

The Mighty Genghis Khan a lesson on emotional intelligence and improving reading comprehensionIn Grades 5-9, Read with your students "The Mighty Genghis Khan, a story of anger and remorse" and learn why "He vowed a vow while standing there, 'tis well to think upon, Never in anger will I strike again, said Mighty Genghis Khan." The Mighty Genghis Khan

 

Emotional Intelligence and Social Skills
Two children learning about emotional intelligence It may be said that a primary objective of reading comprehension is the development of emotional intelligence. More people fail or fall short of their potential from a want of emotional intelligence than from a lack of intellectual ability. If Robinson Crusoe had given in to fear and panic, he would have surely died. Similary, if the Mighty Genghis Khan hadn't given into irrational anger, he would not have killed his hawk. For this reason a great deal of attention is given to the development of emotional intelligence, thinking skills, and social skills in The Seven C's of Thinking Clearly.

The iconic characters found in The Stink'n Think'n Gang for grades 2-6, EPT for grades 5-9 and the CT Team for all grade levels were designed to not only aid students in reading comprehension but also in the development of their emotional, social and thinking skills.

I Wannit Now icon for teaching thiking skillsDo your students know who this villain is? Are they aware there's a band of thieves out to rob them of common sense and good judgment? Can you help them recognize the influence of these bandits in fiction, history, the daily news, and in their own heads? Learn who these bandits are and what they do.

Polarizer ixon for teaching thinking skillsAre your students able to recognize the insidious influence of Polarizer in the world around them and in their own lives? Do they know he is a member of EPT, a clandenstine organization dedicated to overthrowing civilization by flooding the world with Error-Prone Thinking? Learn more about EPT


Concentration icon for teaching reading comprehensionBy employing the Clear Thinking Team to your help students develop their thinking skills you also help them develop the emotional intelligence and social skills essential to living happy, fulfilling lives. Since both the acquisition and use of knowledge is determined by these Seven C Skills, they may well prove to be the most important thing you ever teach your students. The CT Team

The Ideal Supplement to any Public, Private and Home School Curriculum
All lessons in The Seven C's of Thinking Clearly are an ideal supplement to any public, private or home school curriculum because:

Triangle bullet for hindsight, insight and foresight questions Hindsight, Insight and Foresight questions increase student participation, comprehension and retention by causing students to reflect upon what they have just learned and its relevance to their lives while minimizing your lesson preparation time. more information
triangle bullet Most lessons also include a Discussion Opportunity Box offering suggestions on ways you may wish to lead the discussion, again minimizing the time required for lesson preparation and stimulating ideas on how to make the lesson most relevant to your students
Triangle bullet for hindsight, insight and foresight questions Most lessons are self-contained requiring no additional materials for the lesson. Those that do are identified by an Advance Preparation box indicating what is needed. Any additional items required are both inexpensive and easily obtainable requiring little out of pocket expense or running around to find.
Triangle bullet for hindsight, insight and foresight questions These are scalable lessons that are easily adjusted to fit the time you have as well as the interest and comprehension levels of your students.
Triangle bullet for hindsight, insight and foresight questions These are fun, high interest lessons in which your students response will make them both rewarding and enjoyable for you to teach. But they are not cotton candy. They deal with serious choices young people have to make on a daily basis.
Triangle bullet for hindsight, insight and foresight questions Most lessons are Multi-Dimensional meaning they address several aspects of personal and academic development and which facilitates presenting and discussing them on more than one occasion thus significantly increasing both comprehension and retention of the principles involved.
Triangle bullet for hindsight, insight and foresight questions Every lesson is a Character Based Lesson which means each one meets one or more of the following state core standards while at the same time helping young people improve their thinking skills and develop emotional intelligence, social skills, virtue or character, whatever you wish to call it.
  • Communication Standards
  • Reasoning and Problem Solving Standards
  • Personal Development Standards
  • Civic and Social Responsibility Standards
  • Arts, Language and Literature Standards
  • History and Social Studies Standards
  • Science, Mathmatics and Technology Standards
Triangle bullet for hindsight, insight and foresight questions The Online Lesson Finder (included with the eBook editions) is a valuable time saver, greatly simplifying the process of finding, selecting and planning lessons that meet your class needs. In addition to the title and page of the lesson, you are provided with a complete lesson plan including a synopsis of the lesson, the primary focus of the lesson and core curriculum standards the lesson meets.
Triangle bullet for hindsight, insight and foresight questions The Seven C's of Thinking Clearly contain a rich literature base consisting of:
  • Familiar stories with a new twist designed to increase reading comprehension and retention and facilitate student discussion by enabling them to more clearly recognize the relevance of the story to their own lives.
  • Original stories, again designed to stimulate interest and facilitate learning by their relevance to choices students have to make on a daily basis
  • Autobigraphical and biographical sketches of famous and not so famous individuals designed to empower young people with the ablity to make responsible choices by helping them recognize:
    • Choices some of these people made when they were still small children that affected the whole of their lives
    • Choices some of them made which enabled them to overcome serious handicaps and difficulties in their lives
    • Choices others have made that illlustrate the effort required for them to accomplish remarkable things and the rewards of having made the effort
Triangle bullet for hindsight, insight and foresight questions
  • Although the lessons may be taught in any order at any time, and you may wish to address particular class or individual needs with specific lessons, the lessons in The Seven C's of Thinking Clearly are presented in sequential sections designed to build one on the other.
    • Section One, Choosing to Avoid Faulty Thinking: These lessons are designed to help students recognize and avoid dysfunctional thinking habits that are so common and so awfully destructive of human happiness. Unfortunately these thinking habits seem to require no effort at all to acquire.
    • Section Two, Choosing to Develop the Seven C Skills: These lessons focus on helping students develop seven thinking skills necessary for overcoming faulty thinking and are essential for accomplishing anything worth while in life. Unfortunately, these thinking skills seem to require a great deal of effort to acquire in any significant measure.
    • Section Three, Choosing to Be Personally Responsible: This section focuses on individual accountability for individual choices and actions. Once students are able to recognize the thoughts and behaviors that limit their progress, and that no one else can control these thoughts and behaviors, they are ready to accept greater personal responsibility for their lives.
    • Section Four, Choosing to Respect Myself: When students accept greater responsibility for their choices, they are able to take the next step in making choices they can feel good about. An important element of these lessons is helping them to recognize benefits of their own uniqueness and recognize perfection is not a pre-requisite for self-respect.
    • Section Five, Choosing to Respect Others: When individuals do not respect themselves, it is more difficult for them to respect others. This section is designed to help students recognize how our individual differences add interest and variety to life and also how these differences make possible unique individual contributions to the benefit of all.
    • Section Six, Choosing to Be Trustworthy: The lessons in this section focus on helping students understand that a free society is based on mutual trust and that individual and collective safety, progress and happiness is dependent on this trust.
Triangle bullet for hindsight, insight and foresight questions
  • The Teaching Stragtegies in the Seven C's of Thinking Clearly contain mental hooks intended to create a cocklebur effect. For example:
    • While The Seven C's of Thinking Clearly contains a rich literature base, there are also a wide variety of other activities designed to address varied learning styles. A number of lessons can be presented as Dynamid Duos in which the same idea is presented in both in a literature format and an activity format which improves both comprehension and retention.
    • The iconic characters employed in The CT Team, The Stink'n Think'n Gang and EPT provide valuable discussion vehicles which are easily transferrable to other lesson materials you have. These characters can significantly increase reading comprehension and retention by establishing the relevance of the ideas in the minds of your students. These characters not only enable students to connect the dots between the particular lesson and their lives, they are able to transfer this knowledge to other information and events they are experiencing in their lives.
    These teaching strategies are easily transferrable to other curriculum resources you are using as well.
Triangle bullet for hindsight, insight and foresight questions One of the great benefits of these lessons is their suitablity and ease of reproduction for both class room use and home assignments and for use in both public and homeschool curriculum.
Triangle bullet for hindsight, insight and foresight questions

In addition to the Online Lesson Finder* available at this site, a Character Trait Cross Reference Index along with listings of most of the stories (Great Lessons from Great Lives and Great Lessons from Great Stories) can be found at the end of each book. Combined they provide you with an unparalleled ability to find lessons specifically suited to your needs at any particular time as well as a fully developed lesson plan including a synopsis of the lesson, the primary focus of the lesson, and the core curriculum requirements addressed by the lesson.

*included with the eBook editions

 

"I felt like I was teaching something very valuable to my students."                                                        J. Bewick, Northridge Elementary

"Students really relaxed and had fun. Some commented on how good the stories were."
                                                       L. Stevens, Northwest Intermediate

"Extremely appropriate for my students. Skills they are lacking and need desperately. They stayed involved and were able to participate"
                                                       J. Stuy, Lindon Elementary

"The students were very attentive. They enjoyed the subject matter and were able to bring their own experiences into the discussion and relate to it."
                                                       R. Tiffany, Highland Elementary

"My students surprised me with their depth of feeling and comments."
                                                     D. Ricks, Franklin Elementary


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Try these books for 90 days. If you are not completely satisfied, simply return the books with a copy of your sales receipt, and I'll quickly and cheerfully refund your full purchase price, including the amount we billed you for shipping and handling. As you can see, the full risk is mine. I personally don't think it is much of a risk, but you get to be the judge.

 

Free Mini-Course

To learn more about character based learning, I invite you to sign up for a free 7 part mini-course titled “An Introduction to Character Based Learning.” It’s a free gift for a limited time and there is no obligation.

In addition to the mini-course, you will receive our monthly newsletter titled “Cinch by the Inch” which contains additional tips and sample lessons. You can unsubscribe at any time, but we believe you will find the information invaluable in helping your students develop the social skills they so very much need to learn.

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7 C's of Thinking Clearly, grades 2-6           The Seven C's of Thinking Clearly, grades 5-9
SAMPLE LESSONS
Grades 2-6                   Grades 5-9
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Open QuoteThe imaginative activities and examples make the teaching fun and that's when teachers and students get excited.Close Quote
                                                Media Specialist
                                                Eden Prairie, MN

Open Quote. . .by far the most creative social skills program I have ever reviewed. Close Quote
                                                School Social Worker
                                                Terre Haute, IN

Open QuoteExtremely appropriate for my students. Skills they are lacking and need desparately. They stayed involved and were able to participate.Close Quote
                                                Elementary Teacher
                                                Lindon, UT

Open QuoteThe students were very attentive. They enjoyed the subject matter and were able to bring their own experiences into the discussion and relate to it.Close Quote
                                                Elementary Teacher
                                                Highland, UT

                                                

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                                                3rd Grade Students
                                                Eden Prairie, MN

Free Mini-Course

To learn more about character based learning, I invite you to sign up for a free 7 part mini-course titled “An Introduction to Character Based Learning.” It’s a free gift for a limited time and there is no obligation.

In addition to the mini-course, you will periodically receive additional tips, sample lessons and special offers available only to mini-course subscribers. You can unsubscribe at any time, but we believe you will find the information invaluable in helping your students develop the social skills they so very much need to learn.

Note: your email address will not be sold to, or shared with, any other person or organization.

For More Information
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