Thinking Skills Put to Use with Something Fishy at Lake Iwannafisha

I have been, or can be if you click on a link and make a purchase, compensated via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value for writing this post. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

We’ve been putting thinking skills to use with Something Fishy at Lake Iwannafisha by The Critical Thinking Co.™ We receive a copy to review as part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew. All opinions are our own.

Critical thinking skills are something that needs to be taught throughout a child’s formative years. Sometimes a curriculum program will include it in the mix. But, it is always fun to flex your “muscles” outside of regular school work.

About Something Fishy at Lake Iwannafisha for Developing Thinking Skills

The Critical Thinking Co.™ is known for their products in both the classroom and homeschool community. With options from preschool to adult, there is something for everyone!

 

A key component of their materials is the desire to develop critical thinking skills. Each product is geared for typical developmental abilities for the grade level market.

At its heart, Something Fishy at Lake Iwannafisha is a crime mystery. Along with working on thinking skills, they will learn a bit about forensic evidence through included ‘lessons’ to read.

Forensic Evidence Lessons include:

• Anthropology
• Arson
• Ballistics
• Counterfeit Money
• Death Investigation (Entomology/Autopsy)
• Document and Handwriting Analysis
• Fingerprints

Students, either as an individual or on a team, work as police detectives trying to solve the case before them. They set the path of the investigation using the information provided at each step.

The parent or teacher serves as the police supervisor. This is the person they will ask for clarification or to see something like a witness statement or forensic report.

During the process students:

Analyze information, using forensic knowledge
Draw conclusions from the initial report and subsequent information obtained
Compile a final report synthesizing it all

The pages in the book are reproducible for us within one home or classroom. Purchasers have the ability to download a pdf of student handouts for ease of printing.

Thoughts on Using Something Fishy at Lake Iwannafisha To Develop Thinking Skills

This is definitely an interesting way to engage your brain.

While you can have a homeschool child work through the material independently, I think it would be more fun to get together in a small group. For the review period, I was present while my 9th grader worked on the material.

Like many teens, the idea of ‘extra’ work is not appealing. However, when he started working on the case the questions started coming at me. All of them were centered around forensic information and obtaining more information to make his analysis.

The pages are easy to navigate and having a print out of the maps in front of him makes things easier to process.

One hiccup I found is that some of the pages listed as student pages to give them are not in the downloadable pdf file. For those, I let him look in the book. If doing this for a group or in a classroom, I’d have to make copies for them to use.

Final Takeaway Something Fishy at on Lake Iwannafisha To Develop Thinking Skills

If you have a child who needs to polish up critical thinking skills, this is a great book to use. Many of us find a certain appeal to solving ‘who-done-it’ mysteries and that’s exactly what you get in this title.

While you can use it as a supplement during the school year, I think it would be great for some summer fun to keep the brain sharp!

Have you used products from The Critical Thinking Co.™?
Would Something Fishy at on Lake Iwannafisha appeal to your family?

Special Offers for Readers

Free Critical Thinking Puzzles!
A $75 Value! Delivered weekly to your inbox. Choose PreK – Grade 8. Sign Up Now!
https://www.criticalthinking.com/toscrew

Special Offer from CriticalThinking.com!

Free Shipping + 15% Off Any Size Order! Use Coupon Code: TOSCREW18. Expires 12/31/2018.

Don’t just take my word for how we found this to be. Visit The Critical Thinking Co.™ post on the Homeschool Review Crew website to see what other homeschooling parents thought about this resource.