Farm Fresh Adventures: Critical Thinking Detective™ – Vocabulary Book 2 {Product Review}

We are big fans of The Critical Thinking Co. and the products they offer. I have reviewed several of their products before and always look forward to having more to explore. We recently were given Critical Thinking Detective - Vocabulary Book 2 (Grades 5-12+) to review with my boys (ages 8 and 13) and I looked forward to seeing how this product would work for us--especially since expanding our vocabulary is one of the goals I had for this year.

About the Product

The Critical Thinking Co. is an award-winning company for a reason! Their materials continue to be top notch resources for all things--critical thinking! Offering full lines of choices over the traditional subjects and electives, there is something for every grade! A few of the selections include:

●Pattern Explorer Beginning (Grades 3-4)
●Elementary Math Games (Grades 3-5)
●Critical Thinking Detective - Vocabulary Book 2 (Grades 5-12+)
●Dare to Compare: Math Level 2 (Grades 6-7)
●Middle School Math Games (Grades 6-8)
●Building Writing Skills - Essential Tips & Techniques (Grades 6-12+)
●Vocabulary Virtuoso PSAT-SAT Book 1 (Grades 8-12+)
●Vocabulary Virtuoso PSAT-SAT Book 2 (Grades 8-12+)

All of these are available as digital and/or physical, allowing you to have the greatest use from them.

We have been reviewing the Critical Thinking Detective - Vocabulary Book 2. This book uses detective cases as a way to introduce new vocabulary in context. SAT and ACT word lists, as well as a multitude of other sources, were used to choose the vocabulary words introduced in this book. The students must identify the meaning of the new vocabulary words in order to find the subtle clues hidden in statements from the witnesses, suspects, and case files. Once the words have been identified and defined, the students then use deductive and inductive reasoning to solve the cases! Every case has a unique set of vocabulary words.

Our Thoughts

I can add text right onto the pdf

We received the digital version of this book, which is ONLY available for use with WINDOWS programs. It is downloaded onto your computer, for example, and then becomes opened via desktop as an eBook licensed to you as the user. Once opened, you can not only print off what you need but actually TYPE your answers directly onto the pages.

There are twelve mysteries included in this eBook which altogether introduces your students to at least 15 new words per mystery for a minimum of 180 new vocabulary words! Because of this, and due to the more advanced words that are included in this resource, it is wise to take the cases slow so that the words can truly be learned.

I chose to use this with BOTH of my boys, even though my younger son is just 8 1/2. The reason for this is that vocabulary has been a new addition to our work this year. We are learning some incredibly advanced words and by constant repetition have already accumulated a large number under our belts. I know my youngest is capable of learning and remembering them, so I included him in our use of this book.

The book is very easy to figure out. There are two pages for each mystery--one is the mystery itself and the other is a series of 15 fill-in-the-blank questions using 15 of the vocabulary words from the case. There is a word bank provided with 15 of the vocabulary words.

We chose to do these cases one per week, and over the course of two days. The first day we read the case information page and highlight all the new words. I write them on our whiteboard (either our wall one or our portable one). Once we have the new words, we go through and write definitions for them. Some of them have actually been FROM our vocabulary studies this year, which was a great bonus for the boys. The others we have used our Latin Root studies to try to figure out. Some are so new to me, that we just had to "ask Siri" or I could use the definitions included in the answer key.

Answer Keys are Provided WITH definitions

Once we have them all written down, we note the ones which are synonyms and antonyms. Then we go back and read the case again, using the definition words in place of the actual word. This helps the boys to understand the case and statements much better. From this point, we are always able to figure out the guilty party for the mystery.

Day 2 has us using our words and definitions to complete the second page with the questions. Both boys are able to do this on their own with minimal assistance.

To make sure we were REALLY learning the words, I added an activity of my own. I took 3-4 words from each case we studied and write them on my whiteboard in random order. Then in a second column, I mix up the definitions for the 15 words. The boys then go through the words to match up the words with their definitions. They do this independently and I record each of their answers--then write the CORRECT answer next to their answers. They have done very well on this--especially the second round where my YOUNGEST son (the 8-year-old) shocked everyone with getting them all correct!

They each got 6 correct

My 8 year old amazed us all getting all of them correct!

Interestingly enough, since we started this book, my oldest son has come across a few of these words in his book he is reading (African Game Trails by Theodore Roosevelt--yes as in the former President), which made him very excited because "Mommy! I know what this word means!" They also have each been trying to use at least one of the words in their writing we do.

I feel that starting this kind of vocabulary study now when they are only 8 and 13 will make them much more relaxed when they come across words like this later--especially when they are needing to take the SAT, ACT, Praxis or any other exam with a vocabulary section.

As of this week, we have completed five weeks of work (5 cases) and I plan on continuing to use these for our summer work.

I always will recommend The Critical Thinking Co. products as great supplemental material. I have had success with everyone we have ever used--regardless of which child it was used for. That's a major win in my book!

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Want to Know More?

For the last few weeks, we've been working through Critical Thinking Detective - Vocabulary Book 2 (Grades 5-12+) from The Critical Thinking Co. and enjoying learning new vocabulary words for our collection. The Critical Thinking Co. offers a WIDE range of fabulous books and I encourage you to visit some more crew members to explore the other options our team is reviewing!