Fold3.com. The USGenWeb Project. Common Core Learning Standards : C&I : P-12. Saxelab Social Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory at MIT. College Readiness: How to Help Students Think Abstractly. A rolling stone gathers no moss. Mick Jagger has moss? Don't cry over spilt milk. It's only milk, why cry? Too many cooks spoil the soup. I hate soup. Water under the bridge. Of course there is water under a bridge! A college-ready student can think figuratively, or in other words associate abstract ideas with concrete examples. Thinking abstractly is useful in understanding the richness of literature, both classical and modern. The reason that algebra, geometry, and general mathematics challenge students is that they require students to think abstractly. In order to help my students thinking and using the Spanish language, I printed a dicho (saying) such as, "En boca cerrada no entra mosca!
" It was always illuminating and inspiring to watch as students caught the joke, or the meaning of a passage of literature. How do you get your students to think abstractly?