Creative Thinking Skills Categories of Thinking Skills Thinking skills can be organized into four main categories. The list is progressive. The level of thought and involvement increases from Fluency to Elaboration. The following is a description of each category with suggestions for applying them with students.
Fluency is the ability to generate a large number of ideas or alternate solutions to a problem.
Fluency implies understanding, not just remembering information that is learned. Trace a picture and label the parts. Make a dictionary to define important words about your topic. Outline the encyclopedia article on your topic. Flexibility is the ability to see things from different points of view, to use many different approaches or strategies.