Higher Level Thinking

• Find other examples of higher level thinking here.

Examples of effective questions are the following.

• What were some causes of the Revolutionary War?
• Who was our first president? What was his position on the question of slavery?
• What are the symbols in our flag? What does each symbol mean?
• What are some ways neighborhoods change over time?
• What are two features in our community which distinguish it from other communities?

 These types of questions are ineffective because they  are:

• unfocused
• closed, requiring only a yes-or-no answer, or
• slanted

• What happened in the Civil War?
• Was George Washington our first President?
• What makes our region the best in the country?
• How did Sojourner Truth live her life?
• What does our flag mean?

Sequencing Questions and Bloom's Taxonomy

Sequencing questions may be accomplished through Bloom's Taxonomy of Cognitive Objectives. Pose two questions at different levels of thinking and in sequential order. Here is an example of the taxonomy with questions that match each level of thinking.

Lower Level Questions

• Knowledge (recalling specific information, describe, name, state, tell, define) Who was our first President?
• Comprehension (interpreting, explaining, summarizing, interpret, summarize, state in own words) - Which month marked the most significant events leading to the Revolutionary War?
• Application (using concepts, generalizations or skill in a new situation, demonstrate, use, predict, infer, act) -Using the mapping techniques we learned yesterday, how would you show someone to get from Boston to Philadelphia?

 

 
 
 

Higher Level Questions

• Analysis (examining parts of a whole and their relationships, distinguish, examine, determine the cause and effect, explain the main idea ) -
• How are the two neighborhoods alike?
• How are they different? What does each of the figures in the political cartoon about the Revolutionary War represent?
• What is the cartoonist trying to tell us.?
• Synthesis (putting parts back together to create a new whole, develop a plan, or communicate a new way)
• From our study of cities during colonial times, what things do you think were the most important ideas to consider in building a new city during that time period in history?
• What would include in your dream neighborhood?
• What proposal would you make to improve downtown Mt. Pleasant's Play Scape?
• Evaluation (making a judgment using a specific set of criteria)
• What do you think might have happened if the British won the Revolutionary War?
• Whose perspective makes the most sense to you?
• Which was the authentic part of the video?

Technique #1 has the following types of questions:

What do you think about when you hear the word abolitionist?
What did you see in the movie, Armistad?
Reflecting on the movie, what do you think of when you hear the name John Adams?

Look over our list of items. Could any be grouped together? Why did you group them in that way?

Look at this group. Can you think of a label or name for it?

What did you see on the trip to the convenience store?

What differences did you notice between the grocery store and the convenience store?

What conclusions could we draw from our field trips to Mt. Pleasant, Midland, and Clare?
From our trip, what can you say about the retail stores in these three cities?

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• Targeting Question - Listen to the original question. Do you recall what I asked?
• Clarifying or Refocusing Question - Can you give me a more specific example of what you mean?
• Summarizing Question - Could you state that idea by using one broad concept or label? What conclusions did you draw from this investigation?

References

Maxim, G. W. (2003).dynamic Social Studirs for Elementary Classrooms

Martorella, P. H. (1998). Social Studies for Elementary School Children

Michaelis and Garcia. (1998). Social Studies for Children