The students in Meryl Taylor’s 5th grade self-contained classroom are busy constructing higher order thinking questions and engaging each other with these questions during classroom discussion. They are proud of their ability to challenge each other to think more deeply about topics and are showing more confidence during student-led discussions.

How did these students become so adept at critical questioning and discussion techniques?

Here’s what Meryl has to say:
“I began infusing higher-order thinking (HOT) questions by level into my guided reading groups. My students were able to answer these HOT questions about their reading either by turning and talking to the person next to them or by stopping and jotting the answers in their notebooks. I then taught them specific stems for HOT questions and they began using HOT questions in classroom discussions. I have found that asking and answering HOT questions has promoted increased engagement in discussions. It has also enabled students to think more deeply about the current topic.”