• What is inquiry?………...……………………………..1
• Bloom’s Taxonomy……………………………..…….2
• Questions to Engage Students’ Thinking Skills………3
• Using the Questions: Tic Tac Toe…………………….5
– Tic Tac Toe Template………………………..…..6
• Using Question Cards: Strategy Summaries..……..…..7
– Everyone Read To………………………………..8
– Fan-N-Pick-Story…………………………….…..9
– Cubing-Story…………………………………....10
• Cubing Template…………………………..11
– Rally Coach……………………………………..12
• Rally Coach Template………..……………13
– Short Takes
• Alphabet Summary………………………...14
• Ticket to Leave…………………………….15
– Numbered Heads Together
• Historical Characters Question Cards……..16
• Journal Template…………………………..18
• Question Starters Template………………..19
• Strategies to Extend Student Thinking………...…….20
• References……………………………………………21

–1. Ask good questions
–2. Teach students how to ask good questions.
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Knowledge
 observation and recall of information
 knowledge of dates, events, places
 knowledge of major ideas
 mastery of subject matter

Question Cues: list, define, tell, describe, identify, show, label, collect, examine, tabulate, quote, name, who, when, where, etc.
Comprehension
 understanding information
 grasp meaning
 translate knowledge into new context
 interpret facts, compare, contrast
 order, group, infer causes
 predict consequences

Question Cues:
Application summarize, describe, interpret, contrast, predict, associate, distinguish, estimate, differentiate, discuss, extend
 use information
 use methods, concepts, theories in new situations
 solve problems using required skills or knowledge

Questions Cues: apply, demonstrate, calculate, complete, illustrate, show, solve, examine, modify,
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation relate, change, classify, experiment, discover
 seeing patterns
 organization of parts
 recognition of hidden meanings
 identification of components

Question Cues: analyze, separate, order, explain, connect, classify, arrange, divide, compare, select, explain, infer
 use old ideas to create new ones
 generalize from given facts
 relate knowledge from several areas
 predict, draw conclusions

Question Cues: combine, integrate, modify, rearrange, substitute, plan, create, design, invent, what if?, compose, formulate, prepare, generalize, rewrite
 compare and discriminate between ideas
 assess value of theories, presentations
 make choices based on reasoned argument
 verify value of evidence
 recognize subjectivity

Question Cues assess, decide, rank, grade, test, measure, recommend, convince, select, judge, explain, discriminate, support, conclude, compare, summarize 2

Analyzing
How could you break down…?
What components…?
What qualities/characteristics…?
Applying
How is____and example of…?
What practical applications…?
What examples…?
How could you use…?
How does this apply to…?
In your life, how would you apply…?
Assessing
By what criteria would you assess…?
What grade would you give…?
How could you improve…?
Augmenting/Elaborating
What ideas might you add to…?
What more can you say about…?
Categorizing/Classifying/Organizing
How might you classify…?
If you were going to categorize…?
Comparing/Contrasting
How are ____ and ____ alike?
What similarities…?
What are the differences between …?
How is ___ different…?
Connecting/Associating
What do you already know about…?
What connections can you make between…?
What things do you think of when you think of…?
Decision-Making
How would you decide…?
If you had to choose between…?
Defining
How would you define…?
In your own words, what is…?
Describing/Summarizing
How could you describe/summarize …?
If you were a reporter, how would you describe…?
Determining Cause & Effect
What is the cause of…?
How does ___effect ___?
What impact might…?
Drawing Conclusions/Inferring Consequences
What conclusions can you draw from…?
What would happen if…?
What would have happened if…?
If you changed ___, what might happen?
Eliminating
What part of ___ might you eliminate?
How could you get rid of…?
Evaluating
What is your opinion about…?
Do you prefer…?
Would you rather…?
What is your favorite…?
Do you agree or disagree…?
What are the positive and negative aspects of…?
What are the advantages/disadvantages of…?
If you were a judge…?
On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate…?
What is the most important…?
Is it better or worse…?
Explaining
How can you explain…?
What factors might explain…?
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Experimenting
How could you test...?
What experiment could you do to…?
Generalizing
What general rule can…?
What principle could you apply…?
What can you say about all…?
Interpreting
Why is ___ important?
What is the significance of…?
What role…?
What is the moral of…?
Inventing
What could you invent to…?
What machine could…?
Investigating
How could you find out more about…?
If you wanted to know about…?
Making Analogies
How is ___ like ___?
What analogy can you invent for…”
Observing
What observations did you make about…?
What changes…?
Patterning
What patterns can you find…?
How would you describe the organization of…?
Planning
What preparations would you…?
Predicting/Hypothesizing
What would you predict…?
What is your theory about…?
If you were going to guess…?
Prioritizing
What is more important…?
How might you prioritize…?
Problem-Solving
How would you approach the problem?
What are some possible solutions to…?
Reducing/Simplifying
In a word, how would you describe…?
How can you simplify…?
Reflecting/Metacognition
What would you think if…?
How can you describe what you were thinking when…?
Relating
How is ___ related to ___?
What is the relationship between…?
How does ___ depend on ___?
Reversing/Inversing
What is the opposite of…?
Role-Taking/Empathizing
If you were (someone/something else)…?
How would you feel if…?
Sequencing
How could you put… in order?
What steps are involved in…?
Substituting
What could have been used instead of…?
What else could you use for…?
What might you substitute for…?
What is another way…?
Symbolizing
How could you draw…?
What symbol best represents…?
Synthesizing
How could you combine…?
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Use your higher-order thinking questions in a game-like format.
Students choose (or write) questions to answer in an effort to complete a vertical or diagonal row, thereby answering a question at each of the different levels of thinking.
Application &
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation
Story
Example
Compare the main character of this story with another you’ve read.
Illustrate the turning point of the story.
Infer from the story what you might see in the main character’s bedroom. Create a collage that shows what you might find.
Rewrite the ending so that it changes the meaning of the story.
How would the story be different if the main character was a boy instead of a girl (or vice versa).
Pretend that the story you just read is made into a movie. Write a summary of the movie’s sequel.
Grade the author on
Rank the characters his/her use of in the story based interesting words & on their character phrases. Give traits. Explain your examples & explain ranking system.
your grade.
Judge the quality of the story based on at least 3 criteria that you think is important in the story.
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2 3
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I __________________ will complete questions _____, _____, and _____.
Signed: __________________________ __________________________
Student Teacher
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Everyone Read To…(pre-reading question-starters)
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Individually or in partners, students ask two or more questions that they want to answer by reading the text. Students read the text, looking for clues to answer their questions.
Fan-N-Pick
– Student One fans cards
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Student Two picks a card & reads it aloud to the team.
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Student Three gives & answer after 5+ seconds of think time.
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After another 5+ seconds of think time, student Four paraphrases, praises, or adds to the answer given.
– Student rotate roles.
Cubing
– Players take turn rolling the cube.
– The player who rolls the cube begins by discussing the thinking question
(TQ) that is face up.
– While the TQ is discussed by all members of the group, the person who rolled the dice acts as the facilitator & summarizes the conversation before the next player rolls the cube.
Numbered Heads Together
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Students number off in their team.
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Teacher poses a question.
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Students discuss the question.
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Teacher calls a student number & a team number.
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The student shares what his or her team discussed.
Rally Coach
– Each partner pair gets a set of question cards.
– Student A reads the question out loud to student B.
– Student B answers (you may want students to record their answers.)
– Partners take turns asking and answering each question.
Journal Writing
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Students pick one question card and make a journal entry or use the question as the prompt for an essay or creative writing assignment.
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Students share their writing with a partner or in turn with teammates.
Short Takes
– ABC Summary: Give each student a different letter of the alphabet & ask them to think of one word or idea beginning with that letter that is connected to the topic.
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Draw a Picture: Students create a graphic summary of the topic.
– Ticket to Leave: Give the students a question just before lunch, recess, or special area.
After they answer it, they hand it to you on their way out. Review the answers and respond in writing, use them as a starting point for the next lesson, or as a basis to reteach misunderstood information.
Learning Centers
– Station 1. Question card center (Fan-N-Pick style)
– Station 2. Journal writing center.
– Station 3. Question-starter center: student write & trade questions, answer them, then pair up & compare their answers.
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Read
Read
Read
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You are Wilfrid’s friend. He assigns you to bring something
You are Wilfrid’s friend. He assigns you to bring something
What would you bring from your home? Why?
What would you bring from your home? Why?
You are Wilfrid’s friend. He assigns you to bring something
What would you bring from your home? Why?
You are Wilfrid’s friend. He assigns you to bring something
What would you bring from your home? Why?
You are Wilfrid’s friend. He assigns you to bring something
What would you bring from your home? Why?
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1. What personal connections do you make with this story?
2. What connections does the author of the book make with the world?
3. What connections can you make between this book & other books you have read?
4. What questions did you have before you read the story?
Were they answered when you read the story?
5. Tell 5 big, fat, interesting words you find as you read this story. Why did you choose them?
6. Find 5 words from this story that would be good to act out. Explain why.
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Name__________________
Date_____________
Name__________________
Date_____________
Write an equation for each question and solve it.
Write an equation for each question and solve it.
A grandfather had 3 grandchildren. He bought each grandchild a pair of mittens.
How many mittens did he buy?
There were five children sledding on the hill.
How many legs did the children have all total?
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Molly waited for her son at the bus stop. She saw eighteen eyes on the bus. How many people were on the bus?
A girl saw 10 snowmen on her way home from school. Two had red hats, the others had green hats. How many snowmen had green hats?
Write your own story problem here and solve it.
Write your own story problem here and solve it.
There were 24 cookies in the container. The three Johnson children each wanted some.
What is the most amount of cookies each child could have if they split them evenly?
Lauren had fifteen dolls. Her mother told her she could only keep ten dolls because they were taking up too much space. How many dolls did Lauren get rid of?
Write your own story problem here and solve it.
Write your own story problem here and solve it.
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Name__________________
Date_____________
Name__________________
Date_____________
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A______________________________________________________
B______________________________________________________
C______________________________________________________
D______________________________________________________
E______________________________________________________
F______________________________________________________
G______________________________________________________
H______________________________________________________
I______________________________________________________
J______________________________________________________
K______________________________________________________
L______________________________________________________
M_____________________________________________________
N______________________________________________________
O______________________________________________________
P______________________________________________________
Q______________________________________________________
R______________________________________________________
S______________________________________________________
T______________________________________________________
U______________________________________________________
V______________________________________________________
W_____________________________________________________
X______________________________________________________
Y______________________________________________________
Z _____________________________________________________
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T icket to L eave
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T icket to L eave
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T icket to L eave
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1
If the character were alive now, what might he or she accomplish today?
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How might the world be different today if this character never lived?
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How is this character like or unlike you?
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One’s values are revealed by one’s actions. What is the most important value reflected by the actions of this person?
3
This character has come back to visit the president of the
U.S. What advice might the character give him?
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Consider the accomplishments of this character. If you were this character, of what accomplishment would you be most proud? Why?
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If you could ask this person two questions, what would they be?
Why do you want to ask them?
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This person has been granted three wishes to change today’s world.
What might they be?
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If there were one action of this person you could change, what would it be? Why?
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Describe the physical characteristics of this person. If you could change one, which one would you change? Why?
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If the character took a two-week vacation today, where might he or she choose to go and why?
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This person sits at
Suppose this person were transported to the middle of World
War II. What role might he/she play? home alone writing in a diary. He or she starts to write,
“The one thing that bothers me the most…” Finish the idea and tell why.
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You have opened a letter written to this character’s best friend. It says,
“My greatest regret is…” Finish this sentence and tell why.
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You have been granted one day to go back in history to become this person. What would you do differently?
15 You’ve been granted special powers that make you invisible and let you travel through time. What event in the life of the character would you choose to observe?
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Why?
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Write your response to the question below. Be ready to share your response.
Question :__________________________________________
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Use the question starters below to create complete questions. Send your questions to a partner or to another team to answer.
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Call on students randomly (not just those who raise their hands.)
• Remember “wait time” (ten to twenty seconds following a “higher level” question.)
•
Ask follow-ups (“Why?” “Do you agree?” “Can you elaborate?”
“Can you give an example?”)
•
Withhold judgment by responding to student answers in a nonevaluative fashion (“Thank you.” “Thanks for sharing.”)
• Ask for summary to promote active listening (“Could you please summarize Mike’s point?”)
• Survey the class (“How many people agree with the author’s point of view?”)
• Allow for student calling (“Ashley, will you please call on someone else to respond?”)
• Play devil’s advocate (require students to defend their reasoning against different points of view.)
• Ask students to “unpack their thinking” and describe how they arrived at an answer (Think-aloud.)
•
Student questioning (let students develop their own questions.)
• Cue student responses (“There is not a single correct answer for this question, I want you to consider alternatives.”)
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Bloom, Benjamin. Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals: Handbook I, cognitive domain.
New York ; Toronto: Longmans,
Green. 1956.
Kagan, Spencer. Cooperative Learning . San Clemente, CA:
Kagan Publishing. 1994.
Kagan, Spencer. Thinking Questions for Primary Literature .
San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing. 1994.
Kagan, Spencer. Thinking Questions for Social Studies . San
Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing. 1994.
Taylor, T. Roger. Strategies to Extend Student Thinking . www.dist102.k12.il.us/resources/staffresources/ igapisat/think.htm
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