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How to Encourage High-Level Thinking

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This activity was developed to help students start to think outside the box and deeper into a piece of literature. If you go to www.minds-in-bloom.com you will see a blog post from me on Rachel Lynette’s site. Rockin Resources originated this product and has full ownership. It should not be used for commercial purposes, copied for others or on websites, or used as your own. Fonts Used: KB Blackout, Teen Graphics: Microsoft Background: Graphics by Coffee, Kids and Compulsive lists at h#p://coffeekidsandcompulsivelists.blogspot.com.au/ Frames

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Sincerely, Pam Olivieri [email protected] Check me out for more ideas! www.rockinresources.com www.facebook.com/rockinteachingresources https://twitter.com/rockinresources http://pinterest.com/rockinresources http://instagram.com/rockinresources

How to Encourage Higher-Level Thinking

Whether it is Bloom’s Taxonomy, Richard Paul’s Wheel of Reasoning, or the Depth of Knowledge, providing lessons with higher-level thinking questions and activities are necessary for students to become successful in today’s assessment craze. Smarter balance requires the students to reason and analyze with citing evidence to support answers. No matter what your school has adopted, students need to be critical thinkers. They need to take a text and rip it apart for meaning. What is an effective way to get your students thinking at a deeper level? Let me share what works well for my students. 1.  To begin, choose a challenging story. Junior Great Books is a way to

provide thought-provoking material. They have been used in the GT classes for years and now Common Core suggests that regular education should implement Junior Great Books as well. However, any thought-provoking story will work for this activity!

2.  Once the story is selected, the first lesson is to make predictions from the title and pictures, then simply listen to the story.

3.  Before the second reading of the story, review CHARACTER TRAITS AND POSSIBLE THEMES. I use my smart board to discuss the posters and give my students a copy of both of them for their reading notebook.

4.  Then, we reread the story together for meaning. While working on the second reading of the story, JGB provides teachers with a common theme for students to identify throughout the story and use for discussion. If it is not a JGB story, be prepared with a common theme that is found throughout the book. Students mark the theme with sticky notes and jot down any notes to use for discussion. However, after we practice this a few times, I like my students to identify their own theme to explore. Keep in mind that there may be more than one theme. Many times students find the theme that the author purposefully woven in the story! Most often, the theme is related to a character in the story. Did the character change in any way? Did the character learn something? Did the character display a character trait?

©Pam Olivieri (Rockin Resources)

For chapter books, we start looking for a theme right away since we certainly don’t have the time to read it twice. For example, in Ghost of Fossil Glen, students may focus on “truth.” Ali didn’t tell her parents about the ghost or her theories of the murder. Students begin marking the areas in the book with sticky notes where the concept of truth or dishonesty may be evident. They may also go back to look for more evidence (especially if a meaningful theme wasn’t detected right away.) If I had it my way, every student would be able to write in each book we read and analyze! Wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing? 5.  When finished citing evidence of the theme, students organize the

sticky notes onto the EVIDENCE WEB.

6.  The next step is to form questions for discussion. Since I’ve been teaching for some time (we won’t discuss how long), I’ve used several different thinking and reasoning models over the years. With that being said, my questioning format and samples not only align to Richard Paul’s Wheel, but also fall into the “Strategic Thinking” level of Web’s Depth of Knowledge and “Higher-Order” thinking in Bloom’s Taxonomy. Using student resources (CRITIQUE QUESTIONS and EVIDENCE WEB), students begin to create their own questions and write them onto the REASONING WEB.

7.  Once completed, hold discussion groups with students who have similar themes. I ask all groups to come up with a summary of their discussion as well as synthesizing. Then come together as a class. One person from each group shares their theme and summarizes the discussion.

8.  Then, if plausible, ask the members of the group to synthesize. Did you change your opinion after the discussion?

9.  To wrap up the story, provide a writing assignment related to one of the themes found in the story. Ex. Think of a time you weren’t completely truthful. Explain the situation and your reasoning for not revealing the truth. Would you make the same decision if it happened again?

I hope you find this as an effective tool to use in your classroom! Have a fabulous school year!


A adventurous affected affectionate afraid aggressive alert ambitious amiable angry animated annoyed anxious apologetic appreciative attentive awkward

List of Character Traits

B babyish bad bashful bewildered blasé blowhard boastful bold boorish bored bossy brainy brave bright brilliant busy

C calm capable carefree careless cautious charismatic charming clumsy cold-hearted committed compassionate confident consistent cooperative courageous curious

D dainty daring demanding dependable determined devoted diligent discontented discouraged discreet disloyal disorganized dissatisfied doubtful dreamer dutiful

E eager easygoing efficient eloquent embarrassed encouraging energetic enthusiastic evil exacting excessive excitable expert

F faithful fearless feisty ferocious fidgety fierce finicky flexible foolish forgetful forgiving fortunate frightened frustrated fun loving fussy

G generous gentle giddy giving glamorous gloomy glum graceful grateful greedy grouchy guilty gullible

H handsome hard-working hardy harsh hateful haughty Healthy hesitant honest hopeless hospitable hot-tempered humble humorous

I imaginative Immaculate Immature immobile Impatient impolite Impulsive Inactive Inconsiderate Indecisive independent Innocent Insecure Insistent Intelligent Inventive

J-K Jealous Jolly Jovial Joyful Judging Keen Kind Kindly


N nagging naïve naughty neat negligent nervous nice noisy

O obedient obese obliging obnoxious observant open opinionated optimistic organized outgoing outspoken overweight

P patient patriotic peaceful persistent persuasive pessimistic picky plain playful pleasant pleasing polite positive precise primitive proper proud punctual

Q quarrelsome questioning quick-tempered quiet

R rational realistic reasonable rebellious reckless relaxed reliable religious repulsive reserved resourceful respectful responsible restless rigid risk-taking rowdy ruthless

S satisfied scheming scrawny secretive secure self-confident selfish sensitive sentimental serious shy sincere skillful sneaky soft-hearted spoiled stern stubborn studious successful supportive suspicious

T tactful talented talkative tardy thankful thorough thoughtful thoughtless thrifty thrilled timid tired tireless tolerant touchy trusting trustworthy truthful

U unconcerned uncoordinated undependable understanding unforgiving unfriendly ungrateful Unhappy unique unkind unmerciful unselfish unsuitable upset useful

V-Z vacant vain violent virtuous warm weak wicked Wild willing wise wishy-washy withdrawn witty worried Wrong young zany

L lazy leader lean liar light limited lively logical lonely loud lovable loving loyal lucky

M malicious mannerly materialistic mature mean meek messy meticulous mischievous miserable moody mysterious


Possible Themes What does the author deem really important in this book? What is the “big idea” in the story? What lesson is being taught?

Abandonment Acceptance Aggression

Bully behaviors Changing personalities Changing viewpoints

Changing way of thinking Cooperation Compassion Courage

Family dynamics Frustration Honesty Loneliness

Morals- Right vs Wrong Patience

Perseverance Positive vs negative

Respect Selfish

Self-discipline Responsibility Trustworthy


Evidence Web

Name__________________________________

Theme

Story___________________________________

Evidence pg.__

Evidence pg.__

Evidence pg.__

Evidence pg.__

Evidence pg.__ Evidence pg.__

Finding a Theme


Critique Questions Author’s Craft : Analyze the author’s word choice. Did the author use any literary devices to depict the theme? How does the author’s word choice affect interpretation of the story? Compare and Contrast/ Differentiate How are the characters similar? How are the characters different? Is there more than one setting or plot? If so, compare and contrast. Connect Ideas: Can you relate the theme to yourself or something in your life? Can you connect the theme to another character, event, or message of another text? Can you connect the theme to something in our current news, in the world, or past history? Explain: In your own words, what does the theme of your story mean to you? Hypothesize/ Assumptions: What assumptions did the (author or characters or you) make? Is that always true? Theory/imagine Implications: What are the consequences? What might happen if…? Inferences: Is there something the author doesn’t really say, but wants you to understand? Is there a cause or effect that can be identified? The author wants me to think…… I’m guessing….. because…… Did you change your thinking? Explain.


Logical Argument/Issues/Concerns/Problems: Is there an idea that some people might disagree with? What does the author, you or others think about it? Is the theme an issue? If not, could it be? Point of View/Bias: From whose point of view is the story told? Is there another perspective on this? Would someone else feel differently about this? Does the point of view change throughout the story? Does the point of view affect interpretation of the story? Purpose: Why did the author write this book? Why did the author choose this theme? Why are we debating this issue? Solution/Draw Conclusions: Can there be an alternate solution? Justify or critique the conclusion.

AFTER DISCUSSION: Summarize: What are the main points of the discussion? What did the majority of the group think about the theme or selection? What are the key words and phrases used for the theme? Synthesize: Did you change your idea? Did you change your generalization? Did you change your opinion? Did you change a pattern?


Reasoning Web

Theme

Discussion question

Discussion question Discussion question

Discussion question

Discussion question

Discussion question


Name__________________________________ Story___________________________________

Reasoning Questions with Ghost of Fossil Glen Theme: Truth Assumptions: What was Ali’s assumption about telling her parents about the ghost? Author’s Purpose: How do you think the author feels about friendships and truth? What evidence supports this? Connection: Did you ever have to keep a secret? If so, did you feel truthful? Explain. Explain: What does truth mean to you? Inference: How did Ali feel about keeping her secret? How did the author show that Ali was struggling to tell her parents the truth? Implications: If Ali told her parents everything about the ghost in the beginning, what may have happened? Logical Argument: Is it important to tell your parents everything even if they won’t believe you? Morals: Was it right or wrong for Ali to keep the truth about Lucy’s ghost a secret from her parents? Point of View: Was anyone affected by Ali’s secrets? Summarize- Sum up all the important points of the discussion about truth. Synthesize- Did you change your opinion about Ali keeping the secret from her parents?


Reasoning Questions

Theme: ________________________

Assumptions: ______________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Author’s Purpose: ___________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Connection: ________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Explain: ___________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Inference: _________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Implications: _______________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Logical Argument: ___________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Morals: ___________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Point of View: ______________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Summarize: _______________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Synthesize: ________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________


Name__________________________________ Story___________________________________

Book Response Reasoning

1. Explain what the theme means to you. ___________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

2. How is the theme related to characters in your story? ____________________

_________________________________________________________________________

3. How would the story be different if this theme wasn’t woven into the story?

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

4.  What connections do you have to this theme?

5.  Is there something about this theme that could be an issue or argument? Explain.

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

6.  Can you think of an alternate solution with your theme in mind? __________

____________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

Name_________________________ Story______________________________

Theme__________________

Text-to-Self______________________________________________________________________________Text-to Text ______________________________________________________________________________Text-to World _____________________________________________________________________________


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