[Higher Order Thinking] questions to ask when teaching

This year one of my goals has been to really get my littles to dig into the instruction I give and take out of it every.single.thing they can.

One way to do this is by asking them very specific questions that lead them into a higher level of thinking and reasoning.

I have to admit that I was stuck on asking the same, "WHY?" and "WHAT ELSE?" questions until one of my math endorsement teachers gave us a list of H.O.T. questions he had compiled from a state sponsored workshop.

I formatted the questions to fit address labels, printed them, and have them handy with my instructional materials so when I hear myself slip back to the same.old.questioning.techniques, I pull these out and use one or two off the list.

Some are best used over the course of instruction.

Others are best used when students are "stuck" - either with understanding or computation.

Ideally, I'd have them on cardstock, laminated, hole punched, and on a ring, but that hasn't happened yet.

Remember my friends laziness and procrastination?

Yep, been hanging out with them again.  :)

Anyway.  The image is linked to the pdf file - set to print on address labels.

2 sheets.  80 questions or so.

Give it a try if you're looking for a way to increase student learning/reasoning/discussion.

Let me know how it works for you.

And now, I really must get ready for school.

I'd rather crawl back into bed. . .