Lesson Planning to Develop Higher Order Thinking Skills 

Research and Teaching

"It may be dangerous to teach as you were taught." 

This may be a typical quotation - but Harry and Rosemary Wong included it in their book - First Days of School as a warning to those who think they can jump right into the classroom and teach exactly as they were taught in years past.  The following includes some additional ideas from that book - which I highly recommend for great ideas on classroom management and organization for the new teacher!  Reflect on your own experience.  How were you taught?  Think back at your experiences through primary and secondary school?  How about college?  Did you spend much of your time memorizing facts and preparing for tests?  What experiences supported the most "enduring" knowledge you have acquired today?  Were you taught to think critically?  What was your most effective mode of learning?  Who was your most effective teacher?  Why?  What influence did that teacher have on you as a student?

"Education must bring the practice as nearly as possible to the theory." (Horace Mann)

Why research?

Effective Teaching and Research

A Model of Teaching that has NO Research to Support it!

Research for Teachers

 

 

 

Professor's Note

Bloom's Taxonomy

My emphasis for this lecture is on learning how to design lesson plans that focus on developing higher order thinking skills in our students.  In 1956, Benjamin Bloom, along with a group of educational psychologists, developed a classification of thinking behaviors that moved in a continuum from simple to complex.  Not only is this theory significant for understanding the process of learning, but it also is important in terms of assessment.  Bloom determined that 95% of all test questions that students encounter require only the lowest level of thinking - recall of information!  In order to help our students develop the skills to think critically, we need to emphasize not only knowledge and comprehension, but the ability to apply, analyze, synthesize and evaluate.  In terms of technology, we are bombarded with an endless supply of information through the internet and the media.  The question is - "What do we do with it?"   How do we help our students move beyond facts, dates, names, lists, and even trivia - to comprehend complex concepts, ideas, and possibilities for the future?

Bloom’s Taxonomy 

Three overlapping domains

Thinking Levels - Ask Students to:

Go to the Bloom Wheel - http://www.stedwards.edu/cte/resources/bwheel.htm

Blooming Questions

Knowledge – Recalling Information Comprehension – Understanding, Meaning Application – Using learning in a new situation Analysis – Ability to see parts/relationships Synthesis – Parts of information to create original whole Evaluation - Highest Level of Questioning

Optional Sites on Bloom's Taxonomy

Framing Essential Questions

Essential Questions are at the top of Bloom’s Taxonomy

Typical Process of Student Research

Essential Questions

Answers to Essential Questions can NOT be found

Ideal Essential Questions

From Now On - Check this wonderful website full of resources for framing essential questions.

On this website, Jamie McKenzie explains: 

"Questions may be the most powerful technology we have ever created. Questions and questioning allow us to make sense of a confusing world. They are the tools that lead to insight and understanding."

Optional Websites Emphasizing Essential Questions and Inquiry Learning:

Teaching for Understanding - Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe

Read "Understanding by Design" - http://www.ubdexchange.org/resources/news-articles/backward.html 

Indicators of Teaching for Understanding - http://www.ubdexchange.org/resources/news-articles/article4.html 

Understanding by Design is particularly helpful because you begin by looking at the "desired result."  What do you want your students to know and be able to do?  What student learning to you want to take place as a result of this lesson?  What standards are you trying to meet?  Look for information on what is called  "backwards design."  Start with the desired result - the final assessment - and go backwards through what needs to be done to get there!

Tips for Using Essential Questions

Understanding by Design

http://www.ubdexchange.org/resources/news-articles/backward.html 

 

  • Organize programs, courses, units of study, and lessons around the questions. 

  • Make the content the answers to the questions. 

  • Select or design assessment tasks, up front, that are explicitly linked to the questions. 

  • The tasks and performance standards should clarify what acceptable pursuit of, and answers to, the questions actually look like. 

  • Use a reasonable number of questions per unit (between two and five). Make less be more. 

  • Prioritize content for students to make the work clearly focus on a few key questions. 

  • Edit the questions to make them as engaging and provocative as possible for the particular age group. Frame the questions in "kid language" as appropriate. 

  • Through a survey or informal check, ensure that every child understands the questions and sees their value. 

  • Derive and design specific concrete exploratory activities and inquiries for each question. 

  • Sequence the questions so they lead naturally from one to another. 

  • Post the overarching questions in the classroom, and encourage students to organize notebooks around them to emphasize their importance for study and note taking. 

  • Help students personalize the questions. 

  • Encourage them to share examples, personal stories, and hunches, and to bring clippings and artifacts to class to help the questions come alive. 

  • Allot sufficient time for "unpacking" the questions—examining subquestions and probing implications. 

  • Be mindful of student age, experience, and other instructional obligations. 

  • Use question-concept maps to show relatedness of questions. 

  • Share your questions with other faculty to make planning and teaching for cross-subject matter coherence far more likely. 

  • To promote essential questions schoolwide, ask teachers to post their essential questions in the faculty room or in department meeting and planning areas. Circulate questions in the faculty bulletin and present and discuss them at faculty meetings. 

Essential Question Lesson Template

Title  
Grade: Subject:
Overview  
Essential Question What questions frame the main theme or idea you want students to explore and grapple with?  (2-5)

 
Subsidiary Questions These may be more factual knowledge or comprehension questions that provide information supporting the essential questions.

 
Connection to Standards Subject Matter Standard
Activities/Tasks

Procedures

What will students and teacher do?  Be specific and provide a step-by-step process for of tasks and activities.

 

What technology integration strategies are used?

 
Assessment How will students demonstrate understanding of the issues raised in this lesson, particularly in terms of the essential question? (Rubric to be included)

 
Samples of Student Work What student work will be generated - particularly in terms of portfolio artifacts for assessment?
Teacher Commentary Reflection What problems do you anticipate with this lesson?  How will this lesson fit into your overall curriculum planning?

Adapted from Urban Dreams Curriculum Template - http://urbandreams.ousd.k12.ca.us/

Teaching with Technology - 2005

Carla Piper, Ed. D.

piper@chapman.edu