Want to help your students make strong connections with subject material? Ensure you’re using all six levels of cognitive thinking as laid out in Bloom’s Taxonomy. Lower-order thinking questions encourage students to remember, understand, and apply knowledge. This builds the foundation for higher-order thinking questions, which challenge them to analyze, evaluate, and create.
New to higher-order thinking? Learn all about it here. Then use the lower-order and higher-order thinking questions and stems listed here to inspire your students to examine subject material on a variety of levels.
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Lower-Order Thinking Skills Questions
The bottom three levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy are referred to as the lower-order thinking skills (LOTS). It’s important to note that even though these skills are considered lower on the pyramid, they’re still extremely important. Think of these as the foundational skills students must have to support their higher-order thinking. Questions like these help encourage kids to use their lower-order thinking skills.
Remember (LOTS)
- Who are the main characters?
- When did the event take place?
- What is the setting of the story?
- Where would you find _________?
- How do you __________?
- What is __________?
- How do you define _________?
- How do you spell ________?
- What are the characteristics of _______?
- List the _________ in proper order.
- Name all the ____________.
- Describe the __________.
- Who was involved in the event or situation?
- How many _________ are there?
- What happened first? Next? Last?
Understand (LOTS)
- Can you explain why ___________?
- What is the difference between _________ and __________?
- How would you rephrase __________?
- What is the main idea?
- Why did the character/person ____________?
- What’s happening in this illustration?
- Retell the story in your own words.
- Describe an event from start to finish.
- What is the climax of the story?
- Who are the protagonists and antagonists?
- What does ___________ mean?
- What is the relationship between __________ and ___________?
- Provide more information about ____________.
- Why does __________ equal ___________?
- Explain why _________ causes __________.
Apply (LOTS)
- How do you solve ___________?
- What method can you use to __________?
- What methods or approaches won’t work?
- Provide examples of _____________.
- How can you demonstrate your ability to __________.
- How would you use ___________?
- Use what you know to __________.
- How many ways are there to solve this problem?
- What can you learn from ___________?
- How can you use ________ in daily life?
- Provide facts to prove that __________.
- Organize the information to show __________.
- How would this person/character react if ________?
- Predict what would happen if __________.
- How would you find out _________?
Higher-Order Thinking Skills Questions
The top three levels make up the higher-order thinking skills (HOTS), also known as critical thinking skills. When students use these skills, they delve deeper into information. Rather than simply accepting facts, they explore the reasons behind them and make cause-and-effect connections. They evaluate the validity of facts and use them to synthesize new concepts, ideas, and inventions. Use these questions and stems to challenge your students to think critically on any subject.
Analyze (HOTS)
- What facts does the author offer to support their opinion?
- What are some problems with the author’s point of view?
- How does the author use symbolism in this text?
- What common features do these characters share?
- How does the setting affect the characters and plot?
- What was a character’s motivation for a specific action?
- Compare and contrast two main characters or points of view.
- Discuss the pros and cons of _________.
- How would you classify or sort ___________?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of _______?
- How is _______ connected to __________?
- What caused __________?
- What are the effects of ___________?
- How would you prioritize these facts or tasks?
- How do you explain _______?
- What patterns can you identify in the data, and what might they mean?
- Which method of solving this equation is most efficient?
- Using the information in a chart/graph, what conclusions can you draw?
- What does the data show or fail to show?
- What was a character’s motivation for a specific action?
- What is the theme of _________?
- Why do you think _______?
- What is the purpose of _________?
- What was the turning point?
Evaluate (HOTS)
- Is _________ better or worse than _________?
- What are the best parts of __________?
- How will you know if __________ is successful?
- Are the stated facts proven by evidence?
- What are the potential drawbacks?
- Was ______________ justified in their actions and choices?
- How does historical context affect your view of the person’s actions?
- Is the source reliable?
- What makes a point of view valid?
- Are any perspectives or points of view missing?
- Did the character/person make a good decision? Why or why not?
- Which _______ is the best and why?
- What biases can you identify in this text?
- How effective are/were the laws or policies in achieving their goals?
- What are the biases or assumptions in an argument?
- What is the value of _________?
- Is _________ morally or ethically acceptable?
- Does __________ apply to all people equally?
- How can you disprove __________?
- Does __________ meet the specified criteria?
- What could be improved about _________?
- Do you agree with ___________?
- Does the conclusion include all pertinent data?
- Does ________ really mean ___________?
Create (HOTS)
- How can you verify ____________?
- Design an experiment to __________.
- Defend your opinion on ___________.
- How can you solve this problem?
- Create a new character for the story, then describe their background and impact.
- How would you turn this story into a movie? What changes would you make to the plot and why?
- Rewrite a story with a better ending.
- How can you persuade someone to __________?
- Make a plan to complete a task or project.
- How would you improve __________?
- What changes would you make to ___________ and why?
- How would you teach someone to _________?
- What would happen if _________?
- What alternative can you suggest for _________?
- Write a new policy to solve a societal problem.
- How would you handle an emergency situation like ____________?
- What solutions do you recommend?
- How would you do things differently?
- What are the next steps?
- How can you improve the efficiency of this process?
- What factors would need to change in order for __________?
- Invent a _________ to __________.
- What is your theory about __________?
Lower- and Higher-Order Thinking Skills Questions FAQs
What is Bloom’s Taxonomy?
Bloom’s Taxonomy is a way of classifying cognitive thinking skills. The six main categories—remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, create—are broken into lower-order thinking skills (LOTS) and higher-order thinking skills (HOTS). LOTS includes remember, understand, and apply. HOTS covers analyze, evaluate, and create. Teachers use these categories to help students make strong, deep connections with materials as they learn.
What are higher-order thinking questions?
Higher-order thinking questions urge students to develop deeper connections with information. They also encourage kids to think critically and develop problem-solving skills. That’s why teachers like to emphasize them in the classroom. These questions often start with stems like “What would happen if …?” or “Compare and contrast …”. Learn more about higher-order thinking here.
Is higher-order thinking more important than lower-order thinking?
Higher-order thinking and lower-order thinking work together to help students think intelligently and critically about any subject. Students must have strong lower-order thinking skills so they can remember information and understand its meaning. Only then can they dig deeper to analyze and evaluate, asking important questions and turning what they’ve learned into something new and valuable. Teachers should emphasize both types of thinking in their classrooms.
What are LOTS and HOTS?
These abbreviations are used to describe the six levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy of cognitive thinking skills. LOTS stands for lower-order thinking skills, which include remember, understand, and apply. HOTS stands for higher-order thinking skills, also known as critical thinking skills, which include analyze, evaluate, and create. Teachers help students develop both LOTS and HOTS, building both foundational and critical thinking skills as they learn.
How can I use higher-order thinking questions in the classroom?
Higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) questions can help your students dig more deeply into material, no matter what subject you teach. These critical thinking questions encourage kids to explain their reasoning, analyze information and use it to draw conclusions, and make connections between concepts. Try using these questions during read-alouds or as journal or essay prompts. In math and science classrooms, these questions are great follow-ups after hands-on practice or experiments, as students explain their thinking and explore their results. Every teacher at every grade level can use HOTS questions with their students!
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