How can I help students develop their higher order thinking skills?

Higher Order Thinking (HOT) is a necessary skill to develop. Sadly many students only encounter
higher order thinking at school and do not carry this thought process back home. One way I’ve found to
encourage higher order thinking in classrooms is to make parental contact and ask for support at home.
I ask parents to frame these questions in the guide of casual conversation. Asking open ended questions
that do not have a simple “yes”, “no”, or “right” answer allow kids to converse about the material
without fear of being wrong.

Sample questions that can be used both in class and at home to spark conversation are:

“What do you think will happen next?”

“Does this remind you of something from your personal experience?”
“Can you tell me about what you read/did/learned about/studied today?”
“Why did he/she act that way? Why would they make these choices?”
“Can you explain/show me that in another way?”
“How is _______ different from __________?”

While this may seem like a strange project I’ve had some success. Parents and students stay engaged as
to what is happening in my class and students work on HOT skills at home. As a US History teacher I’m
never at a loss for a controversial topic of conversation. Getting parents and kids to engage in an open
dialogue is rewarding as well.