1. Thinking Skills
The taxonomy we will be using has been adapted for literature teaching from Bloom’s and Anderson’s Taxonomies.
Adapted from Tarlinton, 2003 1

2. The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be ignited.
(Plutarch) 2

3. Lower Order Thinking Skills (LOTS)
Who?
What?
Where?
When?
Do you know?
Can you identify?
(NOTE: LOTS include setting, characters, events, vocabulary, identifying conflict/ problem/issue) 8

4. Higher Order Thinking Skill (HOTS): Predicting
How do you think ______will react?
How do you think the story will end?
What do you think _____ will decide to do?   20

5. Higher Order Thinking Skill (HOTS): Applying
How can you apply ___ to your own life?
How can you apply ___ to something else you have learned? 18

6. Higher Order Thinking Skill (HOTS): Inferring
What do you think the character meant when s/he said, “___”?
What does ___’s behavior suggest? What is the purpose or function of this information?
What different meanings can be inferred from this line in the poem? 19

7. Higher Order Thinking Skill (HOTS): Sequencing
Sequence the events in chronological order.
How do flashbacks affect our understanding of the text/plot?
Why do you think the author jumbled the chronology? 9

8. Higher Order Thinking Skill (HOTS): Identifying parts and whole
How does one part of the story contribute to your understanding of the whole text?
How does the title/ending relate to different parts of the story/poem/play?
What does the rhyme scheme of the poem contribute to the whole poem? 10

9. Higher Order Thinking Skill (HOTS): Classifying
Categorize the characters according to their relationships/values.
Classify the main parts of the story into sections and sub-sections. Give titles to the sections of the story 11

10. Higher Order Thinking Skill (HOTS): Comparing and contrasting
Compare and contrast the conflicts (problems /dilemmas etc) in two stories/ poems
Use a Venn Diagram, or charts to compare and contrast characters (themes/ issues)
Compare and contrast the text and the film
Compare and contrast the cultural
conventions in the text with your own
cultural background.
Higher Order Thinking Skill (HOTS): Comparing and contrasting 12

11. Higher Order Thinking Skill (HOTS): Explaining patterns
Explain why certain lines/ phrases/words are repeated.
What behavior does the character repeat?
Where is the rhyme scheme of the poem broken and why?
Higher Order Thinking Skill (HOTS): Explaining patterns 13

12. Higher Order Thinking Skill (HOTS): Explaining cause and effect
What were the results of ‘s action?
What caused to think that -----? 14

13. Do you share the same perspective as the narrator? Explain.
Higher Order Thinking Skill (HOTS): Distinguishing different perspectives
Identify how different characters respond to a central event in the story.
How does your understanding of the characters’ actions/events in the story change as you read?
Do you share the same perspective as the narrator? Explain.
How does your understanding of the story/the character/the scene differ from others in your class? 15

14. Higher Order Thinking Skill (HOTS): Problem solving
Define the problem facing the protagonist.
How should ___ decide what to do?
What should ____ take / have taken into account?
How might ____ prevent ___?
What is the central conflict in this text and how is it resolved? Explain.
What dilemma does ____face at this point in the story? 16

15. Higher Order Thinking Skill (HOTS): Uncovering motives
Why do you think that x did y? Support your answer.
What made ___ change his/her mind? Give supporting details. 21

16. Higher Order Thinking Skill (HOTS): Generating possibilities
Create a new character for the story. Explain how s/he will affect the development (or outcome) of the story.
Generate possible options for characters
Plot outcomes / sequels or prequels.
Add an element/an event to the existing text that influences the development / and or the outcome of the plot . 22

17. Higher Order Thinking Skill (HOTS): Synthesizing
Write a summary of the story.
How does information we learn later in the text change the way we understand a character/issue/conflict? 23

18. Higher Order Thinking Skill (HOTS): Making connections
How does the description of the setting connect to the characterization of __?
To what extent do events in the text reflect events in the life of the author?
How does your understanding of the story/the character/the scene differ when you learn about a topic related to the literary text? 24

19. Higher Order Thinking Skill (HOTS): Evaluating
What makes this a good story? Explain.
Is ___ a believable character? Explain.
Is the resolution of the conflict satisfying? Explain.
Do you agree with ___’s analysis of the story? Explain. 25