HOTS = Higher Order Thinking Skills Applying Marzano’s Taxonomy to the Middle School Classroom (My students will use this resource to understand the process of learning using higher order thinking skills.) C.Sweat Bloom’s Taxonomy served as motivation for Marzano to expand on the topic of developing higher order thinking skills. Marzano explained each level of learning and offered key words to help teachers, parents, and students better understand the process of learning at a higher level. HOTS = Higher Order Thinking Skills www.dbms.ccs.k12.nc.us/teacher%20resou/Marzano.htm

A Note to My Students: Please read the enclosed information and take note of the “key words to remember.” They will be helpful as you review for the writing test and the EOG. Understand what each question on the test is asking of you.

Marzano’s Levels of Comprehension and Understanding Knowledge…….what you know Organizing…….organize (separate) the info Applying……….apply (add) prior knowledge Analyzing……..analyze (break it down) Generating……form your own ideas Integrating…...prior knowledge + new info Evaluating…….assess value or worth

KNOWLEDGE Have you ever been asked to repeat or paraphrase something for a teacher? Then, he/she was assessing your knowledge, what you know, of the subject. Key words to remember: define, repeat, identify, label, list, name, who, what, or when.

ORGANIZING During this phase of learning, we begin to sort through the information and break it apart into categories. Students might prepare charts, maps, or pictures to illustrate what they have learned. Key words to remember: compare, contrast, differentiate, order, classify, distinguish, or relate.

APPLYING Let’s say you are in social studies and studying Africa. The teacher gives you new statistics on a country in Africa and you raise your hand to tell the class you recently heard of that country on Channel One. You begin to apply what you already knew to what the teacher is teaching. Key words to remember: apply, illustrate, demonstrate, complete, show, solve, examine, modify, classify, or experiment.

ANALYZING Break apart the whole topic and find relationships between the sections, look for cause and effect of a problem, or separate each step in the plot of a story. Start with the big topic and break it apart into little categories. Then, understand how one part depends on another and why. Key words to remember: subdivide, categorize, break down, sort, or separate.

GENERATING Begin to form a hypothesis (educated guess) about what will take place next in a story, or in a process. Generate your own thoughts. Use what you know, combine it with new information, and begin to speculate. Key words to remember: hypothesize, predict, infer, deduce, anticipate, conclude, apply, or explain.

Prior Knowledge + New Information INTEGRATING Prior Knowledge + New Information = New Understanding Use parts of an old idea to create a new one by summarizing or restructuring the topic. Key words to remember: combine, integrate, formulate, compose, design, theorize, create, plan, design, or modify.

EVALUATING When we evaluate, we explain whether something is right or wrong, good or bad, or maybe the best solution for something. For example, one type of writing prompt you encounter is an evaluative prompt wherein you have to decide and prove that one thing is better than another. Key words to remember: evaluate, argue, judge, assess, debate, critique, defend, or appraise.

Students… Read questions carefully. Underline or write down the key words in the question. Take notes with a Thinking Map to visually divide the information. Remember that the focus of higher order thinking skills questions is to help you understand the relationship of one topic to another and to help you focus on deeper issues within the text. As you develop higher order thinking skills, you become prepared for the 21st century, globally competitive learning environment.

Think… Infer Predict Discuss Interpret Confirm Evaluate Classify Sort