Activating Higher Order Thinking Skills
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American College of Education *
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5333
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Arts Humanities
Date
Apr 3, 2024
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docx
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4
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Activating Higher Order Thinking Skills
Jenna Hassett
American College of Education
LIT5193: Integrating Secondary Literacy and ELA Concepts
Dr. Keith Higa
October 29, 2022
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Activating Higher Order Thinking Skills
There are many ways that educators can introduce a topic, concept, or lesson to students for them to use higher order thinking skills. These skills include problem solving, decision making, and critical thinking, which have been shown to improve the development of knowledge
in students (Miri, David, & Uri, 2007). One technique that educators can implement is using images to provide context or insight for a certain subject. With these images, students can build connections and make inferences about a topic. When learning about a subject, using different text structures can be challenging for students if they are not familiar with the structure. By using
images in a lesson, students can improve skills that will support their comprehension of different types of texts. Using Images to Support Vocabulary and Comprehension Development
For the module 4 application, the educator designed a presentation that is focused on The Harlem Renaissance, a movement that expressed pride in black culture and arts. The presentation
contains ten images that are connected to the movement. The images are a mix of paintings and photographs taken and created during the time period. Each image has 3 prompts for students to think about, discuss, write about, etc. With the images and prompts, students must use inference skills and previous knowledge, both of which are significant skills required to comprehend text. When looking at these images, students must be observing, describing, comparing, investigating etc., which are fundamental parts of reading, writing, speaking, and listening (Brookhart, 2010). For example, in the presentation, students are looking at a painting and thinking about what each detail might represent and how it supports the overall message of the painting. This is similar to
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students reading a text, finding details, and explaining how the details support the theme of the text. Using images to develop and improve comprehension skills also supports students in argumentative and informative writing. For the majority of the images, students are looking at the image, observing what is happening, and making a claim. This process is making inferences based on various pieces of information. After making a claim, students are able to support it using what they see and their previous knowledge. This is the basics of writing an argument, but students are able to think through the process in a new way. Similarly, with informative writing, students are using what they see and what they already know to inform a person on the topic of the Harlem Renaissance. The texts listed on slide 3 demonstrate different structures, but they are all informing readers on the significance of the movement. Therefore, students are developing and practicing these writing skills by looking at the images, completing the prompts, and exploring various text structures. Conclusion
In English language arts classes, typically students are focused on reading and writing and do not have many opportunities to practice using reading and writing skills in different contexts. By using images, teachers can improve interest and engagement while having students develop and improve comprehension. Additionally, these skills will help students in other content areas and outside of school. Using higher level questions as prompts allows students to reason, reflect, and make decisions without any constraints. As teachers learn more about the benefits of higher order thinking skills, education might transform into a system that promotes higher level thinking instead of students simply recalling information.
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References
Miri, B., David, B. C., & Uri, Z. (2007). Purposely teaching for the promotion of higher-order thinking skills: A case of critical thinking. Research in science education
, 37
(4), 353-369.
Brookhart, S. M. (2010). How to assess higher-order thinking skills in your classroom
. ASCD.