HOT Question

October 29, 2010 | Posted in: Class Updates

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In the first month and a half of school, the students in our class focused on crafting well written short-answer responses (SAR) to higher order thinking (HOT) questions.  This is an ongoing process, one started in third grade and not likely to end before college!  After reading a story called Donavan’s Word Jar, we learned how to identify lessons that a character learns during a story.  The students responded to a brief prompt, and as a class, we reviewed anonymous student responses and identified the strengths and areas in need of improvement.  In small groups, the kids traveled around and provided feedback on 12 students’ responses.  I was so pleased with how well the kids did this in a sensitive and collegial way.  Then, as a whole group, we examined the student responses, scored them based on the CMT rubric (0-2 points), and reviewed the feedback that I provided on the papers.  Next, the students got their responses back and were able to privately read my feedback.  Based on what they learned, students revised their responses, and in most cases, the quality improved.  These responses went home today.