HOTS & Analysis & Interpretation Tips
Tip #1 (Choosing The Thinking Skill)
The student should FIRST choose the thinking skill and then answer the question using that skill. Answers will vary according to the skill that has been chosen.
Sample HOTS Question
At the end of the story Waverly thinks to herself: “Opposite me was my opponent, two angry black slits. She wore a triumphant smile.” How does Waverly see her relationship with her mother at this point in the story?
Thinking skill I chose: Distinguishing different perspectives
Answer: Waverly and her mother look at Waverly’s success at chess differently. As Waverly becomes a better chess player, she sees it as a way to assert her independence. For example, she tells her mother to stop embarrassing her when she takes her to the market to show her off. But her mother views Waverly’s success as a way to bring honor to the family. You can see this when she brags about Waverly in the market and treats her differently than her brothers. Their different perspectives cause Waverly to see her mother as her rival.
Words in the answer to show the use of HOTS: look at, to see, views
TASK: Now read the answer below. What thinking skill did this student use to answer the same question?
Thinking skill I chose: ___________________________
Answer: As Waverly becomes more successful at chess, she begins to assert her independence. Her mother, however, tries to control Waverly by watching over her as she practices and giving her advice. Mrs. Jong’s behavior leads to a conflict between Waverly and her mother that reaches its peak in the market, when Waverly is disrespectful and runs away from Mrs. Jong. At this point in the story, Waverly sees her mother as her rival.
Words in the answer to show the use of HOTS: ___________________________________
Notice that the answer to the same question is written completely different because the student chose a different thinking skill BEFORE writing the answer.
Tip #2 à (How to answer Analysis & HOTS Questions)
Students MUST provide examples from the text in their answer. In each question you must:
(1) Answer the question
(2) Explain your answer
(3) Provide sufficient examples
Example Requirements for Analysis & Specific HOTS Questions
- Analysis Questions: You must provide two examples to support your answer.
- Explaining Cause & Effect: You need an example of the cause AND an example of the effect.
- Distinguishing Different Perspectives: There must be TWO perspectives AND you must have at least one example for each perspective (that means at least TWO examples).
- Explaining Patterns: There must be at least TWO different examples of the same pattern.
- Inferring: You must state the EXACT SPECIFIC DETAIL from the text that you used to make the inference. Also, remember that you cannot infer something that you have been told explicitly.
- Comparing & Contrasting: You MUST discuss both the similarities and differences if the question calls for it. In this case, you must give an example for both the similarities and differences. If the question only calls for you to compare or contrast, you must do so and provide two examples to support your answer.
- Problem Solving: You must state specifically what the dilemma is as well as the solution. You must also provide examples supporting the answer that the question calls for.
Examples
Sample Analysis Question from "Rules of The Game": The title of the story refers to the game of chess but chess is also a metaphor. Explain.
In order to correctly answer this question, students needed to:
• Answer the question - State what the metaphor is: “Chess is a metaphor for life.
• Explain: In both life and chess, you need to follow rules to succeed.
• Give examples:
1. Think ahead before moving pieces: Waverly does this with her chess pieces. She also thinks before asking her mother to play in a chess tournament in order to come up with a way to get her agreement.
2. One needs to keep captured men in neat rows. Waverly does this in chess. She is also pleasant to all her opponents (even when one wrinkles his face at her).
Final Answer: Chess is a metaphor for life. In both life and chess, you need to follow rules in order to succeed. For example, in chess Waverly learns that she has to think ahead before moving a chess piece. She cannot move her pieces impulsively. This rule can be applied to life. One needs to be patient and think ahead to succeed. Waverly thinks ahead before asking her mother to play in a chess tournament in order to come up with a way to get her agreement.. Another rule in chess is to keep captured men in neat rows. This means to treat all people (even your enemies) with respect. Waverly is always pleasant to her opponents (even when one wrinkles his face at her).
Sample HOTS Question From “A Summer’s Reading”: Will George Stoyonovich from "A Summer’s Reading" read all the books?
Thinking Skill: Explaining Patterns
In order to answer the question correctly students must:
• State the answer to the question: No, George will not read all the books.
• Explain the answer (using the thinking skill vocabulary): He has shown a pattern of behavior of not completing what he starts. He will start to read the books but will stop just like he has stopped everything else that he has started in his life.
• Provide the correct amount of examples: He dropped out of school and quit every job he had after quitting school.
Final Answer: No, George will not read all of the books. He has a pattern of behavior of not completing what he starts. He dropped out of school and he quit every job he had after quitting school. He will start to read the books, but he will stop, just like he has stopped everything else that he has started in his life.
TASK: SPOT THE ERRORS!!!! Look at the following answers. What thinking skill was used? What is missing from each answer?
1. The Wave: How has David's perspective changed by the end of the experiment?
David's perspective changed about The Wave when he hurt Laurie. At that point he understood what something that made him hurt people he loves could not be a good thing.
Thinking Skill: ___________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
2. The Wave: Laurie says, "There were good things about The Wave. It couldn't be all bad, or no would have joined in the first place." Would Robert agree with Laurie? Support your answer with information from the novel.
Robert would agree with Laurie that there were good things about the Wave. Robert would probably not have joined in the first place if it was all bad. Robert didn't like his situation before The Wave.
Thinking Skill: _________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
3. A Summer's Reading: When George first meets Mr. Cattanzara he lies to him about reading books because he wants his respect. Why is Mr. Cattanzara's respect so important to George? Support your answer with information from the story.
Respect is very important to George. Because respect is such a meaningful thing for George he also wants Mr. Cattanzara's respect.
Thinking Skill: ____________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
4. The Road Not Taken: How does the speaker finally decide which road to take?
The speaker has a dilemma. In order to solve this dilemma he first looks down road number #1 as far as he can see until he cannot see it anymore (because his view is blocked by the undergrowth which represents the unknown future). He then looks down the second road, the one that does not seem to have been traveled on before because the leaves are not trodden upon. He weighs the pros and cons of each road and finally chooses the road not taken.
Thinking Skill: ___________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. Mr. Know All: If you had been on the ship with Mr. Kelada, would you have disliked him as much as the narrator did? Explain.
The narrator's opinion of Mr. Kelada is very negative but I would have liked him. I think he is well-read and a good conversationalist. He is warm and friendly and tries to organize activities on the ship. He also turns out to be a sensitive, kind man ready to sacrifice his reputation to save Mrs. Ramsay's marriage.
Thinking Skill: _____________________
____________________________________________________________________
To obtain answers to this task email Dana with a copy of the completed assignment at: danal@binyamina.ort.org.il
To obtain a downloadable version of this workshop (click here)