critical thinking question stems

The Harriet W. Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning

Questions to provoke critical thinking.

Teaching Resources
Classroom Practices
Discussions and Seminars

Varying question stems can sustain engagement and promote critical thinking. The timing, sequence and clarity of questions you ask students can be as important as the type of question you ask. The table below is organized to help formulate questions provoking gradually higher levels of thinking.

Lower Levels

Higher levels.

1 From Alison King, “Inquiring Minds Really Do Want to Know: Using Questioning to Teach Critical Thinking,” Teaching of Psychology 22 (1995): 14.

Grades 6-12
School Leaders

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70 Higher-Order Thinking Questions To Challenge Your Students (Free Printable)

Plus 45 lower-order thinking questions too.

Want to help your students make strong connections with subject material? Ensure you’re using all six levels of cognitive thinking. This means asking lower-order thinking questions as well as higher-order thinking questions. Learn more about them here, and find plenty of examples for each.

Plus get a printable sheet featuring all the higher-order and lower-order thinking questions featured below.

Lower-Order Thinking Skills Questions

Higher-order thinking skills questions, what are lower-order and higher-order thinking questions.

Bloom’s Taxonomy is a way of classifying cognitive thinking skills. The six main categories—remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, create—are broken into lower-order thinking skills (LOTS) and higher-order thinking skills (HOTS). LOTS includes remember, understand, and apply. HOTS covers analyze, evaluate, and create.

While both LOTS and HOTS have value, higher-order thinking questions urge students to develop deeper connections with information. They also encourage kids to think critically and develop problem-solving skills. That’s why teachers like to emphasize them in the classroom.

New to higher-order thinking? Learn all about it here. Then use these lower-order and higher-order thinking questions to inspire your students to examine subject material on a variety of levels.

Remember (LOTS)

Who are the main characters?
When did the event take place?
What is the setting of the story?

Where would you find _________?
How do you __________?
What is __________?
How do you define _________?
How do you spell ________?
What are the characteristics of _______?
List the _________ in proper order.
Name all the ____________.
Describe the __________.
Who was involved in the event or situation?

Who was involved in the event or situation?

How many _________ are there?
What happened first? Next? Last?

Understand (LOTS)

Can you explain why ___________?
What is the difference between _________ and __________?
How would you rephrase __________?
What is the main idea?
Why did the character/person ____________?

Why did the character/person ____________?

What’s happening in this illustration?
Retell the story in your own words.
Describe an event from start to finish.
What is the climax of the story?
Who are the protagonists and antagonists?

Who are the protagonists and antagonists?

What does ___________ mean?
What is the relationship between __________ and ___________?
Provide more information about ____________.
Why does __________ equal ___________?
Explain why _________ causes __________.

Apply (LOTS)

How do you solve ___________?
What method can you use to __________?
What methods or approaches won’t work?

Provide examples of _____________.
How can you demonstrate your ability to __________.
How would you use ___________?
Use what you know to __________.
How many ways are there to solve this problem?
What can you learn from ___________?
How can you use ________ in daily life?
Provide facts to prove that __________.
Organize the information to show __________.

Organize the information to show __________.

How would this person/character react if ________?
Predict what would happen if __________.
How would you find out _________?

Analyze (HOTS)

What facts does the author offer to support their opinion?
What are some problems with the author’s point of view?
How does the author use symbolism in this text?
What common features do these characters share?
How does the setting affect the characters and plot?
What was a character’s motivation for a specific action?

What was a character's motivation for a specific action?

Compare and contrast two main characters or points of view.
Discuss the pros and cons of _________.
How would you classify or sort ___________?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of _______?
How is _______ connected to __________?
What caused __________?
What are the effects of ___________?
How would you prioritize these facts or tasks?
How do you explain _______?
What patterns can you identify in the data, and what might they mean?
Which method of solving this equation is most efficient?
Using the information in a chart/graph, what conclusions can you draw?
What does the data show or fail to show?
What is the theme of _________?
Why do you think _______?
What is the purpose of _________?
What was the turning point?

Evaluate (HOTS)

Is _________ better or worse than _________?
What are the best parts of __________?
How will you know if __________ is successful?
Are the stated facts proven by evidence?
What are the potential drawbacks?
Was ______________ justified in their actions and choices?
How does historical context affect your view of the person’s actions?
Is the source reliable?

What makes a point of view valid?
Are any perspectives or points of view missing?
Did the character/person make a good decision? Why or why not?
Which _______ is the best and why?
What biases can you identify in this text?
How effective are/were the laws or policies in achieving their goals?
What are the biases or assumptions in an argument?
What is the value of _________?
Is _________ morally or ethically acceptable?
Does __________ apply to all people equally?
How can you disprove __________?
Does __________ meet the specified criteria?

Does __________ meet the specified criteria?

What could be improved about _________?
Do you agree with ___________?
Does the conclusion include all pertinent data?
Does ________ really mean ___________?

Create (HOTS)

How can you verify ____________?
Design an experiment to __________.
Defend your opinion on ___________.
How can you solve this problem?
Create a new character for the story, then describe their background and impact.
How would you turn this story into a movie? What changes would you make to the plot and why?
Rewrite a story with a better ending.

How can you persuade someone to __________?
Make a plan to complete a task or project.
How would you improve __________?
What changes would you make to ___________ and why?
How would you teach someone to _________?
What would happen if _________?
What alternative can you suggest for _________?
Write a new policy to solve a societal problem.
How would you handle an emergency situation like ____________?
What solutions do you recommend?
How would you do things differently?

What are the next steps?
How can you improve the efficiency of this process?
What factors would need to change in order for __________?
Invent a _________ to __________.
What is your theory about __________?

Get your free printable with higher-order and lower-order thinking skills questions

Just enter your email address on the form on this landing page to grab a copy of our printable sheet featuring all of the higher-order and lower-order thinking questions featured above. It’s perfect to keep on hand for use during lesson planning and instruction.

What are your favorite higher-order thinking questions? Come share in the We Are Teachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.

Plus, 100+ critical thinking questions for students to ask about anything ., you might also like.

What is Higher Order Thinking? #buzzwordsexplained

What Is Higher-Order Thinking and How Do I Teach It?

Go beyond basic remembering and understanding. Continue Reading

Simplify your teaching now, using Bloom’s Taxonomy Question Stems

Do you know all the question stems for each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy ? This is your resource if you’re teaching in the class or online!

Bloom’s Taxonomy question stems is a tool for educators that will help them create and scaffold questions to meet the needs of their learners. Knowing where to start when setting a question for your students can be challenging, but you’ll have all the tools necessary with this resource!

Bloom’s taxonomy is a multi-layered model for encouraging learning by progressing through six levels of increasing complexity. Bloom’s taxonomy encourages learners to engage with knowledge at a deeper and more interactive level, working with what they are learning in the real-world sense rather than passively taking information on board.

Bloom’s Taxonomy questions

An ideal way for a teacher to engage students is to plan questions that can be used in class discussions or as written assignments. Bloom’s Taxonomy provides a framework for structuring these questions from lower- to higher-order thinking. The use of questions in the classroom works best if they follow these guidelines:

The questions are planned and closely linked to the objectives of the lesson
A climate for open discussion is generated in the classroom , i.e. there are no stupid answers
Questioning follows the teaching of content or skills
Closed questions are used to check understanding and recall; open questions are used to generate discussion and debate
Questions are planned to increase through the cognitive levels from lower-order thinking to higher-order thinking

A valuable tool for teachers to use to generate questions is question stems. Question stems are used to generate questions that respond to each level in the taxonomy. Below is a comprehensive list of question stems for all levels that teachers in the class can use.

Question Stems

Remembering is the act of retrieving knowledge and can be used to produce things like definitions or lists. The student must be able to recall or recognise information and concepts. The teacher must present information about a subject to the student, ask questions that require the student to recall that information and provide a written or verbal assessment that can be answered by remembering the information learnt.

Can you name all the …?
Describe what happens when …?
How is (are) …?
How would you define …?
How would you identify …?
How would you outline …?
How would you recognise…?
List the … in order.
What do you remember about …?
What does it mean?
What happened after?
What is (are) …?
What is the best one?
What would you choose …?
When did …?
Where is (are) …?
Which one …?
Who spoke to …?

The next level in the taxonomic structure is Understanding, defined as the construction of meaning and relationships. Here, the student must understand the main idea of material heard, viewed, or read and interpret or summarise the ideas in their own words. The teacher must ask questions the students can answer in their own words by identifying the main idea.

Can you clarify…?
Can you illustrate …?
Condense this paragraph.
Contrast …
Does everyone think in the way that … does?
Elaborate on …
Explain why …
Give an example
How can you describe
How would you clarify the meaning
How would you compare …?
How would you differentiate between …?
How would you describe…?
How would you generalise…?
How would you identify …?
Is it valid that …?
Is this the same as …?
Outline …
Select the best definition.
State in your own words
This represents …
What are they saying?
What can you infer from …?
What can you say about …?
What could have happened next?
What did you observe?
What does this mean?
What expectations are there?
What information can you infer from…?
What is the main idea of …?
What restrictions would you add?
What seems likely?
What seems to be …?
What would happen if …?
What would happen if …?
What are the facts?
Which statements support …?

The third level in Bloom’s taxonomy, Applying, marks a fundamental shift from the pre-Bloom learning era because it involves remembering what has been learnt, understanding the knowledge, and applying it to real-world exercises, challenges or situations. Students must apply an abstract idea in a concrete case to solve a problem or relate it to prior experience. The teacher must provide opportunities for students to use theories and problem-solving techniques in new situations and review and check their work. Assessment questions should be provided that allow students to define and solve problems.

Can you group by characteristics such as …?
Choose the best statements that apply.
Clarify why …
Do you know of another instance where …?
Draw a story map.
Explain why a character acted in the way that he did
From the information given, can you develop a set of instructions about …?
How could you develop …?
How would you change …?
How would you demonstrate…?
How would you develop … to present?
How would you explain …?
How would you modify …?
How would you present…?
How would you solve …?
Identify the results of …
Illustrate the …
Judge the effects of … What would result …?
Predict what would happen if …
Tell how much change there would be if …
Tell what would happen if …
What actions would you take to perform …?
What do you think could have happened next?
What examples can you find that?
What other way would you choose to …?
What questions would you ask of …?
What was the main idea …?
What would the result be if …?
Which factors would you change if …?
What do you think…?
Why does this work?
Write a brief outline …
Write in your own words …

Analysing is the cognitive level where students can take the knowledge they have remembered, understood and applied, then explores it to make associations, discernments or comparisons. Students should break down a concept or idea into parts and show relationships between these parts. Teachers must give students time to examine concepts and their requisite elements. Students are required to explain why they chose a solution.

Can you distinguish between …?
Can you explain what must have happened when …?
Determine the point of view, bias, values, or intent underlying the presented material.
Discuss the pros and cons of …
How can you classify … according to …?
How can you compare the different parts?
How can you sort the different parts…?
How is … connected to …?
How is … similar to …?
How would you categorise…?
How would you explain?
If … happened, what might the ending have been?
State the point of view of …
What are some of the problems of …?
What assumptions …?
What can you infer about…?
What can you point out about?
What conclusions …?
What do you see as other possible outcomes?
What does the author assume?
What explanation do you have for …?
What ideas justify the conclusion?
What ideas validate…?
What is the analysis of …?
What is the function of …?
What is the problem with …?
What motive is there?
What persuasive technique is used?
What statement is relevant?
What was the turning point?
What were some of the motives behind …?
What’s fact? Opinion?
What’s the main idea?
What’s the relationship between?
Which events could not have happened?
Why did … changes occur?
Why do you think?

The fifth level in Bloom’s Taxonomy is evaluation. This level requires the learner to make criteria-based judgements through the processes of critiquing and checking. Students must be able to make informed judgments about the value of ideas or concepts. They must use standards and criteria to support their opinions and views. The teacher must provide opportunities for students to make judgments based on appropriate criteria and have students demonstrate this using standards and benchmarks.

Can you defend your position about …?
Determine the value of …
Do you believe …?
Do you think … is a good or bad thing?
Find the errors
How could you verify …?
How effective are …?
How would you determine the facts …?
How would you feel if …?
How would you grade …?
How would you have handled…?
Is there a better solution to…?
Judge the value of …
Rank the importance of …
Rate the …
What are the alternatives?
What are the consequences of…?
What are the possible outcomes for…?
What are the pros and cons of…?
What changes to … would you recommend?
What choice would you have made …?
What criteria would you use to assess…?
What data was used to evaluate …?
What do you think about …?
What fallacies, consistencies, inconsistencies appear?
What influence will … have on our lives?
What information would you use to prioritise?
What is the most important …?
What is your opinion of …?
What sources could you use to verify…?
What would you suggest ?
Which is more important, moral, better, logical, valid, appropriate?
Who will gain and who will lose?
Why is … of value?

The final taxonomic level involves taking various elements and creating a new, coherent product. This level draws on all other levels, with the learner remembering, understanding and applying knowledge, analysing and evaluating outcomes and processes, and then constructing the end product, which may be either physical or conceptual. Students must now be able to combine parts of knowledge to form a whole and transfer these skills into new situations. The teacher must provide opportunities for students to demonstrate they can assemble parts of knowledge into a whole using creative thinking and problem-solving.

Can you brainstorm a better solution for…?
Can you create new and unusual uses for …?
Can you design a … to …?
Can you develop a proposal which would…?
Can you see a possible solution to …?
Devise a way to …
How many ways can you…?
How would you compile the facts for …?
How would you elaborate on the reason …?
How would you generate a plan to …?
How would you improve …?
How would you portray …?
How would you test …?
If you had access to all resources, how would you deal with …?
List the ways you can…?
Predict the outcome if …
Propose an alternative. How else would you …?
What changes would you make to revise …?
What could you invent …?
What facts can you gather …?
What would happen if…?
Why don’t you devise your own way to …?

If you are a teacher looking for ways to engage your students in learning, this blog post might be interesting for your classroom practice. Bloom’s Taxonomy question stems can help elicit higher-order thinking skills and promote critical thinking among learners at different taxonomy levels. These question stems can also encourage students to reflect on their knowledge before answering questions.

How do you use Bloom’s Taxonomy in your teaching? Let me know if this resource is helpful to you. I’d love to hear about how this blog has helped or not helped your classroom!

9 thoughts on “Simplify your teaching now, using Bloom’s Taxonomy Question Stems”

Yes exactly I get it and I enjoyed a lot but how can I download this?

Hi Robert. I can make it into a PDF to download if you want?

Yes, could I get a PDF copy please?

Thank you for this extensive, comprehensive tool. The stems themselves offer much food for contemplation and a springboard for writing one’s own questions.

Thank you for clarifying the type of questions under each section. Could I have this information in PDF to share with my peers.

Dear Sir, May I have permission to down load the question stems you provide on this web site? JMB

Sure thing James

What an amazing resource for teachers! Thank you so much! I am going to be doing a PD on questioning, do you have a PDF I can share with my staff?

Thanks Melissa!

No PDF unfortunately …