101 Great Higher-Order Thinking Questions for Reading

In order to skyrocket students’ reading comprehension, it’s essential that teachers incorporate a variety of higher-order thinking questions.

Higher-order thinking questions require an open-ended response that goes beyond the ability to answer literal questions.

These types of questions demand a higher level of critical thinking that prompts students to become problem-solvers as they read, making connections to bigger concepts beyond the text. 

In the process, students analyze, evaluate, predict, and consider alternative explanations.

It’s not a hard task to begin using higher-order thinking questions for reading comprehension in the classroom. 

It’s as simple as adding a few additional questions to your list of reader response questions or asking students a few more questions that involve higher-order thinking skills before, during, and after reading. 

Whatever literacy task students are working on, incorporate these higher-order thinking questions for reading so that they tap into higher-level knowledge. 

These H.O.T.S questions are going to serve your students well. Their test scores will improve plus they’ll become highly proficient readers and thinkers.

101 Higher-Order Thinking Questions for Reading

Following you will find examples of higher-order thinking questions for reading that can be used with fiction or informational text.

Remember

• Can you tell me what is _____?

• What does this word mean?

• Will you describe what happened after_____?

• What do you remember about the main events of the story?

• Who was it that_____?

• What actions do you recall from the character?

• When did _____?

• What important details do you recall from the story?

• Where does the story take place?

• What happened before_____?

• Who are the main characters?

• What is a _____?

• Will you explain why_____?

• Why do you think these changes occurred?

• What new facts did you learn after reading the text?

• When does the story take place?

• What text features do you find on this page?

Understand

• How would you compare the two main characters?

• What can you infer about _____?

• How would you describe the main character?

• What would happen if the main character_____?

• Who do you think _____?

• How would you summarize this part?

• What is the difference between ____ and _____?

• How would you clarify the meaning of this word?

• What is the main idea of this section?

• Could you elaborate on what you mean by_____?

• How can your answer be illustrated?

• What do you think is the problem?

• How do you think the character felt when_____?

• What can you say about this character?

• How would you restate _____?

• What is something interesting that you observed in this chapter?

• How would you compare and contrast_____ and _____?

• Can you explain what the author means when she says…?

• What parts of the story are confusing to me?

• In your own words, what is _____?

• How could you illustrate this part?

• What do you think the character was thinking when_____?

• How does this text feature help you to understand the book better?

• What do you mean when you say_____?

Apply

• What would have happened if _____?

• How else could the character have chosen to _____?

• What examples from the book support the notion that _____?

• What dilemma does the main character face?

• If _____ happened, how would the ending have been different?

• What questions do you have for this character?

• Can you provide examples to prove that?

• What information from the text validates your position?

• Are you able to illustrate_____?

• How would you have solved this problem?

• How could you demonstrate how these two characters are different?

• What questions would you ask the author?

• How did you figure that out?

• When is this reading strategy helpful?

Analyze

• What can be inferred about_____?

• How did the character’s feelings change throughout the story?

• Why do you think the author_____?

• How would you analyze the main character’s actions?

• What is the problem with_____?

• How does this match what you thought you knew?

• How is this idea connected to _____?

• Does this part of the text remind you of anything?

• Which events could not have occurred if _____?

• Why do you think the character _____?

• How did you come to that conclusion?

• What explanation would you give for_____?

• How is (character) similar to (another character)?

• What evidence in the book supports your thinking?

• How are the two settings similar?

• What was the turning point in the story?

Evaluate

• What evidence can you find in the book to prove that _____?

• In what ways could you use figurative language to explain this part better?

• What caused _____ to ______?

• Do you think it was correct for the character to_____? Why or why not?

• What would have happened if _____?

• Why do you think the character chose this course of action?

• How can you gather facts about_____?

• What final outcome do you predict?

• Why do you think the author chose to _____?

• What alternative ending would you suggest?

• How would you portray this book as a movie?

• What do you think was the character’s motivation in doing that?

• If you were that character, would you_____? Why or why not?

• Why do you think the author wrote this?

• What do you think the character will do next and why?

• How would you feel if_____?

• What are the consequences of _____?

• Would you recommend this book to someone else? Why or why not?

• How can you find out_____?

• What might _____ think about this?

Create

• What is your opinion of the character’s actions?

• Which evidence from the book did you use to evaluate _____?

• What do you imagine would have been the outcome if ____ had made a different choice?

• What is your opinion of this book?

• What would you suggest _____?

• What would have happened if _____?

• Do you agree with the outcome of the story? Why or why not?

• What new ending do you envision?

• Which part was most important and why?

• What is your favorite _____?

Final Thoughts On Higher-Order Thinking Questions for Reading

Boost students’ reading comprehension and critical thinking abilities using higher-order thinking questions for reading.

Download higher-order thinking questions for reading in PDF form.

Related: You may be interested in reading comprehension passages for practicing higher-level thinking skills.