Higher Level Thinking= Getting My Art Students to Think Deep!

Higher Level Thinking= 

  

Teaching my art students to think:

• analytically
• conceptually
• comparatively
• creatively
• critically   

A nice complement to Inquiry Based Learning to address the needs of Gifted and Talented students, is the implementation of Higher Level Thinking in the classroom.
  


When higher order thinking is utilized, learning will develop on a more personalized and fully-comprehended level when thinking skills  move beyond memorization or low-level recall.  Instead, critical, creative, reflective and metacognitive thinking skills can be taught in the classroom. 

As always, being an Art Teacher, my hunt for resources related to higher level thinking and how to implement this technique is always related to its application in a visual arts classroom.   I found two one resource specifically related to higher level thinking and teaching in the visual arts on Incredibleart.org.

Inevitably, Bloom's Taxonomy came up in my search for resources over and over again; fine with me, because I love Bloom's ideas and the way he addresses questioning and thinking on higher levels is absolutely applicable in my classroom. As a teacher, I'm always looking for new ways to integrate his studies. 

The article I found (link below), was awesome!  Not only did it provide a host of resources for art teachers and Bloom's taxonomy but it included a simply series of steps to use in the classroom (also included below).
Bloom and The Arts 

 I also found a great ppt. that could be used in any classroom for higher level thinking called, " Higher Order Thinking Skills in The Classroom (H.O.T. Skills).

 Two other resources I found specifically related to an art classroom included:
Fine Arts and the HOTS (higher order thinking skills) 

H.E.A.T. in the Arts Classroom 

I can use the information from both of these sites! Providing students in my classrooms, creative modes of artistic expression can give my students the opportunity to explore personal experiences through artistic investigation and personal inquiry. These are higher level thinking skills for sure! What's nice about these sites, however, is that they provide me with a base of ideas and reminders for how to take my art projects up a notch.