How to use these prompts: Level One questions check recall and basic understanding (verbs: name, list, define, identify). Level Two questions require analysis, explanation, or comparison (verbs: explain, analyze, compare, classify). Level Three questions ask students to imagine, plan, evaluate, predict, or create (verbs: imagine, plan, evaluate, predict, invent). Below is the completed table with questions at each level. Use them as-is or adapt to your grade and content.
| Topic | Level One (recall, identify, list) | Level Two (analyze, compare, explain) | Level Three (imagine, plan, evaluate, predict) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Science | Name the elements that make up water. | What characteristics of hydrogen and oxygen enable them to bond so readily? | How might the Earth’s vegetation and climate be different if the water molecule was nonpolar? |
| Math | What is the definition of a trapezoid? | Compare a trapezoid to a triangle in terms of sides, angles, and area formulas. | Create a real-life situation where knowing about trapezoids would be useful (e.g., designing a garden bed, roof, or ramp). |
| ELA | What is a metaphor? | Explain how the author uses metaphors in the poem and what effect they produce. | Imagine you are the main character: how would you handle the story's conflict? Explain your choices. |
| Social Studies | Recite the Preamble to the Constitution. | Explain how war can affect a country's economy. | Predict how technology might change the way governments work in the future. |
| Science (cells & plants) | Identify the main parts of a cell (e.g., nucleus, cytoplasm, cell membrane, mitochondria, chloroplasts). | How are the systems of a car (engine, cooling, fuel, exhaust) like the organelles and systems of a cell? | Make a plan for an experiment to test plant growth under different light and water conditions (state hypothesis, variables, controls, and steps). |
| Math (fractions, decimals, percents) | List these numbers: 1/2, 0.8, 35% (convert them if asked). | Arrange the following numbers in order from smallest to largest: 1/2, 0.8, 35% (show your conversions and reasoning). | What must be true about a data set if its median is higher than its mean? Explain with an example. |
| ELA (character & setting) | Describe the setting of the story (time, place, mood, important details). | Analyze the character’s intentions in the scene: what do they want and why? | Judge whether the ending of the novel was fair to all characters—support your opinion with evidence from the text. |
| Social Studies (American Revolution) | Recall three causes of the American Revolution. | Explain how involvement in war impacts the economy (consider spending, trade, and labor). | Evaluate how the American Revolution influenced other countries' revolutions (provide examples and reasoning). |
| Science (project planning) | List the steps of the scientific method you will use for your science fair project. | Explain how you would choose an appropriate control and variables for your experiment. | Make a plan to complete your science fair project: timeline, materials list, data collection methods, and safety precautions. |
| Math (mean & median — final set) | Define the mean (average) and the median of a data set. | Given the data set {1, 2, 3, 100}, calculate the mean and the median and compare them. What does this tell you about skew? | What must be true about a set of data in which the median is larger than the mean? Explain what this indicates about the distribution and give an example. |
| ELA (perspective) | Who is the protagonist of the story and what is one thing they want? | Analyze the character's motivations in the central conflict—what internal and external factors drive them? | Imagine you were in the character’s position: how would you react and why? Describe the likely consequences of your choices. |
| Social Studies (population) | Name three factors that determine a country's population growth (e.g., birth rate, death rate, migration). | Explain how birth rate, death rate, and immigration each affect population growth and demographic structure. | Predict the population of the U.S. in 2050 if it continues to grow as it has for the past 10 years—state your assumptions and show your method. |
Tips for teachers: 1) Label each prompt with the intended level when you give it to students. 2) For assessment, require evidence (calculations, text citations, data tables) for Level Two and Three responses. 3) Differentiate by changing complexity (smaller data sets, shorter texts, scaffolding steps) while keeping the same cognitive demand.