Jackson Heights- Reading Comprehension

Today during internship, I was facilitating students in one of the classrooms that were reading through an FCAT practice. The students first had to look at the title and pictures, discuss prior knowledge with a partner, and then determine if the text was going to be fiction or non-fiction. Students were then asked to read the second paragraph and make inferences, question the text, and continue to make connections. Students discussed all of these things with a shoulder partner as they continued to do this until the text was complete. Once the text was complete, students were asked both higher and lower thinking level questions. As I walked around the room, many students asked what the difference was between higher level questions and lower level questions. I had to explain to them that low level questions are questions that have direct answers and not much critical thinking is really involved.  I went on to explain that higher level questions do require critical thinking and more explanation is usually involved. (REC 6.6) (REC 6.8)