THE giraffe TEST

1. THE giraffe TEST

2. 1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator? Stop and think about it and decide

3. The correct answer is: • Open the refrigerator • put in the giraffe • close the door *This question tests whether you tendto do simple things in an overly complicated way*

4. 2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator? Stop and think about it and decide

5. Did you say, Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant, and close the refrigerator? Wrong Answer. Correct Answer: • Open the refrigerator • take out the giraffe • put in the elephant • close the door. *This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your previous actions.*

6. 3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend.... except one. Which animal does not attend? Stop and think about it and decide

7. Correct Answer: The Elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. You just put him in there. This tests your memory. Okay, even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to show your true abilities.

8. 4. There is a river you must cross but it is used by crocodiles, and you do not have a boat. How do you manage it? Stop and think about it and decide

9. Correct Answer: You jump into the river and swim across. Have you not been listening? All the crocodiles are attending the Animal Meeting. This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.

10. Higher Order Thinking: An Introduction “Thinking is what happens when your mouth stops and your brain keeps working”. (Dennis the Menace)

11. The ability to think critically & ask quality questions go hand in hand. You can not do one without the other. So, what is a good question?

12. The wrong questions lead you to dead ends, yes and no answers, and simple responses that you can find with simple recall. Good questions lead to illumination, understanding, deep rooted knowledge, and inspiration.

13. A Good Question • Contributes to learning • Sparks further questions and interest in seeking answers • Involves critical and creative thinking • Goes beyond recall of basic information • Provides challenge but is not too threatening • Is appropriate to the learning situation • Builds on prior knowledge and makes connections • Involves reflection and/or planning

14. Let’s pretend we’re in class. The teacher is delivering the following lesson. You think you understand, but do you really?

15. The griney grollers grangled in the granchy gak. 1. What kind of grollers were they? 2. What did the grollers do? 3. Where did they do it? 4. In what kind of gak did they grangle? 5. Place one line under the subject and two lines under the verb. These questions test your ability to read & decode text. However, they don’t require you to think critically and analyze the material. They are often a student’s favorite because they are easy, but are they the best you deserve?

16. Try out these questions that test your critical thinking skills. We’ll really be able to tell if you understood or if you just absorbed the lesson. 6. Name two character traits associated with grollers and explain why these traits make them well equipped to grangle in a gak, granchy or otherwise. 7. In one sentence, explain why-the grollers were grangling in the granchy gak. Be prepared to justify your answer with facts. 8. If you had to grangle in a granchy gak, what one item would you choose to have with you and why?

17. Moral: You can ask & answer low-level questions without thinking. If you don’t ask the right questions you will enter & exit classrooms with no more understanding of what you've learned than "The Griney Groller" taught you! Just because you can answer a few simple or easy questions, doesn’t mean you really understand. AVID students need to take responsibility for their own learning and ask questions that lead to true knowledge.