Question

Costa’s Level Questioning/Inquiry Notes

Answer 1

Here’s a concise, ready-to-use guide to Costa’s Levels of Questioning (Levels 1–3) with definitions, question stems, examples across subjects, and quick teaching notes.

Overview
- Costa’s Levels of Questioning:
- Level 1 — Gathering/Recall: Locate and recall information; literal comprehension.
- Level 2 — Processing/Interpretation: Make relationships, compare, infer, summarize, use evidence.
- Level 3 — Applying/Extended Thinking: Reason, hypothesize, evaluate, design, justify; requires higher-order thinking and transfer.

Question stems (ready to use)
- Level 1 (Recall, literal)
- Who/What/When/Where?
- Define/Describe/List/Identify
- How many? Which one? What happened?
- Level 2 (Process, interpret)
- Why did… happen? How would you compare… and …?
- What evidence supports…? Infer/explain the meaning of…
- Summarize/explain the relationship between…
- Level 3 (Apply, reason, create)
- How would you design/modify/create… to…?
- What would happen if…? Predict and justify.
- Evaluate/defend/argue: Which is better and why? Formulate a solution to…
- How can you extend/apply this idea to a new situation?

Subject-specific examples
- English / ELA
- L1: What is the main idea of the paragraph?
- L2: How does the author’s choice of words create tone? What is the motive of the character?
- L3: Rewrite the ending to change the story’s theme. Defend your changes.
- Math
- L1: What is the value of x? Show your computation.
- L2: Explain two different methods to solve this equation and compare efficiency.
- L3: Create a real-world problem that can be modeled by this function. Justify your choices.
- Science
- L1: What were the variables in the experiment?
- L2: Interpret the data—what trends do you see? What explains them?
- L3: Design an experiment to test an alternative hypothesis; predict outcomes and explain reasoning.
- Social Studies / History
- L1: When did this event occur? Who was involved?
- L2: What were the causes and effects? Compare this event to another.
- L3: If you were a leader then, what policy would you propose? Evaluate likely consequences.
- Art / Music / PE
- L1: Identify the techniques used in this painting.
- L2: How does rhythm change the mood of this piece? Compare two styles.
- L3: Design a performance that communicates a specific social theme. Justify your choices.

Classroom uses and notes
- Sequence questions: use L1 to build shared knowledge, L2 to deepen understanding, L3 to push for synthesis and transfer.
- Label and teach the levels explicitly: students learn to recognize cognitive demand (metacognition).
- Use strategies: think-pair-share, Socratic circles, suspect-and-evidence prompts, exit tickets with a L2/L3 prompt.
- Differentiate: assign levels by readiness (scaffold L3 with L2 supports); use mixed-level assessments.
- Wait time: give students time to process—especially for L2 and L3.
- Assessing depth: design rubrics that value reasoning, evidence, and originality (not just correct recall).
- Common pitfalls: overusing L1 questions, asking L3 without necessary background knowledge, conflating long/complex with deep.

Quick lesson-planning checklist
- What L1 facts must students know?
- What L2 processing tasks will help them make meaning?
- What L3 task will require transfer, evaluation, or creation?
- How will I scaffold and assess each level?

If you want, I can:
- Convert this into a printable one-page handout,
- Generate 20 leveled question stems specific to a grade and subject,
- Or create an exit ticket template with L1–L3 prompts. Which would you like?