At the TESOL 2014 Convention in Portland, we presented a talk on the literature program that is part of the high school English syllabus in Israel. Using a piece of literature, Human Family by Maya Angelou, we explored the various higher order thinking skills that can help students understand and enjoy the stories, poems, and plays which are now part of the Israeli high school curriculum. Participants joined us in defining and exercising skills such as inferring, generating possibilities, recognizing different perspectives, cause and effect, and comparing and contrasting.

Too often, students (and their teachers) make do with the "who-what-where-when" level of text comprehension (lower order thinking skills), thus limiting their involvement with both language and literature. We decided to show how rising above this level and using higher order thinking skills will advance students' learning processes—not only in the English classroom, but also in the wider world.

Participants were encouraged to share their own ideas and experiences with literature in the English language learning environment. The audience of about 65 conference participants was very responsive to what we had to say with many offering their own experiences of teaching literature and higher order thinking skills. It was also very interesting to hear people's responses to what is actually happening in the learning environment in Israel without getting involved in politics and relying on preconceived ideas about the Middle East.

Eleanor Satlow teaches in the junior high school of the Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem. The students at this school are required to study the regular school curriculum alongside many hours of specialized tuition focusing on the performing arts.