This research study used grounded theory in an attempt to explain how 10th-grade public school students in average and advanced classes used strategies to learn material in their high school social studies classes. This study sought to understand the strategies that students used to learn information, the frequency of their strategy use, and the students' method of acquiring these strategies. The results suggested that cognitive strategy use involves the students' knowledge of cognitive strategies, a need to use the strategies, and a motivation by the students to use the strategies. Furthermore, it suggested that teachers need to stress the relevance of cognitive strategies to students and require more high-level thinking on class work and on exams.