Questions…How to ask’em to get’em thinkin’
This post has been awhile in coming…
Ever since Nashworld posted about the Art and Science of Questioning, I’ve been thinking about the moves teachers can use to facilitate classroom discussions. In Sean’s post, he described his role as a coach in gathering questioning behaviors of students and teachers.
I loved it. I’m hoping my teachers will too. We can really see how our questioning techniques can enhance and also hinder student learning. In my role as a coach, there are a myriad (Sidenote: I’m sorry, but I’ve loved that word ever since the movie Heathers) of ways we can tackle the art and science of questioning.
My Five Faves
When we start looking at questioning, here are my personal top five favorite questioning strategies.
1. Write out questions you plan to ask while preparing your lesson.
As silly as this seems, having a set of questions written down can ensure the path of learning you want to take, stays the course. You most likely will want to have the essential questions to be answered as well as clarifying questions you will ask throughout the activity to guide the discourse.
2. Make sure you have a variety of questions prepared.
Think of the process skills (compare/contrast, summarizing, inferences, etc.) and scaffold questions to build your learning goals.
3. To help move away from ping pong responses (teacher to student to teacher to student questioning), create prompts to promote student to student conversations.
In Classroom Discussions: Using Math Talk to Help Students Learn, Suzanne Chapin describes several methods to promote “Talk Moves”. You may want to have students summarize what someone else said, extend or expand on a topic, or see if a student may agree.
- Can you repeat what Maggie just said in your own words?
- Do you agree with Trevor’s reasoning? Why or why not?
- Who thinks they can explain why this happened?
4. Provide opportunities for structured student to student social interactions.
There is enough research out there on how cooperative structures can foster increased retention of information. Pepper a discussion with sidebars. If you ask students to “Think, Write, Pair, Share” prior to beginning a classroom conversation, many students will be more willing and comfortable with responding.
5. Wait time… Wait time… Wait time…
Since college, we’ve been drilled with, “Wait two seconds before you call on a student.” But did you know, I’ve been hearing about additional wait times?
- Wait Time One–Some research states wait at least 10 seconds to allow students to think before calling on a student. This is especially important for questions that require deeper thought.
- Wait Time Two–Once you call on a student, give them at least the same amount of time to allow them to organize their thoughts.
- Wait Time Three–yes THREE– After a student responds, wait some MoRe before responding or asking a question. In the book Checking for Understanding by Fisher and Frey, they describe several gains that occur if you give this 3rd wait time. Students will expand on their own responses, they will go deeper and reflect more, and other students will respond and continue the conversations..
Questions, let’s ask’em to get’em thinkin’!
Artwork Thanks: Hand by Thomas Hawk on Flickr
Thinking Beyond by Carf on Flickr
January 28th, 2009 at 12:22 am
How could you NOT like this post? It starts off so perfectly.
So I kid.
However, this is a really simple and solid reminder of one of the most basic of teaching strategies (arts?) In fact, #3 is really cool. I would consider myself a pretty conscientious questioner. I think the “talk moves” mentioned here both reaffirm some of the things I do every day, as well as make me think of some simple ways to enhance this even further. Good link- thanks.
I was glad to get this update… I missed reading your stuff.
And PS- never again apologize for the word myriad!
Sean
January 28th, 2009 at 10:35 am
Great ideas! I have also heard that wait time has increased, especially with the level of the question(s). If you ask a simple question on Level 1, sure the wait time would be less. But if you are asking the students of something of more explanatory, you would give them extra time to think about it. Sometimes if a kid doesn’t give “enough” information, I have given them “time” and then try to probe them further, if it doesn’t work with that student, then I go to another and ask if they can add to “so, so’s” response. After doing this a few times, I am able to generate a better student discussion. It helps get the student-student conversations going better, instead of me and student.
I have written down questions in my lesson plans before, or I have also taken the questions that are Level 1 or 2 from the book guidelines and turn them into more thought provoking questions and write them onto sticky notes and put them in my teacher’s edition near where I would like to ask the questions. I also ask a lot of questions using the pictures and illustrations since the kids love to skip that area. Teaching science, this allows a lot of feedback from the students.
January 28th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
@Jarusha,
It’s always good to talk science and teaching with you! Why oh why did you move to Chicago??? I agree with everything you said, so I’m just going to say “Ditto” and thanks for adding a comment! Great idea about adding the sticky notes to the text as you have students process informational text.
@Sean,
It looks like I’ll be getting great ideas for some time. I still think about your Bitstrip of Erin thinking, “Anyone?” There are times that has been me in the front of the room!
I also was impressed with the “Talk Moves” ideas from number three. This has stemmed from my reading all about Substantive Conversations as I have looked to improve questioning both in my classroom and rooms of a few teachers.
January 28th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
First of all, apologies for my nom de plume. I actually received a letter at school several years ago with it on it. Soon I will change my profile to reflect my true identity
It is always good to revisit the skill of questioning. I clearly remember when a good friend became an instructional coach, as she mastered the skill, many times practicing on me. I was in awe.
Preparing questions prior to class certainly helps to stay on track, but it also increases the probability that the questions get asked, especially the ones from the upper echelons of Bloom’s taxonomy. I’m going to use the three wait times in class tomorrow. I just need to make sure to write that down so I’ll remember to do it!
Jincy
January 31st, 2009 at 4:31 pm
@Jincy,
You crack me up! I’m reading the entire comment thinking, “Who in the world is Gypsy Throttle???” I think it suits you. : ) Yes, ever since Sean’s post on questioning, I’ve been trying to find ways to improve mine.
Practice makes perfect!