Effective Questioning

Working Towards a Thinking Classroom

What is a good question? What are we looking for when children answer Who needs to be a  questions? good questioner?  When are questioning skills important outside of school? What does a good question do?

From Studies done in classrooms 1 every 2/3 seconds They tend to be RECALL questions rather than questions requiring higher level thought.

One at a No put time downs All ideas considered Build on ideas of others Active thinking Respectful challenges of ideas

Feels Like My questions will be valued I am comfortable to ask a question that challenges a point of view My peers will respond courteously when I ask a question I respect different views I am confident to ask left-of-field questions Sounds Like Looks Like Students taking initiative for asking Listening attentively to questions questions Engaging with each other’s Different types of questions being responses asked Teachers and students asking Responding positively to each questions other’s questions. Consideration given to responses A range of responses being given Think time being used to a question An ideas centred discussion rather Seeking clarification or more detail than a teacher or student centred Questions being sustained one.

A questioning friendly A questioning-friendly classroom is a place where: classroom is not a place where: Different responses to a Student responses to question are encouraged questions are put down Students build on each other’s Teachers are seen as the responses question-askers and students Students are prepared to as the question-answerers challenge or contest a Students recited a response to response a question rather than discuss Students take risks and offer it divergent ideas and opinions Students are concerned with Students generate questions expressing their viewpoint for discussions. rather than responding to what someone else has said.

Classroom Discussion Structures Engage with teacher Teacher Centred Aim to get to some teacher-decided idea Teacher asks a question or evaluates idea after every student comment Teachers helps direct students to the answers so they make progress

Classroom Discussion Structures Engage with each Student Centred other Aim is all students contribute Each comment is usually on a different point so little progress Aim is to get an outcome Some students try to dominate or it becomes a debate so little progress

Classroom Discussion Structures Students engage with Inquiry Community student ideas Students make connections & distinctions, critically evaluate, challenge and build Teacher and students ensure the inquiry is rigorous, so they make progress Better and worse answers

Look at the ‘big’ questions - the underlying concepts Example One: What is a number? Are numbers created or discovered? Could numbers be different to how they are now?

Look at the ‘big’ questions - the underlying concepts Example Two: What is ﬁtness? What is health? Is ﬁtness the same or different to health?

Look at the ‘big’ questions - the underlying concepts Example Three: What is knowledge? What does it mean to know something? Is all knowledge the same?

Look at the important questions - the questions we should strive to answer and are central to our lives Example: Friendship What does it mean to be a good friend? How shall I treat my friends? How can I be a better friend?

Look at challenging questions - when we know that children will not know the answer or even how to ﬁnd out the answer Example: Petone Foreshore Who should have the rights over the foreshore in Petone?

Single answer or limited Closed number of answers eg What is 6x6? How did you Convergent travel to school? Many possible answers and not Open only one correct answer eg How could the school Divergent assemblies be improved? Little explanation required Skinny Requires recall, knowledge and Simple comprehension eg What makes a healthy lunch? Requires a degree of Fat explanation and interpretation Complex How could you encourage children to eat healthier lunches?

Training kids into thinking question routines.

Use questioning frameworks to help extend types of questions Improvement Direct Action What are the How do we feel about... weaknesses and how and what are the can we improve it? dangers? Explanation Design What do we know and How can we make our what are the possible environment better? explanations? Emotions Caution How do we feel? What do What are the possible we know? What can we do dangers? about it? What is the conclusion? Assessment What are the good Evaluation points and how can we How well did you do... summarise them?

Event Situation Choice Person Reason Means Where/ Present What is? when is? Which is? Who is? Why is? How is? Where/ Past What did? when did? Which did? Who did? Why did? How did? Where/ Possibility What can? when can? Which can? Who can? Why can? How can? What Where/ Which Probability would? when would? would? Who would? Why would? How would? Where/ Prediction What will? when will? Which will? Who will? Why will? How will? Where/ Which Imagination What might? when might? might? Who might? Why might? How might?

http://fno.org/nov97/toolkit.html Strategic Questions Elaborating Questions What do I do next? What does this mean? How can I best approach this next What might it mean if certain step?, This next challenge? This conditions and next frustration? circumstances changed? What thinking tool is most apt to How could I take this farther? help me here? What is the logical next step? What have I done when I've been What is missing? What here before? What worked or didn't work? What have others tried needs to be ﬁlled in? before me? Reading between the lines, What type of question would help what does this REALLY me most with this task? mean? How do I need to change my What are the implied or research plan? suggested meanings?

Ask less questions Thinking Time and make them challenging Wait 3 seconds after asking question Wait 3 seconds after question answered Model Enforce

Move from the teacher as a questioner who sifts through answers looking for the ‘correct’ one Could us a li you tell tt about le more that id ea? The teacher treating each response Ho uld w else co about by a child as an opportunity to we think this? improve their thinking - being a coach for thinking!

Strategy Description Application Show your students you are Demonstrate interested in their response. Initial response may be fragmented or Use non-verbal signals such as facial expressions, a nod, listening disjointed as students grapple to clarify their ideas. eye contact, sitting forward Use probes that encourage Does anyone have a different Sustain the clarification, extension or elaboration of a response. opinion? Could you tell us a little more about that idea? Can you Question Encourage a range of responses to the one question. provide some evidence to support your view? Learn to be comfortable with Allow wait the silences so that wait time Use affirmative non-verbal signals that show engagement is extended. Tell students why time you are waiting. and provide encouragement. Affirm student responses but That’s an interesting point of Minimise avoid excessive praise which view. Yes, that’s one way. Can may silence alternative anyone add to that? Thank feedback responses. you for that idea. Redirect student responses or Would anyone like to respond comments. Breaking the sequence to that idea? What can you Vacate the floor makes students aware that talk doesn’t always have to be directed add to that response? How consistent is that response through the teacher and encourages student dialogue. with what you think?

Judge of a man by his questions rather than by his answers. Voltaire (1694 - 1778) “It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.” James Thurber (1894 - 1961)