Instructional strategy that allows teachers to adjust or vary questions to challenge and meet students at their individual learning needs.

1. Adjusting Questions
Mahogany Collins

2. What is the Adjusting Questions Strategy?
 Adjusting Questions is all about tailoring your discussion questions to fit the
learning development and readiness of your students.
 Teachers may start with higher level questions, but ADJUST to fit the needs of other
students with greater needs.
 Teachers can use Blooms Taxonomy to help create depth in their class discussions
and help facilitate thought provoking questions and answers from students.
 These questions are normally created before the lesson, but can arise during the
lesson to further conversations.
 Simply put…it’s what you should already be doing in your classroom..

3. Appeal to Learning Style
 This learning style is great for all students. It allows all students to be exposed to in
depth questioning and also learn from their peers when sharing.
 The adjusting questions is set to begin at a higher tier (which is great for our gifted
students), but teachers can modify questions to help those students who need
more explanation or guidance understanding.
 Can be open or closed questions to help those students who may have difficulty
with articulating or explaining their thoughts.

4. Diverse Learners
 Students who have reading or comprehension levels below grade level would probably
have issues with this strategy when it comes to higher level questioning.
 Be sure to allow ‘wait time’ – can increase student involvement and gives students more
time to process information.
 Difficulty/complexity of questions can make students feel as though the strategy is a
challenge. Try to rephrase question, give more information or break down into smaller
increments to help.
 This allows more chances to talk with peers and builds comprehension.
 Allows thriving students to even educate or share beyond the content what they know.

5. Classroom Implementation
 Implementing this strategy wasn’t difficulty (used with compare and contrasting stories
– theme, plot and setting).
 Some questions used:
 How does the author approach the themes in both texts? What is theme?
 Peter Rabbit has managed to enter your garden three times in the past week and eaten several
of your vegetables. How would you manage this situation to prevent another intrusion by
Peter?
 Did the author always leave you with a similar feeling about people and life in each book? If so,
how and explain your feeling supporting it with details or events from the text. (Or how did
you feel after reading…?)
 How did the stories compare and contrast, in terms of the basic story elements? (What was the
plot in story one? What was the setting in story two?)
 I would use one of the higher tier questions to begin a discussion, but choose another
student (who may need more assistance) and ask a question that was suitable for their
learning ability.

6. Classroom Implementation (Adjustments)
 I would continue using the strategy, definitely use more in small groups for
students who may need it more
 Ask more questions that lead to better extended responses
 Actually write the questions out ahead of time (not just in the lesson plan)

7. Suggestions
 Definitely begin using with whole group (allows all students the chance to be
involved in discussion and learn from peers)
 Ask questions that require extended responses (helps further discussions)
 Be sure to choose questions in advanced that is tailored to the rigor or depth
you’re trying to achieve
 Plan or write your questions out (scripting); arrange in a logical sequence (lower to
higher, specific to general, etc.)
 Probing (Asking further questions for explanations from students)
 Be sure to refocus the discussion, if students’ responses are off context, by tying in
the students’ responses to the topic being discussed

8. Resources
 Illinois CITL (Teaching and Learning)
 https://citl.illinois.edu/citl-101/teaching-learning/resources/teaching-
strategies/questioning-strategies
 American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education
 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3776909/