HIGH LEVEL EFFECTIVE

Questioning

The POWER of

Leads to deeper student understanding

Promotes critical thinking and creative problem solving

WHY effective questions CAN BE SO POWERFUL

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Allows you to differentiate with every student

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Raises the rigor in your classroom

Ensures cognitively demanding instruction

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Questions that drive the thinking of our students and causes their brains to work.

Effective questions

What are 5 ways we can use HLQ to help with cognitively demanding instruction?

• Probing questions
• Building schemas
• scaffolding learning
• Desinging complex tasks
• engaging in metacognition

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When a student gives a response, are you ready with another question to either get more or to explore the root of the response?

PROBING

1.

Common follow-up questions

• “Can you explain what you mean by that?”
• “Can you say that in a different way?”
• “What is your main idea?”
• “Can you give an example?”
• “Why do you think that?”
• “What evidence supports your answer?”
• “How did you come to that conclusion?”
• “What makes you say that?”
• “Can you add more detail?”
• “What else could you include?”
• “Can you build on that idea?”
• “What might happen next?”

Helping students to see the big picture. Often times this is the why.

Creating schema

2.

1. Start with the “big idea”

Ask yourself:

What concept or theme do I want students to understand deeply?

Examples:

• Change
• Power
• Identity
• Systems
• Perspective

2. Turn the idea into a “why” or “how” question

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Avoid questions that can be answered with a fact.

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Instead of:

“What caused the American Revolution?”

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Try:

“Why do people challenge authority?”

3. Make it debatable (no single right answer)

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A good essential question:

• Can be answered in multiple

ways

• Requires justification and

evidence

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Test it:

Could two thoughtful people disagree? If yes, you’re on track.

4. Keep it open-ended and transferable

It should apply beyond one lesson or unit.

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Weak:

“What are the three branches of government?”

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Strong:

“How should power be balanced to prevent abuse?”

5. Use student-friendly but concept-rich language

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Avoid overly academic wording, but keep depth.

6. Avoid yes/no or overly narrow phrasing

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Instead of:

“Is conflict necessary?”

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Try:

“When is conflict productive?”

7. Connect to real life or human experience

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The best essential questions feel relevant.

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Examples:

“What makes something fair?”

“How do we decide what is worth knowing?”

“Why do people take risks?”

8. Use strong question stems

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These help generate open-ended thinking:

How…

Why…

To what extent…

In what ways…

When is/are…

What should…

Examples Across Content Areas

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ELA

“How do stories shape identity?”

“What makes a voice powerful?”

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Math

“How can patterns help us make predictions?”

“When is an estimate better than an exact answer?”

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History

“How does perspective shape our understanding of history?”

“When is rebellion justified?”

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Science

“How do systems maintain balance?”

“What causes change in natural systems?”

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Final Checklist

Your essential question should:

• Be open-ended
• Require thinking, not recall
• Have no single correct answer
• Connect to a big idea
• Encourage ongoing discussion

How can you build on lower level questions to get students to tackle higher level ones?

Scaffolding

3.

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• Remember – What are items used by Goldilocks while she was in the Bears’ house?

Using Goldilocks and the Three Bears

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• Understand – Explain why Goldilocks liked Baby Bear’s chair the best.

• Apply –What would Goldilocks use if she came to your house.

• Analyze – Compare this story to reality. What events could not really happen?

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• Evaluate – Judge whether Goldilocks was right for entering the Bears’ house. Defend your opinion.

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• Create – Imagine how the story would change if the bears had simply locked the front door.

• Language Arts
• LL – Identify the tone in the sentence with the adjective.
• HL – Change the tone in the sentence with the adjective.
• Math
• LL – Solve the equation.
• HL – Modify the equation.
• Science
• LL – Explain how chemical change works.
• HL – Validate how chemical change works.
• Social Responsibility
• LL – Name three examples of hallway etiquette.
• HL – Rank three examples of hallway etiquette.

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Introduction of content

Application of content

Mastery of content

More lower level questions to check for understanding

More middle level questions to put understanding into practice

More higher level questions to manipulate the content in a relevant/real-world situation

How many lower level questions as compared to higher level questions do you ask in your classroom?

Question

How can you add layers of complexity simply by asking the right questions?

Complexity

4.

Original Question + (Why / How / What If / Defend / Compare) = Higher-Level Thinking/Complexity

Multiple Perspectives:

• How would different groups view this issue?

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Constraints:

• How would your answer change if resources were limited?

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Connections:

• How does this relate to something in the real world?

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Uncertainty:

• What information is missing, and how does that affect your conclusion?

Add Layers

These two prompts are simple but powerful:

What if…?

Encourages hypothetical and flexible thinking

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Math - What if you had to solve this without using a calculator?

ELA - What if the story were told from the antagonist’s perspective?

History - What if the printing press had never been invented?

Science - What if the Earth stopped rotating for a day?

Why does it matter?

Pushes relevance and deeper meaning

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Math - We learned about probability. Why does it matter when making decisions?

ELA - The character chose to forgive instead of fight. Why does it matter?

History - The Industrial Revolution changed the economy. Why does it matter for our lives now?

Science - We learned about deforestation. Why does it matter for the planet?

Work with Time

• Tell and write time from analog and digital clocks to the nearest five minutes, using a.m. and p.m.

• How would you write 5:45 on the clock?

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• If it is dark outside would this time be AM or PM?

• Tell the time from the following clock

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Work with Time

• Tell and write time from analog and digital clocks to the nearest five minutes, using a.m. and p.m.

• Categorize these times with the appropriate action.

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Bedtime

Lunch

Dinner

Wake up

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• Your parents have asked you to pick one of these times as your bedtime. Make an argument for which one is best as well as why the others are not as good a choice.

• You are going to invent a game in which those participating must use the correct time in order to succeed.
• Example: Similar to the card game War, two people will turn over a card from their pile. Then a third card will be turned over from the neutral pile. Whichever time is closest to the neutral pile time wins that round and the other person must add all cards to their pile.
• At the end of 15 minutes, whomever has the pile with the fewest amount of cards wins the game.

How can we get students to think about the thinking?

Metacognition

5.

• What did I learn?
• What surprised me?
• What challenged me?
• What did I do well?
• What would I do differently next time?
• How did my thinking change?
• What strategies did I use?
• What helped me understand this better?
• Where did I get stuck, and why?
• What questions do I still have?

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Common Reflection Questions

• When did I show persistence?
• How did I respond to challenges or mistakes?
• What risks did I take in my learning?
• How did I manage frustration?
• What did I learn about myself?
• Why does this learning matter?
• How does this connect to what I already know?
• What assumptions did I have, and were they correct?
• How can I apply this in a real-world context?
• What would I teach someone else about this?

General

Deeper

3 - 2- 1 Protocol

Which Taylor Swift song reflects how you feel about your understanding of this lesson and why?

“This Is Me Trying”

“All Too Well”

“Tolerate It”

“The Best Day”

“Nothing New”

“Epiphany“

“Soon You’ll Get Better”

“Treacherous”

“Castles Crumbling”

“Sweet Nothing”

“Closure”

“Blank Space”

“Change”

“The Moment I Knew”

“I Almost Do”

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• Set the mindset
• Give them guidance - Ask the right questions
• Model it for them
• Provide space
• Use a variety of protocols
• Do not grade

Keys to successful reflection

Creating Classroom Culture

Bell Ringer

Exit Ticket

Homework

Worksheets

Essential Questions

Activities

Reflections

Assessments

How do you create a culture in your classroom so that this high level questioning shines down on it all of the time?

• Things to consider:
• Am I asking an open or closed question?
• Do I have a good mix of questions on the full range of Bloom’s taxonomy?
• What will I do if students answer differently than I expect? What is plan B?
• Do I have follow up or probing questions in mind?
• Do I have enough questions to sustain the discussion? You should always have more questions than you are going to actually use.

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SCRIPTING

Asking different questions for different students.

ADAPTING

Basic Understanding

• What is a hurricane?
• Where do hurricanes form?
• What are the main parts of a hurricane (eye, eyewall, rainbands)?
• What conditions are needed for a hurricane to develop?
• What is the difference between a hurricane and a tropical storm?

Compare and examine

• How are hurricanes similar to and different from tornadoes?
• Why do some hurricanes cause more damage than others?
• What factors influence the strength of a hurricane?
• How does geography (coastlines, elevation) impact hurricane effects?

What if

• What if hurricanes started forming in new parts of the world?
• What if technology could stop hurricanes—should we use it?
• Why does understanding hurricanes matter for inland communities?
• Why does it matter how hurricanes are categorized?

Providing students with think time in order to come up with a thoughtful answer. Could be 5 seconds, could be 2 minutes.

WAIT TIME

The ultimate goal is to get students to ask high level effective questions themselves. One of the best ways to do this is to give them permission and to give them space.

STUDENTS

What are you going to do to challenge the thinking of your students with the questions you ask in your classroom?

Question

You get what you ask for.

You have to create a culture.

You can use higher level questioning to assist in your cognitively demanding instruction

Takeaways

Any questions, higher level or otherwise?

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You can find me at:

• thegiftedguy@yahoo.com
• www.thegiftedguy.com
• @thegiftedguy3374