HIGH LEVEL EFFECTIVE

Questioning

The POWER of

Leads to deeper student understanding

Promotes critical thinking and creative problem solving

WHY IT CAN BE SO POWERFUL

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Allows you to differentiate with every student

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Doesn’t cost a thing

Is there such a thing as a stupid question?

Question

Questions that drive the thinking of our students and cause their brains to work. Raising the rigor.

Effective questions

Rigor versus hard

hard

rigorous

both

How does a satellite work?

What would the world be like if satellites did not exist?

What can a satellite be used for?

The difference

• Usually questions at the lower levels are appropriate for:
• Evaluating students’ preparation and comprehension.
• Diagnosing students’ strengths and weaknesses.
• Reviewing and/or summarizing content.
• Questions at higher levels are usually more appropriate for:
• Encouraging students to think deeply and critically.
• Problem-solving.
• Encouraging discussions.
• Stimulating students to seek information on their own.

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

Question

• Bell Ringer
• Exit Ticket
• Homework
• Worksheets
• Essential Questions
• Activities
• Reflections
• Assessments

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

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Numeracy Grade 5

• Develop questions, create a plan, collect and display data, and explain the results for a variety of topics (e.g., questions related to the potatoes that are harvested and packaged for sale each fall).
• Research to find out what brands of potatoes are most commonly sold in grocery stores.
• Use a variety of methods of recording and displaying data about the potatoes in one 10 kg bag.
• Conduct a reaction time experiment. Determine the fairest way of determining whose reaction time is best. Create displays and explain results.
• Choose a question, survey the class, tally results, make circle and bar graphs, and express results in percentages. Explain what conclusions can be drawn from the results.

Applying

Work with Time

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

Examples of assessment of mastery

• 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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Don’t have to just write to the level of the learning objective. You can raise the rigor by pushing into the upper levels of Bloom’s.

Work with Time

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

Analyzing – breaking down information into component parts

• Categorize these times with the appropriate action.

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Bedtime

Lunch

Dinner

Wake up

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Evaluating – judging the value of information or ideas

• 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.

Creating – combining parts to make a new whole

• 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.

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Scaffolding Bloom’s

Using Goldilocks and the Three Bears

• Remember – What are items used by Goldilocks while she was in the Bears’ house?
• 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?
• Evaluate – Judge whether Goldilocks was right for entering the Bears’ house. Defend your opinion.
• Create – Imagine how the story would change if the bears had simply locked the front door.

Can scaffold by just changing the verb

• 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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Your Tools

Awareness

Revision

Culture

HOW DOES YOUR QUESTIONING BEHAVIOR RATE?

1. How often do you challenge students by asking questions that arouse their curiosity or makes them want to know more?
2. Do your questions encourage students to listen to each other’s responses, opinions?
3. Do your questions promote self-evaluation by your students?
4. Do you preplan key questions you want to ask during the lesson?
5. Do your questions call for students to think for themselves?
6. Do you ask a variety of questions— recall vs. thoughtful questions?
7. Do all students get involved in class discussions?
8. Do students speak to each other when responding or only to you?
9. Do you wait a reasonable time for students to think about their responses before calling on them or permitting them to speak?
10. Do you encourage your students to ask questions?

English

• Lower lever: What is the setting of the book?�This question checks a student’s ability to recognize through comprehension where the book is set. There is definitely a right and wrong answer.
• Higher level question: How does the setting influence the story? If the setting were different would that change the effectiveness of the story in any way?�This question allows the student to recognize and identify the setting but also to evaluate whether this was an effective setting and create a setting of their own.

Math

Lower level: Identify the following shapes?

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Higher level: Which of the following four shapes does not belong?

• square
• rhombus
• triangle
• circle

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Social Responsibility

• Lower lever: What are ways you can help your community?�Although many possible answers, there are probably the typical answers that students would come up with such as picking up trash, helping the elderly, etc.
• Higher level question: What would happen if people collectively did nothing to help their community?�Here the students are going to have to think of scenarios and cause and effect situations that don’t exist and play them out in their mind.

Analyzing stems

• What motive does ____ have…..?
• What conclusions can you draw about…..?
• What is the relationship between…..?
• How is ______ related to …..?
• What ideas support the fact that…..?
• What evidence can you find…..?
• What inferences can you make about…..?
• What generalizations can be made about …..?
• What assumptions do you make about …..?
• What is the theme of…..?

Evaluating stems

• Compare two characters in the selection….which was a better person…why?
• Which character would you most like to spend the day with?
• Do you agree with the actions of…..?
• How could you determine…..?
• Why was it better that…..?
• What choice would you have made about…..?
• How would you explain…..?
• What data was used to make the conclusion…..?
• Would it be better if…..?

Creating stems

• What would happen if…..?
• What advice would you give…..?
• What changes would you make to…..?
• Can you give an explanation for…..?
• How could you change the plot…..?
• Suppose you could _____, what would you do…..?
• How would you rewrite the section from _________’s point of view…..?
• How would you rewrite the ending of the story?

Scripting questions for Discussion

• 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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Asking different questions for different students.

ADAPTING

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

WAIT TIME

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

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.

To push the thinking of students you have to ask the right questions.

Takeaways

Any questions, higher or otherwise?�You can find me at:

• @the_gifted_guy
• thegiftedguy@yahoo.com
• www.thegiftedguy.com

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