The ABC's of Successful Teaching...Questioning!

Why do you ask questions in your classroom?

• To check where everyone is in completing the assignment
• To assess mastery of concepts 
• To assure the class is ready to move to the assignment presented or next task 
• To actively involve students in reviewing concepts or information presented

These are all important but one thing that I think is key to the importance of questioning is:

Asking questions that require the student to go beyond a right or wrong answer.  In doing this we help develop students who are critical thinkers.

Key things to remember.

1.

I have always been a firm believer that by asking QUESTIONS we keep students actively involved in the lesson especially if we call on all students and not just those with their hand raised.  I like to use a cup with sticks and students names on them BUT after a student's name is drawn they go right back in the cup so the student doesn't assume...I already got called on I am don't have to think anymore!  This also avoids the same person answering the questions over and over again.

Use a simple cup and colored sticks with students names. 

Or if you number your students this will work.

All you need is a frosting tub and I like to use the plain thicker craft stick and paste the laminated numbers on the top.

The numbers go to 30.

There are also some blank ones if you wish to add student names.

Pick me up here.

2.

Provide WAIT TIME for the student to answer.

While you are providing WAIT TIME if the student seems completely lost ask more questions to lead them to the answer.  Some students may say they do not know to get out of answering.  BEWARE of this!!

Example:  You ask the question "What was the setting for this story?"

Wait

Share one thing that happened in the story?  Where did that take place?

Review

Remember the setting is places the story took place.

3.

Give praise but keep it low key.  More important acknowledge that the answer was correct.

If we say for one student "YES!! OUTSTANDING!" and the next "VERY GOOD!"  Some kiddos may think their answer was not as valued.

I like to say...

Yes

Good

You're right

Thumbs Up...whole class give thumbs up if want

4.

Instead of beginning the question with "WHO CAN"   or  "WHO KNOWS" pose the question beginning with...

"Let's think about"

"Who, what, where, when, why"

When I first began understanding the importance of questions in the classroom I often wrote key questions to ask at the end of a lesson or during a lesson.

Begin practicing by writing questions for after a piece of literature shared with the class.

5.

Begin with lower level questions that ask for simple recall or response but your goal should be to increase the level of thinking as you draw conclusions.

Example:  

We are completing a lesson on MATTER.

The students are observing containers filled with different liquids.

Time is given for observation.

Following observation you begin with..

Look at the bottle labeled A.

What do you recall about this liquid?

What is something else you recall?

Does it remind you of another liquid you have seen at home or in the store?

What liquid?

Using what you think the liquid is what might you use if for?

Let's make a list of descriptive words for this liquid.

Jenny...   Peter...

Ally...she hesitates...she says I don't know.

You probe...did it have a color Ally?

Conclude with reviewing what the class came up with.

So we discovered....this liquid is dish soap.

I like to make a list (model recalling what we learned) or be sure to have something available to hand out after for them to review.

Notice that in asking these questions the students had to verbally communicate about their observations, make connections, and think outside the box!

I love this comment from EduTopia:

Some teachers might answer that the reason to ask questions is to check for understanding, which benefits the teacher more than the student. Ostensibly, after we have taught a principle or concept, we ask, "Does everybody understand?" Even though we all realize that students not answering -- or even answering in the affirmative -- may not really understand, we still ask it. Are we aware of how many times we ask this useless question during a day of teaching?

So as you head into this new school year...PRACTICE using effective questioning techniques!!