Asking better questions

The one thing that will make a session on questioning worthwhile for me personally is

Asking better questionsHow do you do it?Why is it important?Why can it be difficult?What are we talking about?

Map of the sessionCheck in: introductions/aims and expectations, scene setting (paired/group activity)Issues with questioning (group activity/discussion)Asking better questions (video/input/discussion/practical activity)Physical challenge (paired activity)Asking questions better (walkabout activity/video/discussion)Check out (evaluation)

Asking better questions that raise the challenge and require students to think andAsking questions better to give students more support to help them to think and to reveal their understandingWhat are we talking about?

Asking better questionsHow do you do it?Why is it important?Why can it be difficult?What are we talking about?

The most successful teachers all engage in above average levels of interaction with the students. This appears to be an important determinant of student progress.Maurice Galton and Brian Simon, Progress and performance in the Primary Classroom

Encouraging more interaction in the classroom

You dont know what you know until you say it.James aged 9Thought is closely related to language: talking is the prime vehicle for human thinking and learning. Not all thinking depends on words: conversations can be internal, but are particularly effective carried out in pairs or groups where different ways of interpreting evidence can be explored to mutual benefit.Lev Vygotsky Thought and Language 1962Learning depends on conversations

You need to start from where your learners are: students will need to reconstruct or reconsider their existing knowledge, ideas and strategies, not just add to what they already know, understand or can do.Students must understand the learning intention, which includes what strategies they need to use to be successful as well as what constitutes a good quality end product. Students need to be active in the process: your job is to work with them so that the learning is done by them, you cannot do the learning for them or to them.Students need to be able to talk about their ideas in the whole class, in pairs or in groups.Feedback must focus on how students can improve not simply on how well they have done in relation to a target.(adapted from Mathematics Inside the Black Box)

The five principles of AfL

Good questions canreinforce previous learningassess knowledge develop thinking skillsimprove reasoning skillspromote discussiondemand explanationencourage creative thinkingreveal understanding or misconceptionsencourage debategive students confidence to express their opinionsencourage problem solvingreinforce and revisit learning intentionshelp identify success criteria

Asking better questionsHow do you do it?Why is it important?Why can it be difficult?What are we talking about?

What difficulties can there be for teachers in asking questions in the classroom?What can make it difficult for students to answer questions in class?

Issues with questioning

Difficulties for teachers in asking questionsCreating a climate for quality questioningWhen no-one answersYou may get side-trackedSome people answering all the timePitching at a level where all children understand

Difficulties for students in answering questionsdont know the answerworried about ridiculedont want to appear to know it alldominant students get to answer firstfear of being put on the spothavent been paying attention

higher order thinkingdepends onhigh levels of interaction safety to discuss depends onrespect for other peoples ideasdepends on

Asking better questionsHow do you do it?Why is it important?Why can it be difficult?What are we talking about?

How to ask better questions that raise the challenge and require students to think How to ask better questions?

Strategies for teachers

Questioning JigsawBlooms taxonomy (reading 1:pp4/5) yellowSpot the difference (reading 2:pp6/7/8) pinkIdeas for questioning (reading 3 p9) blueUsing questions effectively (reading 4 p10)green

Questioning Jigsaw Stage1Read your page picking out the main points it is making you want to share with other people Focus at this point on what is being said not what you think of what is being said.Dont use the yellow sticky to make notes write on the handout underlining or making notes in the margin

Questioning jigsaw stage 2

Share your main points with each other in the your colored group.Agree on the same three points that you will share about what the page is saying.Write these three points on the colored post-it.

Questioning Jigsaw Stage 3

Get up, take your handout and your coloured post-it with you and form rainbow groups of four with one person with each of four colours on post-it in the groupTake turns to talk about what the reading your group focused on using the three main points on your coloured sticky to help you. Then venture any opinions that you and/or your group had about the information in your reading

Cut back on guess-what I am thinking Reproductive QuestionsTeacher: Remember that big word we used last time to describe how plants make food..it begins with a p?.............photo? photosssss..?

Student:Photosynthesis!!!!

Teacher:Well done, James!!!

What do you think?Why do you think that?How do you know?Do you have a reason?Can you be sure?Is there another way?What do you think happens next?Keep some general hot questions in your desk drawer

Use probing questions to search for more informationProbes are precise questions designed to unpick a students train of thought and encourage them to explore it more deeply. Can you explain what you mean by.?Can you show me what you mean by?Can you tell me more about.?Are you sure?Why do you think that?Are you saying that.?What is the evidence for that?How do you know?How did you work that out?Can you give an example of.?Can you explain why.?

Use prompting questions to give hintsThese give hints or suggestions about what strategies students might try to solve a problem or come up with an answer for themselves. Wouldhelp?You could tryHave you compared your idea with?What about?Why not?Have you tried?

Plan fewer and better subject specific questions in advancePlan only a few key questions.Decide on the level, order and timing of questions.Consider embedding key questions at the start of a lesson, orStructure and sequence questions from easy to more difficult.Have some standard follow-up questions to prompt and probe.

Start with simple questions and progress to more challenging onesRemembering: can take in information and recall it when needed Understanding: can give basic meaning to informationApplying: can use a learned skill in a new situationAnalyzing: can break information into parts and relate it to the wholeCreating: can combine existing elements to create something newEvaluating: can make an objective judgement about the value of something based on a recognized standard

Five key strategies to ask better subject specific questionsProvide a range of answers.Turn the question into a true or false statement .Dont ask the question give the answer and ask why it is correct.Dont focus on the answer, focus on how to work it out.Ask questions that explore opposites, differences, categories and exceptions .

1. Provide a range of answers

This involves asking a question and give a range of possible answers which include definite yes answers, definite no answers and some ambiguous answers.

1. Provide a range of answers

What can we do to preserve the ozone layer?Reduce the amount of carbon dioxide produced by cars and factoriesReduce the greenhouse effectStop the cutting down on forestsLimit the number of cars that can be used when the ozone level gets highProperly dispose of air-conditioners and fridgesThe correct answer is 5- because it is a question about the ozone layer not global warming.

Dylan Wiliam (2006)

1. Provide a range of answers

What do we need for life?water, telephones, clothing, cars, shelter, food

Which of these are alive and which are dead?trees, clouds, cats, water, snakes, grass

2. Turn the question into a true or false statementAgree or disagree?...no food is unhealthythis picture shows a Vikingmoney brings you happinessmultiples of 3 are always odd numbersdrugs in sport are morally wrongthe moon is a source of lightshylock was a victim not a villain

3. Dont ask the question give the answer and ask why its correctInstead of askingIs 7 a prime number?Is this a complex sentence?Can 7/9 be simplified?What kind of film is Star Wars?AskWhy is 7 a prime number?Why is this a complex sentence?Why can 7/9 not be simplified?Why is Star Wars a science fiction film?

4. Dont focus on the answer, focus on how to work the answer outInstead of

What is 2/3rds of 24?What is friendship?Were the Germans responsible for the first World War?Ask

How would you find 2/3rds of 24?How do you know that someone is your friend?What questions would you have to ask yourself to decide if the Germans were responsible for the first World War?

5. Ask questions that explore opposites, differences, categories and exceptionsOriginal questionWhat do we need to make circuits work?What makes a good story opening?Should young people always obey their parents?What is a mammal?Revised questionWhy does this circuit work and this one does not?Which of these two openings makes you want to read on?When would it be right for young people not to obey their parents?What is the same and what is different about mammals and birds?

More questions that cause and reveal thinking in mathsHow did you decide this was the right answer?Which of these calculations are right and which are wrong?Why do these mistakes happen?How can we avoid them?How could you make that question harder or easier?

Topic of insectsAlready done some work on insectsWant to check/extend current knowledge/understandingWant to make links to other areas of the curriculum

What is an insect?A camel is not an insect. Why not?Is a bird an insect?What sort of things does an insect have on its head?What do you think its like to be an insect?Did you know that a butterfly tastes with its feet? Can you imagine what it would be like if we tasted with our feet?

What if we could fly?

good pointsbad pointsinterestingpoints

Talk to students about different kinds of questionsYou might use the terms fat and thin questions or hot and cold questions.Hot questions or higher order thinking questions are questions that make you think and help you to think.And thinking helps you to understand and get smarter.Im going to ask you some hot questions today and give you more time to answer them.

How to ask questions better to give students more support to help them to think and to reveal their understandingHow to ask better questions

Wait timeNo hands upThink, pair and shareShow-me boardsSignals for understandingTake the answer round the classMinimal encouragersAsking questions better

Leave wait or think timeMore students are likely to offer an answer.The frequency of answers from less able students rises.Students give longer answers.Responses are usually more thoughtful or creative.More students ask questions.

Two kinds of wait timeteacher asks a questionstudent respondsteacher reacts to the students response

No hands up

Can be a good idea when wait time doesnt workCan be informal: Talk to your partner about it for a minute.Can be formal: Lets think, pair and share that now.Snap your fingers and they know they must write down their thought in complete silence for a minute.Snap again and its pairing with partner voices, then you can pick on any individual to share an idea with the whole class.Think, pair and share

Signals for understandingtraffic lights thumbs show-me-boards

This is about playing volleyball rather than ping-pongWorks best with open questions but can also work with closedWhen a student answers your question, leave it on the other side of the net and find what a few others think before you respond.Take the answer round the class

These suggest: Please continue. Im listening and I understand. For example.Mm-hmm Tell me more Oh?For instance? I see RightThen? Yes really? And?Go on So? I hear you Sure? What would you say if you did know?Respond with minimal encouragers

www.camb-ed-us.com

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**Activity: Brief discussion here if time permits? Have teachers ever thought about the differences in the two statements before?

Essentially we are talking about asking more challenging questions that require students to think, cause thinking and reveal what students are thinking.

Secondly, because we are raising the challenge in our questioning we need to raise the support that we give them by asking questions in ways that are less threatening and providing more help for them to think.

**There is a growing body of research to show that discussion does raise achievement.

This was one of the key findings from one of the biggest ever research projects into primary teaching in England and Wales undertaken in the 1980s.

*A strong element of constructivism suggests that we construct meanings through conversation with others. Explaining things to others deepens our own understanding.Some of us prefer to think by talking first.

So getting our students talking about what they are learning not only helps us as teachers to tune into their thinking, it helps them to think in the first place.

*Its worth while pointing out that three of the five key principles of assessment for learning

Starting where your learners are students being active in the learning process students talking about their ideas

can all be facilitated by the kind of questions you ask and the way you ask questions.

And that these three principles are backed up by research that goes way beyond that carried out on formative assessment (see next slides).

**Activity:

You could run this as a carousel activity or simply divide the group into two, each group to take on a different question. The next two slides show some ideas that may come up and can be added to.

*In response to the difficulties students have in answering questions in class you may want to share this quote from Magdalene Lampert about students respecting each others ideas.Students considered by themselves and their peers to be of lower ability would need to be able to disagree with students considered to be smart. Conversely students of greater ability would need to respect the thinking of all students, and if they disagreed with someone to be able to explain why. Such behavior is counter to existing action patterns in classrooms where the students everyone agrees are smart get to dominate discussions and others feel incapable of either judging or challenging their assertions.**Activity: Brief discussion here if time permits? Have teachers ever thought about the differences in the two statements before?

Essentially we are talking about asking more challenging questions that require students to think, cause thinking and reveal what students are thinking.

Secondly, because we are raising the challenge in our questioning we need to raise the support that we give them by asking questions in ways that are less threatening and providing more help for them to think.

**Activity: Brief discussion here if time permits? Have teachers ever thought about the differences in the two statements before?

Essentially we are talking about asking more challenging questions that require students to think, cause thinking and reveal what students are thinking.

Secondly, because we are raising the challenge in our questioning we need to raise the support that we give them by asking questions in ways that are less threatening and providing more help for them to think.

*Some strategies for asking questions better.Activities:

You can ask teachers to provide others to share with group.

You can ask teachers to share how they use these strategies with each other. One way to do this is to ask them to pick one strategy that they already use that they are willing to share with others in the group.

They write that number on a label and move round the room. They move round the room pairing up with different people to discuss how that strategy already works or might work for them.*This simple but effective strategy has been around for a long time without being given a name.Think = individual 30 secondsPair = discuss with partner 2 minutesShare = group discussion3 5minutesActivity : Use think, pair and share to discuss the following:Here is the answer: What is the question? 5 oclock No , but Id like to. It was growing on a tree In France By the light of the moon Seven Somewhere over a rainbowThis exercise is fun and teachers tend to be imaginative and creative with their answers you may need to censor some!!!*See Asking Better Questions book for more ideas

Take the answer round the class Wait there till we see what others think, gathering answers from others and bringing it back to the first student to ask Which answer do you like best?. A technique which involves the rest of the class while still keeping the first student listening and thinking. Most effective if used regularly.

Dylan Wiliam calls this playing volleyball rather than table tennis. In the traditional classroom a teacher pings a question to the class, a student pongs an answer back and the teacher pings their response to the answer.

Taking the answer round the class is more like volleyball the teacher plays the question over the net and gets the students to pass the question around before it is played back to the teacher for a response.*Prompts may be no more than minimal verbal encouragement. Minimal encouragers help other people to keep talking. They are brief responses used to indicate that you are still there, listening. They involve saying very little, and offer minimal direction. They can be sprinkled throughout the conversation, but they may be particularly useful at the beginning where they can help to add momentum.

Minimal encouragers do not imply agreement or disagreement. Right does not mean you agree but Yes, I hear what you are saying. Go on. Another way of giving minimal encouragement is to repeat a wrong or incomplete answer, with an inflection that turns into a question: