Questioning Styles and Strategies

1
Questioning Styles and Strategies

• Donjea Revo
• Kendra Pate

2
Your Questioning Style

• Write down three questions youve asked lately
  within a unit.
• How long do you typically wait for students to
  answer a question before you try asking it
  another way or simply give the answer?
• Why do you think teachers dont have longer
  wait times?

3
The Four Styles of Learners and Types of
QuestionsMastery

• Mastery Learners remember key content and
  skills (90 of questions fall into this level 1
  of DOK we need to try to reduce this to 50)
• These questions have students summarize, recall
  facts, describe processes, provide examples, etc.
• To answer these questions, students simply
  regurgitate what theyve learned. There is no
  new thinking.
• Continue to use these questions, but not quite
  as many. Try some of the other types.

4
Understanding

• Understanding Learners think about concepts,
  big ideas, and generalizations
• These questions have students compare and
  contrast, prove and disprove, agree and disagree,
  discuss the cause and effects, infer, group and
  label, etc.
• Students take what theyve learned and explain
  how concepts are related.

5
Interpersonal

• Interpersonal Learners make personal
  connections to the content
• These questions have students reflect on how
  they feel about _________s decision or on their
  task performance, ask them to put themselves in
  the same position as someone else, to react to
  events, etc.
• Students put themselves into the topic.

6
Self-Expressive

• Self-Expressive Learners focus on students
  creativity
• These questions use similes and metaphors, ask
  what if and to make predictions, associate one
  topic with another, ask students to imagine if
  something happened or had ended differently, etc.

7
A Reflective Approach to Your Style of Questioning

• Take another look at your three questions. What
  types of questions do you ask?
• What are the advantages of using all 4 types of
  questions?
• Why dont more teachers ask questions of
  different styles?

8
Questioning Tool 1Carousel Brainstorming

• Develop 5-6 questions that fall into the 4
  learning style areas. Post them around the room
  on large sheets of paper.
• Students are divided into groups and given 2-3
  minutes at each station to respond. Give each
  group a different color marker to write their
  responses.
• Students will rotate between the stations and
  either add new ideas or comment on what the
  previous groups have written.
• The teacher asks students to summarize the
  responses on the paper.

9
Questioning Tool 2Graffiti

• Develop 16-20 questions that fall into the 4
  learning styles. Post them around the room on
  large paper.
• Have students get into small groups. Have them
  respond to the questions on post-its. Allow them
  about 20-25 minutes.
• Have students post their post-it notes on the
  paper.
• The teacher asks students to summarize the
  responses.
• This is a perfect review activity before a test
  and for getting students out of their seats!

10
Questioning Tool 3Four Thought

• After reading an assignment, give students the
  four thought organizer and have them make some
  pre-reading associations.
• The organizer is divided into 4 categories and
  asks students to describe the topic (mastery),
  analyze it (understanding), apply a solution
  (self expressive), and react personally
  (interpersonal).
• Have students share their responses within
  groups.
• This organizer can be turned into an essay on
  the topic.

11
Questioning Tool 4Comprehension Menus

• Develop at least 4 questions about the topic,
  one in each learning style. These are divided
  into a 4-box organizer, much like the four
  thought tool.
• Students respond to the questions and share
  out.
• This tool is great for assessing reading
  comprehension.

12
Assignments

• Have someone observe a lesson (a student, a
  colleague, etc.) and to write down 10 questions
  that you ask. See into what categories your
  questions fall.
• Try one of these tools carousel brainstorming,
  graffiti, four thought, or comprehension menu.