Effective Questioning Strategies for Primary Classroom Learning

3. Learning Objectives • Knowledge • Skills • Language

4. Questions in the Primary ClassroomSeptember 2019

5. Aims • To examine purposes of questioning • To understand how teachers use questions • To improve questioning techniques • To develop strategies for encouraging pupils to ask questions

6. Discussion… • What is a question? • Why do teachers ask questions? • Why do children ask questions?

7. Why do we ask questions in the classroom? • Focus attention • Stimulate thinking and curiosity and engage learners • Find out what children know • Review, revise or recall what children already know • Diagnose difficulties and probe understanding • Get children to explain, predict or give reasons

9. Research has shown learning is improved if….. • Ask fewer but better questions • Use wait time • Encourage children to ask their own questions • Use alternatives or extensions to questions

10. Types of Questions Asked in the Classroom

11. Poor questions….. • Limit or diminish thinking • Produce unproductive responses • Are really just asking children to guess what’s in the adult’s head

12. Good questions… • Provide intellectual challenge • Move children’s thinking • Assist in making assessments of children’s learning

13. Video Sequence • Note questions or alternatives to questions • Think about purpose • Use proforma to sort questions into categories • Managerial questions • Information/Closed questions • Higher- order/open questions

14. Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd2GKHaYLl4

15. Question types • Empirical – concerning facts • Conceptual – concerning ideas, definitions and concepts • Value related – concerning beliefs about the worth and merit of things.

16. Concrete to Abstract How many ducks are in the pond? What colour are the ducks? How are the ducks behaving? What might be influencing the behaviour and relationships of the ducks? Is all human life mirrored in the vagaries of the ducks? If ducks could speak, would we understand them?

17. Typeof learning • Remembering - • Understanding - • Applying - • Analysing - • Creating - • Evaluating - recall information explain ideas use knowledge examine/separate information generate new ideas, products justify a decision or action

18. Bloom’s Taxonomy KnowledgeRemembering What is 5X2? ComprehensionUnderstanding What do all the answers in 5 times table end in? Application Applying Can you use what you know about x2 to work out x4?

19. Analysis Analysing What patterns can you see in x2 x4 x8 tables? Synthesis Creating Can you use knowledge of X2 table to prove these numbers are in this table? Evaluation Judgements Should children be tested on times tables as part of SATs?

21. Asking better questions • What do you think? • How do you know ….? • Why do you think that? • Do you have a reason? • How can you be sure? • Is this always so? • Is there another way/reason/idea?

22. Five Templates for effective questions • A range of answers • A statement • Right or wrong • Starting from the answer or end • An opposing standpoint

23. Range of answers What is 5 squared? Discuss these answers. Give possible reasons for the wrong ones: 3, 7,10 ,25 ,125

24. A statement What did a Viking look like? This picture shows a Viking do you agree or disagree?

25. Starting from the end What does a house need? Here is my well built house What can you see?

26. Opposing standpoint How did Cinderella feel about her stepmother? How could Cinderella have helped her stepmother become a better person?

27. Task Reframe the closed questions on your sheet using some of the templates for effective questions.

28. Impact • Develops thinking and reasoning skills • Promotes discussion, debate and explanation • Reveals misconceptions and reinforces learning • Encourages open discussion and gives pupils confidence in expressing their opinions • Encourages problem solving • Assesses knowledge

29. Teacher asks a question Teacher accepts, rejects or develops the answer Children put up hands Teacher takes an answer

30. Encouraging Responses Avoid questions that require a single direct answer Use questions that encourage pupils to share what they think Use talk partners Extend thinking time

31. Dylan Wiliam https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=029fSeOaGio

32. Responding to Answers • That was the answer to another question I was going to ask • Does everyone agree/disagree of have another opinion • Lets come back to that idea a little later • Can you explain your thinking?

33. Impact • Children giving longer answers • More children offering to answer • Children being willing to answer more questions • Children’s responses becoming more thoughtful and creative

35. Encouraging Children’s Questions “ Millions saw the apple fall – only Newton asked why ”

36. Encouraging Children’s Questions • Who asks most questions in your classroom? • Is the importance of questioning discussed with children? • What opportunities are children given for asking questions? • Is there evidence of children’s questions on display?

37. Activities to Promote Questions • Objects • What’s the question? • What’s the picture?

38. Mystery Object

40. History of the World in 100 Objects www.teachinghistory100.org

41. This is the answer. What is the question?

42. 42

44. Aims To examine purposes of questioning To understand how teachers use questions To improve questioning techniques To develop strategies for encouraging pupils to ask questions

45. Summary • Children need wait time to improve responses to questions • Effective questions should further and deepen learning rather than simply help establish prior knowledge • Effective questioning involves effective modelling • Encouraging children to develop their own questions furthers their independence as learners

46. Questions