Working Towards a Thinking Classroom

What is a good What are we question? looking for When do we when children ask questions? answer Whoneedstobeaquestions? goodquestioner?

When are questioning skills important outside of school? What does a good
question do?

From Studies done in classrooms

1 every 2/3 seconds

They tend to be RECALL questions rather than questions requiring higher level thought.

One at a time All ideas considered

No put downs Build on ideas of others

Active thinking Respectful challenges of ideas

Feels Like
My questions will be valued I am comfortable to ask a question that challenges a point of view My peers will respond courteously when I ask a question I respect different views I am condent to ask left-of-eld questions

Sounds Like
Students taking initiative for asking questions Different types of questions being asked Responding positively to each others questions. A range of responses being given to a question Seeking clarication or more detail Questions being sustained

Looks Like
Listening attentively to questions Engaging with each others responses Teachers and students asking questions Consideration given to responses Think time being used An ideas centred discussion rather than a teacher or student centred one.

A questioning friendly classroom is a place where:

A questioning-friendly classroom is not a place where:

Different responses to a

question are encouraged Students build on each others responses Students are prepared to challenge or contest a response Students take risks and offer divergent ideas and opinions Students generate questions for discussions.

Student responses to

questions are put down Teachers are seen as the question-askers and students as the question-answerers Students recited a response to a question rather than discuss it Students are concerned with expressing their viewpoint rather than responding to what someone else has said.

Classroom Discussion Structures

Teacher Centred

Engage with teacher Aim to get to some

teacher-decided idea Teacher asks a question or evaluates idea after every student comment Teachers helps direct students to the answers so they make progress

Classroom Discussion Structures

Student Centred

Engage with each

other Aim is all students contribute Each comment is usually on a different point so little progress Aim is to get an outcome Some students try to dominate or it becomes a debate so little progress

Classroom Discussion Structures

Inquiry Community

Students engage with

student ideas Students make connections & distinctions, critically evaluate, challenge and build Teacher and students ensure the inquiry is rigorous, so they make progress Better and worse answers

Look at the big questions - the underlying concepts Example One: What is a number? Are numbers created or discovered? Could numbers be different to how they are now?

Look at the big questions - the underlying concepts Example Two: What is tness? What is health? Is tness the same or different to health?

Look at the big questions - the underlying concepts Example Three: What is knowledge? What does it mean to know something? Is all knowledge the same?

Look at the important questions - the questions we should strive to answer and are central to our lives Example: Friendship What does it mean to be a good friend? How shall I treat my friends? How can I be a better friend?

Look at challenging questions - when we know that children will not know the answer or even how to nd out the answer Example: Petone Foreshore Who should have the rights over the foreshore in Petone?

Closed Convergent Open Divergent Skinny Simple Fat Complex

Single answer or limited number of answers eg What is 6x6? How did you travel to school? Many possible answers and not only one correct answer eg How could the school assemblies be improved? Little explanation required Requires recall, knowledge and comprehension eg What makes a healthy lunch?

Requires a degree of explanation and interpretation

How could you encourage children to eat healthier lunches?

Training kids into thinking question routines.

Use questioning frameworks to help extend types of questions

Improvement
What are the weaknesses and how can we improve it?

Direct Action
How do we feel about... and what are the dangers?

Explanation
What do we know and what are the possible explanations?

Design
How can we make our environment better?

Caution
What are the possible dangers?

Emotions
How do we feel? What do we know? What can we do about it? What is the conclusion?

Assessment
What are the good points and how can we summarise them?

Evaluation
How well did you do...

Event

Situation
Where/ when is? Where/ when did?

Choice
Which is? Which did?

Person
Who is? Who did? Who can?

Reason
Why is? Why did? Why can?

Means
How is? How did? How can?

Present

What is? What did? What can? What would? What will?

Past
Possibility
Probability

Where/ Which can? when can?

Where/ when would?

Which would?

Who would? Why would? How would? Why will? How will?

Prediction

Where/ Which will? Who will? when will? Where/ Which might?

Imagination What might? when might?

Who might? Why might? How might?

http://fno.org/nov97/toolkit.html

Strategic Questions

Elaborating Questions

What do I do next? How can I best approach this next

step?, This next challenge? This next frustration? What thinking tool is most apt to help me here? What have I done when I've been here before? What worked or didn't work? What have others tried before me? What type of question would help me most with this task? How do I need to change my research plan?

What does this mean? What might it mean if certain

conditions and circumstances changed? How could I take this farther? What is the logical next step? What is missing? What needs to be lled in? Reading between the lines, what does this REALLY mean? What are the implied or suggested meanings?

Ask less questions and make them challenging

Thinking Time
Wait 3 seconds after asking question

Wait 3 seconds after question answered

Model Enforce

Move from the teacher as a questioner who sifts through answers looking for the correct one

Could us a li you tell tt about le more that id ea?

The teacher treating each response by a child as an opportunity to improve their thinking - being a coach for thinking!

uld w else co Ho about we think this?

Strategy

Description
Show your students you are interested in their response. Initial response may be fragmented or disjointed as students grapple to clarify their ideas.

Application
Use non-verbal signals such as facial expressions, a nod, eye contact, sitting forward

Demonstrate listening Sustain the Question Allow wait time Minimise feedback

Use probes that encourage Does anyone have a different clarication, extension or opinion? Could you tell us a little elaboration of a response. more about that idea? Can you Encourage a range of responses provide some evidence to to the one question. support your view?

Learn to be comfortable with Use afrmative non-verbal the silences so that wait time signals that show engagement is extended. Tell students why and provide encouragement. you are waiting.

Afrm student responses but Thats an interesting point of avoid excessive praise which view. Yes, thats one way. Can may silence alternative anyone add to that? Thank responses. you for that idea.
Redirect student responses or Would anyone like to respond comments. Breaking the sequence to that idea? What can you makes students aware that talk add to that response? How doesnt always have to be directed consistent is that response through the teacher and with what you think? encourages student dialogue.

Vacate the oor

Judge of a man by his questions rather than by his answers. Voltaire (1694 - 1778)

It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers. James Thurber (1894 - 1961)