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Questioning


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Improving Wait Time

Improving Wait Time

For Teachers

How much time do your students get to think after a question? Probably not enough. Here’s how to fix that.
Going Beyond “Name That Genre!”

Going Beyond “Name That Genre!”

For Teachers

Naming the genre is step one. But what comes after that? Here’s how to push students past identification into real analysis.
Updating Old Questions: Pay Raise

Updating Old Questions: Pay Raise

For Teachers

How I’d update a low-level, overly engaging math question.
Go Beyond “Explain This Quote”

Go Beyond “Explain This Quote”

For Teachers

I’d show a quote and then ask, “What does this quote mean?” And that was it!
From “Too Many Choices” To “One Quality Task”

From “Too Many Choices” To “One Quality Task”

For Teachers

Fixing an under-developed (but interesting) task that was originally part of a choice menu.
Updating Old Questions: Volcano from Two Perspectives

Updating Old Questions: Volcano from Two Perspectives

For Teachers

How I’d break down and rebuild a task about judging a volcano.
Improving Evaluative Questions

Improving Evaluative Questions

For Teachers

How to improve questions at the “evaluate” level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Creating Sequences of Questions

Creating Sequences of Questions

For Teachers

High-level questions on their own simply aren’t enough. We must create sequences of questions!
Don’t Make A Mere Model!

Don’t Make A Mere Model!

For Teachers

This task is all about the product, but completely ignores how students will think.
Updating Old Questions: Conflict and Character Change

Updating Old Questions: Conflict and Character Change

For Teachers

I update an old question about conflict and character change in the story Hatchet.
Developing Questions that Prompt Thinking in Math

Developing Questions that Prompt Thinking in Math

For Teachers

Math is a particularly tricky subject for asking higher-level questions. Here are a couple of techniques I’ve used to prompt students to think, not merely calculate.
Asking Questions That Make Students Think

Asking Questions That Make Students Think

For Teachers

Most classroom questions test memory. These questions test thinking. There’s a difference — and your students will feel it.
Running A “Notice, Wonder” Lesson

Running A “Notice, Wonder” Lesson

For Teachers

Use these puzzling images to build a classroom culture that is comfortable with curiosity, ambiguity, and taking intellectual risks.
From Frantic Questions to Sensible Sequence

From Frantic Questions to Sensible Sequence

For Teachers

Why was I asking five, unrelated, low-level questions in a row?
Help my students remember these confusing terms!

Help my students remember these confusing terms!

For Teachers

When we want students to memorize two terms, we actually shouldn’t aim for memorization!
Who Asks The Questions? And Who Answers?

Who Asks The Questions? And Who Answers?

For Teachers

What would the pie chart look like for these three situations: the teacher asks the students, a student asks the teacher, or a student asks another student a question? I can tell you my pie chart would have been very lopsided.
Go Beyond “Identify Figurative Language”

Go Beyond “Identify Figurative Language”

For Teachers

So students can identify a simile, metaphor, and hyperbole. What next?
What if Dr. Seuss Covered a Poem?

What if Dr. Seuss Covered a Poem?

For Teachers

Rather than just “paraphrasing” a poem, what if we did a cover version?
Improving These Novel Study Questions

Improving These Novel Study Questions

For Teachers

Let’s fix these nine, underdeveloped discussion questions!
Updating Old Questions: Comparing Two Leaders

Updating Old Questions: Comparing Two Leaders

For Teachers

How I’d upgrade a dull “which one is better” question.