“A student’s ability to ask and answer

questions when reading, writing and

speaking and listening is an important

part of literacy and represents a

foundation for learning in Social Studies”National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), (2013). The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History, Silver Spring, MD: NCSS.

Skill #1: Practicing Inquiry

Level One Questions deal with factual information you can find printed in the story / document / whatever. They usually have ONE correct answer.

Examples: Who led Confederate forces at the Battle of Gettysburg?

Where is Antietam?

How many people died of disease or other non-combat causes during the Civil War?

Levels of Questions

Levels of Questions

Level One Questions often…

…clarify vocabulary or basic facts

…check for Understanding

…ask for more information

…make sure you read the assignment

It is often difficult to ask or answer Level Two Questions without plenty of Level One information!

Level Two Questions deal with factual information but can have more than one defensible answer. Answers must be supported (or refuted) by facts and logical argument.

Examples: Why did the North win the Civil War?

Was Lincoln justified in suspending some rights during the war?

To what extent was slavery the true cause of the war?

How did the North’s war aims change over the course of the war and why?

Levels of Questions

Level Two Questions might…

…require ‘processing’ information (analyze, synthesize, evaluate, etc.)

…require making good inferences

…challenge sources, authors, or interpretations

…lead to deeper understanding of complex issues

Level Two Questions are the backbone of historical reading and writing. They require Level One information as support.

They seek informed opinions. They are the stuff we most wish our students could ask, ponder, or answer intelligently.

Levels of Questions

Level Three Questions deal with ideas beyond the text and which cannot be answered with available facts. Responses rely on faith, opinion, or other subjective elements, or require such comprehensive knowledge as to be largely impractical. Examples:

Is war ever justified?

Did Robert E. Lee go to Heaven?

How would the world today different if the South had won the Civil War?

Levels of Questions

Level Three Questions are useful as…

…Big Picture Questions, to make connections

…Interest-builders, discussion-starters, and thought-provokers

…ways to get your teacher off-topic so you don’t have as much work to do

English Teachers love Level Three Questions, but in the Social Studies we pick and choose them very carefully.

Usually they’re more appropriate for discussions with your parents, pastors, or best friends.

Levels of Questions

Asking Good Questions of Different Levels

Total State Debts as a Percentage of GDP

Total Local Debts as a Percentage of GDP

Total Federal Debt as a Percentage of GDP

1750 1750 1790 1790 1790 1810 1810 1810 1860 1860 1860

White Black White Nonwhite Slave White Nonwhite Slave White Nonwhite Slave

(Free) (Free) (Free)

Connecticut 108,270 3,010 232,236 2,771 2,648 255,179 6,453 310 451,504 8,643 ***

Delaware 27,208 1,496 46,310 3,899 8,887 55,361 13,136 4,177 90,589 19,829 1,798

Georgia 4,200 1,000 52,886 398 29,264 145,414 1,801 105,218 591,550 3,538 462,198

Maryland 97,623 43,450 208,649 8,043 103,036 235,117 33,927 111,502 515,918 83,942 87,189

Massachusetts 183,925 4,075 373,187 5,369 *** 465,303 6,737 *** 1,221,432 9,634 ***

New Hampshire 26,955 550 141,112 630 157 182,690 970 *** 325,579 494 ***

New Jersey 66,039 5,354 169,954 2,762 11,423 226,868 7,843 10,851 646,699 25,318 ***

New York 65,682 11,014 314,366 4,682 21,193 918,699 25,333 15,017 3,831,590 49,145 ***

North Carolina 53,184 19,800 289,181 5,041 100,783 376,410 10,266 168,824 629,942 31,621 331,059

Pennsylvania 116,794 2,872 317,479 6,531 3,707 786,804 22,492 795 2,849,259 56,956 ***

Rhode Island 29,879 3,347 64,670 3,484 958 73,214 3,609 108 170,649 3,971 ***

South Carolina 25,000 39,000 140,178 1,801 107,094 214,196 4,554 196,365 291,300 10,002 402,406

Virginia 129,581 101,452 442,117 12,866 292,627 551,534 30,570 392,518 1,047,299 58,154 490,865

United States 934,340 236,420 2,792,325 58,277 681,777 4,486,789 167,691 1,005,685 12,663,310 361,247 1,775,515

Populations of the Original 13 Colonies

“The Populists’

Trap”(Harpers Weekly, 1896)

Harlem (Langston Hughes)

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

Like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore--

And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over--

like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags

like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

Let’s Practice!

Read the article and write…

> 3 Level One Questions

> 2 Level Two Questions

> 1 Level Three Question

Other Ways To Think About Asking Questions

Check for Understanding

What is ‘scaffolding’ when speaking pedagogically?

What is the author’s primary point or goal?

Explain the difference between ‘intrinsic’ and ‘extrinsic’ rewards.

Seek Further Information / Expand

What did subsequent versions of SimCity change that led to such reduced popularity with players?

How would educational software designers balance the desirability of an ‘open’ learning experience with the need for tangible, measurable goals?

Other Ways To Think About Asking Questions

Challenge the Author

Is it logical to assume that because some learning occurs as a result of game-playing that all learning is possible through better gaming?

While a small handful of successful games are open-ended in the sense valued by the author, most ‘open-ended’ games come down to series of menus and choices with limited options and finite actual pathways. How would he overcome this limitation when designing for the histories or other more linear subjects?

Other Ways To Think About Asking Questions

Essay Prompts—understand, evaluate, synthesize, explore

Compare at least two positive and two negative experiences you’ve had as a student in an academic subject with similar experiences while playing video games, team sports, ensemble music, or other learning activities not directly related to core academic subjects. How were they the same in both areas, and why? How were they different?

At what point does responsibility for learning shift from educators striving for engagement to students applying themselves to find value and relevance in the subject at hand? Justify your response.

Comparing / Contrasting Questions & How They’re Asked…

Is public education primarily the responsibility of the states or the federal government?

Is education primarily the responsibility of the government or of parents?

Who’s responsible for a child’s education?

What is the goal or purpose of public education?

What could possibly be a better use of tax dollars than our children’s education?

Is it better to invest in a child’s success now, or to pay for his failures later?

What evidence is there that more spending leads to better results in public education?

Does throwing money at a problem magically fix it?

Comparing / Contrasting Questions & How They’re Asked…

Who’s In Charge? (And How Much Power Should They Have?

Who Gets To Be A “Full American”?

What Is The “American Dream”?

How Far Should America Reach?

How Do We Balance Freedom & Security?

Socratic Seminars

Students learning to question will be prepared to participate with a clearer understanding in Socratic Seminars

Socratic seminars are the exploration of text based on questioning.Types of questioning in Socratic seminars:

Factual-Asks the reader to recall something about the author or text. Student should read the passage in the text that supports their response.

Interpretive-Has more than one correct answer because a difference of opinion about meaning is possible. Student is asked to explain what the author means by what is said.

Evaluative-Asks one to think about own personal values or experiences. Student can consider how he/she would act in a similar situation.