204 The Skillful Teacher

• All children need to be engaged in conver~sation with higher-level thinking questions.This is especially important for childrenwho are low in academic proficiency. Stu-dents who are three or four grade levelsbehind in literacy skills are still perfectlycapable of higher-level thinking: inference.>'analysis, connection making. Furthermore,teachers need to engage them in this kindof thinking if they want to keep these chil-dren engaged in school.

• Questions should be planned when we areplanning lessons, and planned with morespecificity and detail than many of us areused to doing. Don't just plan the activitiesand topics for discussion and then wing iton what questions to ask as we go.

• Students should be taught to ask questions.

something to address them; gather preassessmentdata to plan 'where and how to begin where thelearners are in relation to our objectives. Next, wediscussed instructional moves to consider when pre-senting information: being intentional and using avariety of explanatory devices, monitoring yourspeech and language patterns to match to thegroup and prevent confusion; being explicit andnot leaving to chance that students understand theintention of your cues, the focus of your questions,the necessary or critical steps in directions, themeaning behind your references; making cognitiveconnections for or wi.th students by showing orexploring how new knowledge is like something stu-dents already know; providing cognitive transitionsbetween ideas; signaling shifts; and foreshadowing.To monitor student understanding, we discussedthe importance of checking to ensure all studentsare understanding, unscrambling confusion whenit arises, and getting students to make their think-ing visible. And the final concern is in protectingtime for summarizing. Each of these is a functionalaspect of the Clarity area of performance.

Questioning

Questioning is done in classrooms for many pur-poses. We could say that it crosses nearly all theareas of performance in teaching. There are fourmain points about questioning that we want tohighlight in this chapter. Each has large implica-tions for practice:

• Questioning is not a unitary skill; it is anentire toolbox, and the tools selected shouldbe matched to the instructional purpose.Figure 9.7 shows a variety of purposes forasking questions. Table 9.4 includes samplequestions designed for each purpose.

Purposes of Questions

Questions are tools for accomplishing tasks. It isthe tasks that matter, and being deliberate aboutwhat we are trying to accomplish with the ques-tion and having the repertoire of tools for accom-plishing them. Question asking is not anindependent and self-contained skill. A questionis a tool, and not the only one, for stimulatingmany important student cognitions: framing, acti-vating, connection making, analyzing, extending,applying, inferring, conjuring implications, check-ing for understanding, identifying points of con-fusion, implementing a model of teaching,summarizing, and other tasks. Rather than tryingto develop questioning generically as some kindof skill, it is more productive to focus on whatmental act we want to generate in students at agiven moment and what move (perhaps a ques-tion) we will make to provoke it.

Clarity 205

Figure 9.7. Purposes of Questions

Assess Current Kno"vi,tledge and Skills

Check for Understanding

-<l Pinpoint Confusion

SS~Sr Surface Misconceptions"'/~

G'(~ Invite Self-Assessment

;.q~-1I1. Make Instructional Decisions1ttG'

PURPOSESOF .b.-9.

~ ~~ QUESTIONS ~1I_01l?06~~~~ ~v/0l/./f~

6\~ \~O~ Maintain Attention Motivate Students 0-114G'<'0~~~~ <y~~ Control Behavior Stimulate Curiosity (~-1IG:G'-1I/"v.~~~ Boost Confidence Promote Reflection and Integration '.</G'~1l?,~ -<l~

'v<y~ Connect to Student Questions ~-11)'~

Connect to Student Experience

~6~ -=:-_

~6'\ Focus Thinking

~c,~~Extend Thinking

Foreshadow

SOUTce: Adapted from Bellon, Bellon, and Blank (1992).

Higher-Level Thinking Questions

Here are some interesting statistics about teacherquestions. Quite consistently studies show that about60 percent of questions are recall or factual ques-tions. The figure can rise to 80 percent recall in someclassrooms (Cotton, 2000). Only 20 percent are high-er level, and the remaining 20 percent are procedur-al. These are not good statistics for preparingstudents adequately for a twenty-first-centuryworld.

Students who get instruction without higher-order questions score in the fiftieth percentile ontests compared to the seventy-fifth percentile if thesame students engage in lessons where there aremany higher-order questions (Gall and others,1978). The reason for this is that higher-order think-

ing is inherently more interesting and it causes cog-nitive processing and organization of informationthat builds more elaborate mental structures. Thepoint that matters is that all students should bebrought to high levels of thinking with academicmaterial through an appropriate balance of higher-and lower-levelquestions. To stretch students, teach-ers have to make sure all the students are invitedequally into the thinking club, not just some.

Research on questioning does not say simplythat the more high-level ques.tions, the better. Itdoes not say that low-level questions are useless:

The popular belief that lower level questions

are less effective ... has not been upheld.

Achievement is related to the use of a variety of

Table 9.4. Sample Questions

Purpose of Questions Example

Assessing learningAssess Current Knowledge and Skills

Check for Understanding

Pinpoint Confusions

Surface Misconceptions

Invite Self-Assessment

Make Instructional Decisions

Instructing

"Why do some objects float in water and others sink?"

"Can you tell me in your own words how photosynthesis works?"

"What did you do after you entered the data?"

"Why do you thinkwe have winter and summer?"

"Which ones do you know well, and which ones do you need to practicetomorrow?"

"Do we need more time on this?"

Frame Big Ideas

Extend Thinking

Deepen Thinking

Foreshadow

Promote Transfer

Invite Summarizing

Managing the learning Environment

"What makes humans human?"

"Is this similar or different from the situation in Palestine?"

"Go inside that now and tell me why that position might have-made sensefrom his point of view."

"Based on what we've explored today, why do you think the colonists decid-ed to stay?"

"So how could you use this information about evaporation in your everydaypractical life?"

"What do you think were the most important points made in the discussionso far?"

Boost Confidence

Control Behavior

Maintain Attention

"How would you do it, Tim?" [Tim is not confident of his math ability, butMrs. Johnson has heard him propose a novel solution in his group. Shewants him to present it to the class, knowing it will be appreciated by themand be a validating experience for Tim.]

"How would you do it, Tim?" [Tim is starting to distract Millie, and Mrs.Johnson moves toward them while asking a question to get him engaged.]

"How would you do it, Tim?" [Tim's attention is wandering and Mrs. Johnsonstartles him back into focus.]

Promoting Cognitive and Emotional Engagement

Motivate Students

Stimulate Curiosity

Promote Active Reflection and Integration

Connection to Students' Own QuestionsAbout Deeper Meaning

Connect to Student Experience

"What product do you most want to design an ad program for?"

"What do you know about voting and elections in this country?"

"What are three things you've learned, two questions you have, and onething you don't understand yet?"

"What do you think the most important things are about having a family?"

"In 'Stone Soup: does the villagers' reaction to the soldiers remind you ofanything you've experienced in the neighborhood?"

"What do you think the crime movie The Negotiator might have to do withinternational affairs?"

Research for Better Teaching, Inc. • One Acton Place, Acton, MA 01720 • (978)263-9449 • www.RBTeach.com

Clarity 207

Figure 9.8 Map of Pedagogical Knowledge

KEY CONCEPTS

• Areas of Performance• Repertoire• Matching

CurriculumPlanning

Planning

Class Climate

Assessment

PersonalRelationship Building

LearningExperiences

Expectations

InstructionalStrategies Clarity

Space

Principles ofLearning

Models ofTeaching

Time Routine

MomentumAttention Discipline

Foundation of Essential Beliefs

Research for Better Teaching, Inc. • One Acton Place, Acton, MA 01720 • (978)263-9449 • www.RBTeach.com

questions designed to accomplish specific pur-poses. For example, a pattern of factual ques-tions, student responses, and teacher feedbackhas been found to be the most functional

mechanism for student achievement in basicskills.... [Furthermore] successful responding

to lower level questions is a prerequisite forhigher level learning. Students need a firm baseof factual knowledge when they are engaged in

higher level thinking activities. It is impossible

to summarize or evaluate information that a

person does not know or understand [Bellon,Bellon, and Blank, 1992, pp. 315-316].

At the conclusion of an exhaustive review ofthe research on questioning, Bellon, Bellon, andBlank (1992) concluded that teachers should planquestions and write them down in advance as part ofthe planning process to accomplish the learningobjective of the lesson. If the objective of the lessoncallsfor analysisand application of information, theymay need to ask quite a few recall questions first.

208 The Skillful Teacher

As always in skillful teaching, the balance ofhigher- to lower-level questions must be a match tothe situation. But overall, there should be a high por-tion of higher-level questions for all students. Hereis a summary of the research findings on higher- andlower-cognitive questions (Cotton, 1988, p. 5):

• In most classes above the primary grades, acombination of higher- and lower-cognitivequestions is superior to the exclusive use ofone or the other.

• Students whom teachers perceive as slow orpoor learners are asked fewer higher-cogni-tive questions than students perceived asmost capable learners.

• Increasing the use of higher-cognitivequestions (to considerably above the 20 per-cent incidence noted in most classes) pro-duces superior learning gains for studentsabove the primary grades and particularlyfor secondary students.

• For older students, increases in the use ofhigher-cognitive questions (to 50 percent ormore) are positively related to increases inon-task behavior, length of studentresponses, the number of relevant contribu-tions volunteered by students, the numberof student-to-student interactions, studentuse of complete sentences, speculativethinking on the part of students, and rele-vant questions posed by students.

• For older students, increases in the use ofhigher-cognitive questions (to 50 percent ormore) are positively related to increasedteacher expectations about children's abili-ties, particularly the abilities of studentswhom teachers habitually regarded as slowlearners.

• The degree of improvement resulting fromincreases in both higher-cognitive questions

and wait time is greater than an increase ineither of these variables.by itself. Indeed,those who have examined the relationshipbetween these factors tell us that, in a sense,they cause one another.

• Redirection and probing are positivelyrelated to achievement when they areexplicitly focused on the clarity, accuracy,plausibility, and so on of studentresponses.

Bloom's TaxonomyAll students need to be invited and supported to dohigher-level thinking, no matter what their literacylevel. To do this requires a clear framework forunderstanding what higher-level thinking is. Ben-jamin Bloom and his colleagues (1956) created theoriginal framework for this understanding. Bloomand Krathwohl originally listed these levels for cog-nition:

• Recall• Comprehension• Analysis• Application• Evaluation• Synthesis

Many grids, like the one in Table 9.5, illus-trate the different levels of thinking with specificquestion stems and lists of verbs found at differentcognitive levels.

Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) updated theoriginal Bloom framework by adding the four kindsof knowledge to be learned to the picture: factualknowledge, conceptual knowledge, proceduralknowledge, and meta-cognitive knowledge (Table9.6). In addition, they redefined Bloom's "synthe-sis category" as "creating," by which they mean"putting elements together to form a coherent orfunctional whole: reorganizing elements into a new

Table 9.5. Thinking Skills Model Categories

Category Examples of Trigger Questions Key Words

Knowledge Define the word _

What is a ?Label the following _

Identify the in this _

Who did 7

Organizing Compare the before and after _

Contrast the to the _

Differentiate between and _

Classify by _

Order by _

How is an example of 7

How is related to _

Why is significant7

Predict what would happen if . Explain.

Choose the best statements thatapplyto _

Identify the results of _

Tell how much change there would bewhen _

Applying

Analyzing What are the basic elements (ingredients)in a 7

What is/are the functions(s) of 7

Inventory the parts of _

Categorize the of _

Sortthe _

What is the order of steps in 7

Hypothesize what will happen if _

Predict what would be true if _

Conclude what the result will be if _

What if had happenedinstead of 7

Generating

Integrating What would you predict/infer from 7

What ideas can you add to 7

How would you create/design a new 7

What might happen if you combined ?

What solutions would you suggest for ?

Evaluating What you would do if happened? Why7

Judge what would be the best way to solvethe problem of _

Why did you select that solution?

Define, repeat, identify, what, label, when,list, who, name

Compare, differentiate, contrast, order,classify, distinguish, relate

Apply, demonstrate, calculate, complete,illustrate, show, solve, examine, modify,relate, change, classify, experiment, discover,dramatize, sketch

Subdivide, categorize, break down, sort,separate

Deduce, anticipate, predict what if, infer,apply, speculate, conclude

Combine, integrate, modify, create, design,invent, compose, theorize, develop, devise,originate, revise, synthesize, conceive, proj-ect, hypothesize

Evaluate, argue, judge, recommend, assess,debate, appraise, critique, defend

Evaluate whether you would, _or . Why?

SOUTee: Reprinted with permission from Chris A. Carem and Patsy B. Davis, Kappa Delta Pi Record; Fall 2005, Kappa Delta Pi, Inter-national Honor Society in Education.

210 The Skillful Teacher

Table 9.6. Bloom's Taxonomy Updated

Know/edge Dimensions: The Kind of Know/edge to Be Learned

CognitiveProcesses

FactualKnowledge:Basic elements thatstudents must know tobe acquainted with adiscipline or solve aproblem within it

ConceptualKnowledge:The interrelationshipsbetween the basicelements within alarger structure thatenable them tofunction together

ProceduralKnowledge:How to dosomething: methodsof inquiry, criteria forusing skills,algorithms, tech-niques, and methods

Meta-CognitiveKnowledge:Knowledge ofcognition in general aswell as awareness ofone's own cognition

Remember List, recall, recognize Describe Identify appropriate useTabulateUnderstand Summarize Interpret Predict ExecuteApply Classify Experiment

ActionAnalyze Order Explain

Compose

Calculate ConstructDifferentiate Achieve

Evaluate Rank AssessCreate Combine Plan

SOUTce: Updated from Anderson and Krathwohl (2001).

pattern or structure through generating, planningor producing." They define the other basic cogni-tive processes as follows. (The verbs at the core ofeach type of question are from Fisher, 2005, p. 4).

• Remembering (the old "recall" category):Retrieving, recognizing, and recalling rele-

vant knowledge from long-term memory.

• Understanding (the old "comprehension"category).

• Constructing meaning from oral, written,and graphic messagesthrough interpreting,

exemplifying, classifying, summarizing,inferring, comparing, and explaining.

• Applying:

Carrying out or using a procedure through

executing or implementing.

• Analyzing:Breaking material into constituent parts,determining how the parts relate to one

another and to an overall structure or pur-

ConcludeActualize

pose through differentiating, organizing,and attributing.

• Evaluating:Making judgments based on criteria and

standards through checking and critiquing.

• Creating:Putting elements together to form a coher-

ent or functional whole: reorganizing ele-

ments into a new pattern or structurethrough generating, planning or producing

[Reprinted with permission from Dianna

Fisher,2005).

Tools like this are useful for planning lessons. Theimplication of the research on questioning for les-son planning is that we must be deliberate aboutour questions and plan a route so we use them toget all our students into higher levels of thinking.We also have to prepare ourselves for how studentsrespond to the questions.