In the spongly desert in the early 1990s, an ugwith was built. ‘Deglap’ as it was called, tried to mistrumble itself from the holb and struther around it. The plan was to xid a grynod– a place in which man and knope could whuckle in harmony.Where and when was the ugwith built?What was this specific ugwith called?Can you describe the ultimate purpose of the

ugwith?

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It’s a fact that… An average teacher asks 400 questions in a day That’s 70,000 a year! One-third of all teaching time is spent asking

questions Most questions are answered in less than a

second

Steven HastingsTES 4 July 2003

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What is the purpose of questions? To interest, engage and challenge To check on prior knowledge To focus thinking on key concepts and

issues

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The purpose of questions

Interaction Challenge Progress Assessment

Questioning is a critical skill for teachers because it is:

•the most common form of interaction between teacher and pupil;

•an element of virtually every type and model of lesson;

•a key method of providing appropriate challenge for all pupils;

•an important influence on the extent of progress made;

•the most immediate and accessible way for a teacher to assess learning

Importance of questioning

asking too many closed questions;

asking pupils questions to which they can respond with a simple yes or no answer;

asking too many short-answer, recall-based questions;

asking bogus ‘guess what I’m thinking’ questions;

with the same stem;dealing ineffectively with incorrect answers or misconceptions;

focusing on a small number of pupils and not involving the whole class;

making the sequence of questions too rigid;

not giving pupils time to reflect, or to pose their own questions;

Pitfalls of questioning

It ain’t what you ask, it’s the way that you ask it...

Why do the south American Indians have no word for season in their language?

Why do you think the south American Indians might have no word for season in their language?

Blooming Question categories1. KNOWLEDGEWhat happened after ... ?Who was it that ... ?  2. APPLICATIONWhat is the purpose of ... ?Could this have happened in ...

?  3. COMPREHENSIONExplain in your own words.What might happen next?

4. ANALYSISHow is ... similar to ... ?What was the turning point?

5. SYNTHESISWhat is a possible solution to ...

?Can you design a ... to ... ?

6. EVALUATIONIs there a better solution to ... ?How would you feel if ... ?

Levels of Blooming challenge in questions Which of these three tools would do that most effectively and why?

What does this style of painting remind you of?   Given all the conflicting arguments, where would you build the new refinery?  What would happen if you mixed …?  Given all the sources we have looked at, where would you now expect these people to have moved to?

If we are unsure, how could we set about translating …?  Why did the Normans invade …?  What similarities can you spot between the two …?

If this verb looks like this when it follows ‘il’, what would you expect of these verbs?

What repeating pattern can you see in the events …? 

How will you set about remembering what you have learned?

What do we use?

type 1 – Knowledge or factual recall type 2 – Comprehension

However questions which belong to the other 4 types demand higher order thinking of the pupils.

Achievement at level 5 and above during key stage 3 always requires thinking using the 4 types of demanding question.

PlanningInclude examples of different types of questioning in

your scheme of work.At the beginning of the lesson share key questions

that you will be trying to answer in the lesson. Keep referring to them at various stages and then return to them in the plenary session.

Make sure some of your questions use higher order thinking skills rather than just demonstrating knowledge.

Identify which sort of questions with specific groups of students to demonstrate elements of differentiation

Blooming Challenge?Knowledge Describe... What is… (Closed question) Comprehension When did… What… (Closed question) Application Imagine… How would you.. Think, pair, share Analysis Explain Give reasons for Why Think, pair, share

Synthesis Drawing together… which sources

are… Considering what you’ve learnt,

what might… Collation of a range of

evidence/ideas A combination of research with

supported reasons in explanation to produce a structured detailed response.

Evaluation How far To what extent… Independent research to produce a

structured answer with substantiated ideas and conclusion.

Planning for hierarchical questionsTeaching the principles of Bloom’s

Or higher order thinking skills Or the hierarchy of questions in an exam paper

/ other assessmentOr the simpler hierarchy of What / How / Why

Closed or Open?Are closed questions ‘poor’ questions?

How open are our questions?

… and how open are we to open answers?15 years ago, Ted Wragg's extensive research in

primary schools indicated only 8 per cent of questions were of a higher-order nature. "Because teachers ask so many questions each day, it's easy for one style of questioning to become habitual," he says. "And lower-order questions feel safest because they keep the lesson moving."

Asking open questions

Make sure the question has more than one possible answer.

Follow up answers with words like ‘Explain’ or ‘Tell me a bit more about that’.

Use questions such as ‘What do you already know about?’ or ‘How will you find out about?’

Encourage collaborative work through answering questions

Give pupils a minute to discuss a question in pairs before taking answers (think, pair, share)

Encourage groups to set questions for other groups.

Use a ‘Who wants to be a millionaire?’ approach where pupils can ask a friend, ask a group or ask anyone in the class for help with a question or ‘The Cube’ where students can decide to

‘play’, ask for help with ‘Simplify’ or rehearse a response (perhaps with a work partner) with a ‘Trial Run’

Approaches to answering

Give pupils time to answer – research indicates that the longer time given DOES elicit a more sophisticated response

Treat answers with respect, even if they are wrong! Give credit for trying – BUT don’t let misunderstanding go...

Allow pupils time and access to research answers to more complex questions, either individually or collaboratively.

Enhancing quality of questioningDo youUse ‘think – pair – share’Provide pupils with questions they might want to askUse questions that motivateUse names to preface a questionMake it safe to ‘get it wrong’Ask pupils to explain their thinkingProvide extension if the answer is ‘Dunno’Reflect back (So if I understand you, you’re saying...)Play devil’s advocate or encourage ‘upside-down’ thinkingEncourage thinking about thinking

Socratic questioningConceptual clarification questionsProbing assumptionsProbing rationale, reasons and evidenceQuestioning viewpoints and perspectivesProbe implications and consequencesQuestions about the question

Strategies for student questioningActive and independent students ask questionsDo we model this?Do we explicitly teach this?Do we allow this?Do we encourage this?

Are we using questioning to ‘close down’ or ‘open up’?

Returning to Bloom

type 1 – Knowledge or factual recall type 2 – Comprehension

However questions which belong to the other 4 types demand higher order thinking of the pupils.

Achievement at level 5 and above during key stage 3 always requires thinking using the 4 types of demanding question.

Pupils who learn to do well can ask questions at these levels as well as answer them.

We need to give them question starter prompts to help them with this.

KWLWhat do we KNOW? What do we WANT to

find out? What have we

LEARNT?

QUADSQuestion

Answer Detail Source

Developing student Q&APlaying cardsLolly sticksStarter swine / halfway hog / plenary pigIdentified student questionersPrepared review questions for individuals

(e.g. question on a post it to be answered later in the lesson)

Individuals or pairs to ‘take on’ response to key questions introduced at the beginning of the lesson

Next steps – CPD Commitment • Be observed, with a focus on questions• Ask a student to log your questions – or record yourself!• Plan questions / question stems for your lesson objectives• Plan key questions for a scheme of learning• Introduce students to Bloom or Socratic questioning (by

name or concept)• Set tasks (e.g. Mind map) which focuses on the QUESTIONS

that need asking – pupils can follow this up with finding the answers

• Use KWL or QUADS for students to identify crucial questions with students

• Use prepared, differentiated ‘review questions’ with identified students