Strategies That Use Questions to Encourage Thinking

STRATEGIES THAT USE QUESTIONS TO ENCOURAGE THINKING

AFFINITY MAPPING FINAL WORD Purpose: Asks students to analyze data, identify Purpose: Encourages listening to and learning relationships and create conceptual categories from different points of view; helps students think Needs: a question that will generate many in depth about their understanding of a passage; responses, sticky notes for each student, pencils, forces students to practice “wait-time”. large paper for each group of students Needs: common reading passage, groups of four, Procedure: Ask students to respond to the question time keeping device; description of protocol for on a separate note for each response. Students post each group. notes on the group’s large piece of paper. Groups Students must pre-read passage. In class they then look for related ideas and form clusters of review the reading and identify several ideas they sticky notes. Students group and regroup looking would like to discuss. Divide students into groups for commonalities among ideas until the group of four. feels that they have concepts or clusters that are Procedure: Groups identify and facilitator, a time meaningful. Finally, the group should name each keeper and a volunteer to go first. The volunteer cluster of ideas. Groups will share with the larger selects one of his ideas and identifies its location in class looking for how many groups came up with the passage. He then talks about it for up to three similar categories or different ways to consolidate minutes. When he is finished, or when time is ideas. called, each of the other group members will take Examples: What have been the main causes of turns responding for up to one minute on that conflict between countries? How do we use chosen topic. After all members have responded, fractions in everyday life? How do you learn best? the original speaker has up to one minute to give the final word on the topic. Follow this protocol for all members of the group, if time allows. It is important that students understand that only one member may talk at a time. The others are quietly listening or taking notes. FISHBOWL CHALK-TALK (INK-THINK) Purpose: Encourages true dialogue with a small Purpose: visual representation of information, group of students, encourages active listening and stimulates thought, encourages deeper thought questioning Needs: a question that will encourage divergent Needs: prepare a pivotal question that might elicit a thinking; wall chart or work space for 6-10 students variety of opinions and encourage dialogue. with a word, phrase, or symbol representing what Arrange chairs in a circle within a circle (6-10 the group should think about; a marker for each chairs on the inner circle and the remaining chairs student in the outer circle). Procedure: This activity results in a nonverbal Procedure: Review group norms (open mind, creation of a “mind-map”. Students first reflect on listen with respect, seek to understand, use wait the question individually. In groups of 6-10 and in time, etc.). Select a group to sit in the fishbowl silencestudents move to their station. Main ideas (inner circle) leaving one empty chair. Other will be written on lines that emanate from the students sit in the outer circle. The fishbowl is to central idea with other ideas branching off of those. model dialogue while the students outside the As students silently read (listen to) another’s ideas fishbowl model listening. A student from the outer they may add details, examples, or related ideas. circle may join the inner in the empty chair to pose After adequate time to record ideas, each group a question or make a statement. prepares a summary to share with the class. Modifications: The question could be given to a Modifications: Four or five related questions could small group for discussion before the Fishbowl. be used with groups rotating from chart to chart The fishbowl group could then be made up of adding their thoughts to those already posted. members from each of those groups or individuals Continue until each group has recorded ideas about could write a response to the prompt before the each question. activity begins.

Walsh, J. & Sattes, B. (2011). Thinking Through Quality Questioning (pp.152-171). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. STRATEGIES THAT USE QUESTIONS TO ENCOURAGE THINKING

QUESTION, QUESTION SAY SOMETHING Purpose: Engages students in thinking about a Purpose: Gives learners time to process a reading topic, forming true questions and judging the by talking about the passage and make connections quality of questions. to prior learning in order to increase Needs: The teacher must have laid the foundation comprehension. with students so they have understanding of Needs: Short passage on a topic of interest which cognitive levels of questions and can discern the might stimulate dialogue. difference between them. Procedure: Pairs of students are given a portion of Procedure: Students form pairs at some point a passage to read. When they have completed during the lesson. With their partners they should reading, they turn to each other and “say identify something they found interesting and something” about what the passage means to one of create one or two questions for discussion. them, then the other partner listens as their partner Question stems that elicit higher order thinking says something about the same passage. When time questions might be used early on. is called, another portion of the reading is given I wonder about… and this continues until the reading of the passage How are these alike and different? is completed. Be sure students know that there are What might happen if…? no right or wrong things to say and that they might What are the implications of…? ask a question, agree or disagree with the reading. This could also be used with a bulleted list, reading two or three of the bulleted items at a time or with a series of four or five related quotes. THINK-PAIR-SQUARE-SHARE SYNETICS Purpose: Helps insure that all students are Purpose: Students are asked to think answering a question. Gives students time to think metaphorically about a question. Activates through their ideas before sharing with the whole creativity, and change of perspective. group. Students process information through Needs: Prepare a question/prompt around the topic talking and listening to a partner. you are studying. Select four words or images that Needs: Pair students and prepare a prompt for participants can use to create metaphors. Put each discussion. on a separate piece of large paper and post in each Procedure: This strategy has four parts. First a corner of the room with a marker. “Describe your question is posed and all participants think about it vision of a political campaign.” (could have them do a “quick write” here). Then Procedure: Give students the prompt and ask them students pair up and talk about their ideas. The to respond individually. Say, “As you think about third step has two pairs of students come together this topic, is it more like ___, ____, ____, or ___?”, to share thoughts before finally sharing out to the (naming your four words or images) Ask each whole group. student to select the one metaphor that best matches his thinking on the topic. Ask, “Is an effective political campaign more like an amusement park, the Olympics, an MP3 player, or a buffet?” After time to think and choose, have students move to the corner of the room with the metaphor they have chosen. Students should list their reasons for their choice on the chart. In other words, tell how their metaphor is like the topic being studied. Give them time to brainstorm and record, then conduct a large group discussion on the topic. Modification: Could use with two contrasting words and students respond individually, in writing, then share in small groups. “Are algebraic equations more like spaghetti or ice cream? Is the structure of a cell more like fall or spring?”

Walsh, J. & Sattes, B. (2011). Thinking Through Quality Questioning (pp.152-171). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. STRATEGIES THAT USE QUESTIONS TO ENCOURAGE THINKING

Walsh, J. & Sattes, B. (2011). Thinking Through Quality Questioning (pp.152-171). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.