Teaching and the Art of Questioning David Deubelbeiss http://setiteachers.ning.com http://eflclassroom.ning.

comDev eloping the art of questioning can be as simple as practicing. It is with practice thatwe gain competence and pattern the process.

In pairs or 3s Look at Appendix 1 . Choose one question, ask it and then give twofollow up questions.

The art of questioning students is the foundation of all good teaching practice.It provides for both assessment and student growth (learning) and is the coreof the scientific method and how we learn.Yet, teachers spend comparably little time, learning how to ask questions or make questions which lead to good teaching. Moreover, many teachers spendlittle time developing this fundamental skill in their students. You cant havereal communication without questions yet so many students gain Englishcompetence in this too far along their learning curve to benefit.This workshop will address both aspects of questioning. Part 1 How to deliver questions as a teacher?Assessing students through questions. Part 2 - Activities to promote question making skills in our students.

Recalling -Who, what, when,where, how _______?Identifying Errors -What is wrong with_______? Comparing -How is similarto/different from_______?Inferring -What might we inferfrom _______? What conclusions mightbe drawn from _______? Identifying Attributesand Components What are thecharacteristics/parts of _______? Predicting What might happen if _______? Classifying -How might we organizeinto categories_______?Elaborating -What ideas/details canyou add to _______?Give an example of _______.Ordering -Arrange into sequenceaccording to _______?Summarizing -Can you summarize_______?Establishing Criteria -What criteria would youuse to judge/evaluate_______?IdentifyingRelationships andPatterns -Develop anoutline/diagram/web of _______?Identifying Main Ideas -What is wrong with_______? What conclusions mightbe drawn from_______? Verifying -What evidencesupports _______? How might we Representing In what other ways mightwe show/illustrate _______? prove/confirm _______?

TechniquesofEffectiveQuestioning 1. Establishanappropriateenvironment .Onlycertainquestionsshouldbeposedinfrontofstudents;bedside(beginning)questionsshouldfocusprincipallyonknowledgeandrecallandtoalesser extentoncomprehension. 2. Createaclimateconducivetolearning .Ahappyfacialexpression,nod,orverbalacknowledgementofacorrectresponseencouragesotherstudentstoparticipateinthediscussion.Posequestionsina non-threateningwayandreceiveanswersinasupportivefashion.Aharshtone,especialywhenusedtointerruptaresponsefromthestudent,canbe devastatingforboththestudentandhisorherpeers. 3. Preparethestudentsforthequestioningsessionanddiscussion .Explaintostudentstheformat,expectations,andhowthisknowledgewilhelpthem. 4. Usebothpre-plannedandemergingquestions .Pre-plannedquestionsarethoseincorporatedintotheteachingplanthatareaskedduringtheteachingsessiontointroducenewconcepts,focusthediscussion oncertainitems,steerthediscussioninspecificdirections,oridentifystudentknowledge/levelonthetopic.Emergingquestionsderivefromthediscussionitselfand

thespecificanswersgiventopreviousquestions.Thinkquicklyandactdecisivelytophrasethesequestionsaccuratelyandposethematappropriatetimesinthe discussion. 5. Useanappropriatevarietyandmixofquestions. Onegoodstrategyistostartwithconvergentquestionsandthencontinuewithdivergentquestions,perhapsaskingquestionsinhierarchicalsequenceand buildingfromtherecalloffactstohigherlevelsofthinkingandproblem-solving.Ifaquestionrequiringahigherlevelthinkingskilblocksthestudent,godownto aquestionrequiringlower-levelthinkingskilsandthenworkupthehierarchy. 6. AvoidtrickquestionsandthosethatrequireonlyaYESorNOresponse. Trickquestionsshouldbeavoided,astheyfrustratestudentsandtendtoencouragefrivolousresponses.YESorNOquestionsencouragestudentstorespond withoutfullyunderstandingorthinkingthroughtheissue.Whenused,suchquestionsshouldbefollowedbyotherquestionstodeterminethethinkingprocess ofthestudent.