Nine Questions that Promote Thinking

I keep finding myself revisiting this idea of how important it is for our students to be able to ask questions.  In an earlier blog I asked “How are You Celebrating Question Week?” and just last week “Which is Best for Kids: Answers or Questions?”, so it should be no surprise that this week I could not get my mind off of wondering if there are questions out there that we could all look to as starting points to help trigger student thinking.  In my mind, these questions need to be simple enough for us to remember to ask and therefore apply to our lessons on the fly.  At the same time, these questions should be accessible to the students, so that they can start to pick-up and use as they come across roadblocks to their own understanding.  I started listing questions that I think fit that criteria, some of which I have heard being asked in our district as well as others that I have come across in my own reading or in other activities.

What makes you say that?

I love this question as it is simple and accessible, yet it will give a window into where the student’s understanding is at in that particular moment.  Ron Ritchhart in “Making Thinking Visible” points out that this question “helps students identify the basis of their thinking by asking them to elaborate on the thinking that lies behind their perspective” (Ritchhart, Church, & Morrison, 2011, p.165). One caution I would point out is to be careful of which word you emphasize when asking the question.  “What makes you say that?” is more inviting than “What makes you say that?”

What surprised you?

This is a great question to use in any content area and any grade level because all students will have some sort of background knowledge that they can compare to the new information coming in and so, this questions helps the students to connect the two.  

What do you notice?

This question actually helps the students to get used to the idea of asking questions.  Describing what you notice allows students to “safely” engage in the activity because there is no “wrong” answer to what you personally notice as long as you can support your statement with evidence from the activity.

What do you think you know about the topic?

This question is related to those K-W-L charts you see where the “K” is “What do you know about…?”.  I like this question better because it is more inviting.  Students who are not sure if they know something about a topic will not volunteer to share ideas, but by asking it this way you open the discussion to their own ideas.

What do you wonder?

A question such as this is a question generator and helps kids to get more comfortable with sharing their thinking.  Graham Fletcher is someone I follow and his “Three-Act Lesson” videos are a great resource related to this question.  They are focused on K-5 Math, but the concept of the video could be applied K-12 cross-curricular.

What did the author think I already knew?

Kylene Beers & Robert Probst  in their book “Reading Nonfiction: Notice & Note”point out that this question is powerful because it takes the responsibility of the student not knowing something about a topic and puts it on the shoulders of the author of the article.  It makes it safer for kids and helps them begin to see the shared information from the author’s perspective.  Another great thing about this question is it can be used in any content area.

What else could it be?

Acknowledges the student's thinking while at the same time opens up the question or problem to another interpretation from the same student or from another student.

Did anyone have a different way of getting to that same spot?

A question like this emphasizes that there is more than one way to get to the same answer or understanding.  Some are more efficient (Math) while others bring in another perspective (ELA), but none the less are legitimate ways to look at a question.

Is there a way we could open or close that question?

This questions introduces students to the idea that the same question can look for different things with a slight modification.  Open questions, “how” or “why”, help students to nurture a more creative approach while closed questions, “What is..” or “Yes/No” questions  which have a more specific answer help a student to refocus the purpose of the question.  The ability to make a closed ended question open or an open ended question closed is evidence of more flexible thinking which will lead to the ability to ask better questions.

I purposely stopped at nine questions because it is literally an odd number and because it naturally makes you feel as if the list is incomplete, which it is.  So, if you have other questions you use, or have seen others use, which promote students’ thinking and their ability to ask questions please add them to this list in the comment section.  Constantly sharing, reflecting, and asking our own questions is the only way to continue to grow (think Red Queen Effect) as learners. How else could we get better at asking questions?

References

Beers, Kylene & Probst, Robert. (2016).  Reading Nonfiction:  Notice & Note Stances, Signposts

and Strategies.  Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann.

Ritchhart, Ron, Church, Mark, & Morrison, Karin (2011). Making Thinking Visible. San

Francisco, CA: A Wiley Imprint.