Weekly Teaching and Learning Email - Questioning
21st November 2014
Dear Colleagues,
This week the focus
is on questioning and this builds on the Science department focus about the
importance of thinking time.
When you have a
student who is an EAL learner remember the amount of work going on in their
head decoding language (especially with a Northern Irish accent), translating
it into Thai/Japanese etc… then forming their ideas into coherent English takes
a considerable amount of time and effort, especially if it is a topic they have
only been introduced to 10 minutes earlier.
Try to resist the temptation to finish their answers or interrupt by
saying, “Come on, you know this, think!”
This is hard to resist as you feel you are encouraging them, but it will
just distract them, and it is as useful as saying, “Come on speak Spanish!”
Use the following phrases and questions to challenge your students to think deeper, but remember to give them time...
‘In your opinion…’
‘What do you think?’
‘What does that mean
to you?’
‘What would you do
if you were…?’
‘What would happen if…?’
‘Why do you say
that?’
‘Do you agree?’
‘What does that
mean?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘What would that
lead to?’
‘Where did that
thought come from?’
‘Guess!’
‘What could that
mean?’
‘What may happen
next?’
‘What could an answer
be?’
‘How could you solve
the problem?’
‘What do you think
it means?’
‘What do you feel is
right?’
‘Who do you feel is
right?’
‘Do you disagree?’
‘Why do you think
that?’
‘Why did they think
that?’
‘How sure are you
that is the right answer?’
‘What is your
solution to…?’
‘How might others
see this?’
‘Is that your best
answer or your first answer?’
‘How does this link
with…?
‘When might that not
be true?’
‘Where might that
not be true?’
‘Have another guess.’
‘What if the opposite
were true?’
‘Could the opposite
be true?’
The final and most
powerful, ‘I disagree with you, persuade me.’
Credit: Ian Gilbert Independent
Thinking
A final thought to leave you with. Don’t
confuse speaking and participating, just because they are not speaking does not
mean they are not thinking hard. Often
those who speak most think least.
