QUESTIONING
Questioning is an important part of being able to further understand a text/topic. It is a low resource and highly accessible strategy that requires input from both the teacher and student in order to elicit learning outcomes.
The Teacher:
The Student:
(Department of Education and Children's Services, 2011; Winch et al., 2014)
The Teacher:
- Use lower order questioning when teaching factual material.
- keep wait-time shorter when posing lower order questions.
- Ask higher order questions (e.g. how, why, would) to promote deeper engagement with a text/topic.
- wait-time should be increased when posing these types of questions.
- Compile well thought out questions when planning and write these down, so that you make the most of teachable moments in a lesson.
- write these questions on post-it notes and stick them to pages in a book or text you are reading aloud to students.
- (e.g. what is the author trying to tell me here? what is the significance of the picture?)
- When teaching younger students or students with disabilities, structure questions so that most will result in successful responses.
- Give praise to responses in a credible manner, ensuring that the praise is connected to the student's response.
The Student:
- Asks questions while reading.
- Finds answers to these questions through careful exploration of text.
- Responds to questions posed by others, drawing on information acquired and through making meaningful links.
(Department of Education and Children's Services, 2011; Winch et al., 2014)