Getting Students to Ask the Questions

In order for students to demonstrate deep understanding of something, the right questions have to be asked. Questioning should not be something we devote a week to, but instead something that we do and ask our students to do everyday. Here are some strategies to get students asking questions:

Question Formulation Technique - a simple, structured protocol for getting students to ask questions.

10 Questions in 10 minutes - Students have 10 minutes to create 10 questions about a topic. Then they have to decide which of those questions are the best ones to research in order to complete a project.

Why/What if/How - come up with a problem for kids to tackle (e.g., “Students aren’t coming to school on time”) and challenge the students to start using Why questions to explore reasons behind the problem; then use What If questions to try to come up with imaginative ideas for solutions; then use practical How questions to try to make those “What If” ideas more realistic and actionable.

How Might We…? - Ask students to think about some of the issues or challenges they’re most interested in. Together, try to come up with 5 to 10 big “How Might We” questions to address some of those challenges (e.g., “How might we help kids in our community who are hungry?”). Once you have a list, see if the group can agree on one “How Might We” question to adopt and work on together in days ahead—that can become the group’s “mission question.”

The 5 Whys - put some problems in front of the group, and together, try subjecting them to the 5 Whys, to see where it leads. You can also pair off students and have them try the 5 Whys on each other. It’s fun and interesting (sometimes it leads to new insights, other times to dead ends!). But it also provides a great lesson on the value of using follow-up questions to dig deeper into a challenge.




Wonder Walls - During a lesson if a student asks a question that can’t be answered they write it on a sticky note and put it on the wall. At the end of the day, students can copy the questions and research them at home or during free time. The next days, students present their findings.”

Taken from http://questionweek.com/exercises-to-build-your-questioning-muscles/