TEACHING & LEARNING

Plan to ask questions in lots of different ways, formal, informal, verbal, and written.

Try to maintain a gender balance and try to give ownership to the answer by using a student’s name.

Target your questioning and always give wait/thinking time – the amount depending on the students you are working with.  Wait/thinking time allows students to rationalise their answers, and for some, allows them to rehearse the answer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Build in difficulty and complexity when questioning; always finish a lesson with reflective questions that can stimulate deeper learning.

 

Give an answer currency whether it is right or wrong; scaffold the student’s self esteem towards the right answer.

 

Create an environment of communal learning so that students become used to giving each other support when answering questions.

 

Remember that answers don’t have to be verbal; you can use whiteboards, post it notes, posters etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Think about the types of questions you want to ask, refer to Bloom’s Taxonomy (resources can be found in the T&L Toolkit) to ensure that you are stimulating higher order thinking.

 

Sometimes it is useful to ask a leading question as the lesson objective at the start of the lesson and to go back to it at the end.

 

 

Remember that EAL early learners may be reluctant to answer questions, pair them with a more articulate student so that they have support to rationalise an answer. Let the other person in the pair answer until the new learner feels more confident.