6 Tips for Asking Better Questions

- Adapted from Morgan & Saxon, 2013

Big Ideas

·  Draw upon students’ previous knowledge

·  Test their comprehension

·  Push students to problem solve

·  Encourage analysis

·  Invite creativity

·  Promote evaluation

Draw Upon Background Knowledge

Being able to remember and articulate what we already know is an important skill. To help students draw upon the knowledge they already have, begin questions with the following:

·  Who?

·  What?

·  When?

·  Where?

·  Why?

·  How?

For example, you might ask, “Where might you find a haystack today?” or “How does Franny react when Zooey lectures her in chapter two?”

* Closed ended questions (1 right answer) to test basic comprehension/factual recall, Open ended questions (many possible answers) for further discussion – digging deeper…

Questions that test comprehension (understanding)
It’s one thing to recall factual answers and another thing entirely to be able to reword, rephrase, interpret and describe something in one’s own language. To help our students hone this skill, use the following questions:

·  What is meant by…?

·  Can you rephrase…?

·  Can you describe…?

·  What is the difference between…?

·  What is the main idea of…?

Questions that require application (solving)
It is important that we teach our students to problem solve and take what they’ve already learned and apply it to other situations. To help them hone this skill, try asking the following questions – reasoning with evidence from the text or other objective sources.

·  Whom would you choose?

·  What might happen if?

·  How can…?

·  What examples…?

·  How would you…?

Questions that encourage analysis (reasoning)
We want our students to be able to support their arguments and opinions with evidence from the text/other sources, and organize their ideas into logical patterns of understanding, right? If so, using the following phrases to provoke reasoning is helpful (if new, always model 1st i.e. “I-We-Y’all You Do it” ):

·  I wonder why…?

·  I wonder what would happen if…?

·  What if…?

·  What could have been the reason…?

·  If it a fact that…?

·  Should we assume that…?

Questions that invite synthesis (creating)
Our students are creative people; we just need to give them the opportunity to express this side of themselves. To invite creativity, use the following phrases:

·  How could we/you…?

·  How can…?

·  What if…?

·  I wonder how…?

·  Do you suppose that…?

Questions that promote evaluation (judgment)
Everyone has an opinion, but we want our students’ opinions to be grounded in reasoning w/evidence. We also want them to be able to look critically at others’ arguments. To promote evaluation, use the following phrases – explaining why…

·  What might be better…?

·  Does it matter that…?

·  Would you agree that…?

·  Would it be better if…?

·  What is your opinion…?

·  I wonder if we (you/they) were right to…?

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