Questioning the Question

When learners answer a question or complete a task, it is always of benefit if they first question that which is being asked or requested of them.

This encourages learners to think critically about the matter in hand and to produce a response that is more closely connected to what is at issue than might otherwise be the case.

Here are five activities you can use to help learners question the question.

Question Set

Give learners a collection of questions they can ask of any question or task.

For example:

• What am I being asked to do?
• What are the key words in the question or task?
• What do these mean?
• Why am I being asked this?
• How will I know that I have achieved what is being asked of me?

These could be displayed for pupils on the board, printed off and handed out to learners, or printed out and stuck in the front of their books.

Question Set with Groups

As above, except the class is divided into groups and each group is given one of the questions from the list.

The responses that groups come up with are then shared with the whole class.

If appropriate, these can be collated on the board so learners can refer to them while they complete their work.

Question Debate

Four or five assessment-style questions are written on large sheets of paper.

These are distributed throughout the room.

Pupils are invited to walk around and to write an explanation on each sheet of paper of how they would go about answering the particular question.

They should also read what their peers have written.

At the end of the activity, pupils select one of the questions and produce a detailed answer.

They should use the comments written on the relevant sheet to help them do this.

Question Paths

Display a question on the board.

Ask pupils to work in groups of three.

Each group creates 3-5 pathways representing alternative ways the question could be answered.

Each pathway should concentrate on a different aspect of the question, or on a different interpretation of the question.

When learners have finished their pathways, they should discuss the different options and decide which one they will follow through.

They then use this as the basis of a written answer.

What will a good answer look like?

This activity is very simple.

Display a question for learners and then ask them: ‘What will a good answer look like?’

Collate responses from the whole class (ensuring you also elicit explanations and reasons) and use these as success criteria to guide your pupils in their work.

Who, What, Where, When, Why, How?

These six words are the starting point for most questions.

They can also be the starting point for a variety of question-based activities.

Here are three examples you can use in your classroom:

Example 1

Divide the class into six groups.

Provide each group with a collection of resources related to the topic.

Assign one of the question words to each of the groups.

Indicate that they should come up with a range of questions based on that word, and that they should then ask those questions of the materials you have handed out.

At the start of the activity, give learners a pro-forma containing six large boxes.

These will be labelled with the words ‘who, what, where, when, why and how’.

In the box that contains the word assigned to their group, pupils write down the answers they come up with in response to the questions they developed.

When sufficient time has passed, ask groups to elect a representative.

These learners visit the other groups and share the findings that relate to their word.

Eventually, each member of the class will have a completed pro-forma and, in turn, a wealth of information about the topic.

Example 2

Take six large sheets of paper.

At the top of each sheet, write one of the key words: ‘who, what, where, when, why and how’.

Distribute these throughout the room.

Invite learners to walk around and to add questions to each of the pieces of paper (based on the word in question).

When sufficient time has elapsed, draw the activity to a close.

The sheets of paper can now be stuck up on your classroom wall.

Explain to learners that they can use these to help them when they are analysing material, taking part in discussions, completing tasks or answering questions.

In addition, make it clear that learners are free to add to the question sheets whenever they think of new questions.

Example 3

Create laminated slips of paper for each member of your class.

These should contain the six question words in the following form: Who…? What…? Where…? When…? Why…? How…?

Encourage learners to use these when they are completing tasks, answering questions or taking part in discussions.

The slips are an aide memoire for pupils, helping them to focus their thinking and to engage analytically with the work that has been set.

It is also a useful tool for the teacher, who can say: ‘Have a look at your question slip’ or ‘How might you use your question slip?’ if a learner asks for help (this, in turn, will encourage them to be more independent).