Issue 83: Mar 22, 2010 Connections Newsletter

Enriching and Enhancing Student Learning through Questioning

Brenda Hill
Mar 22, 2010

"The power of questioning is in the answering. As teachers, we not only need to ask good questions to get good answers, but need to ask good questions to promote the thinking required to give good answers."

- from Good Questions for Math Teaching: Why Ask Them and What to Ask,
Pat Lilburn, Peter Sullivan, and Toby Gordon

There has been much written and documented about the importance of classroom questioning. We are constantly reminded by educational researchers about the significance of questioning and questioning techniques. The historical significance of questioning has been around since the time of Socrates. He was a master in using the educational strategy of questioning to expose contradictions and challenge assumptions that often lead to increased wisdom and new understanding. "Research indicates that questioning is second only to lecturing in popularity as a teaching method and that classroom teachers spend anywhere from thirty-five to fifty percent of their instructional time conducting questioning sessions." (‘Classroom Questioning', K. Cotton)

Since questioning is commonly used as a teaching strategy it has the potential to tremendously impact student learning; therefore, researchers have begun to explore the relationship between methods of questioning and student achievement and behavior. Higher level questioning asks students to use newly acquired knowledge to construct answers that are logical, meaningful, and reasoned with evidence. As we strive to plan for and use effective questioning strategies in the classroom we must first understand the difference between effective and ineffective questions. Effective questions are focused, open-ended - requiring more than a yes or no answer, and free from prejudice, distortion, and bias. If effective questions are defined as focused, open-ended, and reflective, then ineffective questions are defined as unfocused, closed, and slanted. (Questioning Techniques, Bloom and Taba, Ideas from Peter Martorella "Social Studies for Elementary School Children", 1998 and John Michaelis "Social Studies for Children", 1998) The result of higher level questioning is higher level thinking.

For many years educators have used Benjamin Bloom's taxonomy to develop and formulate questions based upon his six categories of higher level thinking skills. Bloom's six categories from lowest to highest include: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Each questioning category is defined in detail in the attached table (please look above the masthead for the attachment).

Now that we have explored what higher level thinking questions are and what they look like, how do we take what we know and assimilate these higher level questions into the Learning-Focused Model? The following steps will provide guidance in helping teachers "plan for" and "think about" effective classroom questioning:

1. Determine the Lesson Essential Question by asking, "How do I want students to think about this content?" Identify one of the top eight Extending Thinking strategies as a focus to support the Lesson Essential Question: compare/contrast, classify/categorize, abstracting, analyzing perspectives, induction, deduction, error analysis, and constructing support. (Refer to the Connecting Extending Thinking book and flipchart.)
2. Develop Assessment Prompts that are linked to the Lesson Essential Question (LEQ) and the selected Extending Thinking strategy. The LEQ and the Extending Thinking strategy are used as guides for planning higher level questions. (Unlocking the Secrets of the LEARNING-FOCUSED Strategies Model Version 7 contains additional information about Assessment Prompts.)
3. Select a graphic organizer to be used during the lesson. The graphic organizer may reflect and support higher level questioning.
4. Once an Extending Thinking strategy has been determined for the lesson and the graphic organizer has been chosen, higher level questions are planned that will support the Extending Thinking strategy and the LEQ. Higher level questions will ensure that students are thinking about the concept, topic, or skill at a "higher " level. (Refer to the attached matrix as a resource for planning quality higher level questions.)
5. Record and use these higher level questions in the "Teaching Strategies" of an Acquisition Lesson and make sure to plan for them in Extending Thinking lessons/activities. Reminder: questions are posed to collaborative pairs, as well as individual students.
6. Plan assignments and questions for assignments that require students to think deeply about the content they are learning.
7. Plan common assessments - formative or summative - using higher level questions.

As we encounter today's challenges of increasing student achievement for all, higher level questioning in direct correlation with a focus on the extending thinking strategies is an educational approach that allows students the opportunity to deepen understanding of new knowledge ensuring future success in school and in life.

References

Questioning Techniques, Benjamin Bloom and HildaTaba Ideas from Peter Martorella "Social Studies for Elementary School Children", 1998 and John Michaelis "Social Studies for Children", 1998

Classroom Questioning, Kathleen Cotton
http://www.learner.org/workshops/socialstudies/pdf/session/6.ClassroomQuestioning.pdf

http://specialed.about.com/od/teacherchecklists/a/bloom.htm

Lebanon High: Rediscovering the Possibilities

Toni Enloe
Mar 22, 2010

It has been a while since your LEARNING-FOCUSED Strategies training and your faculty was once excited about the possibilities but things got busy at school and momentum waned. What can you do to reenergize and refocus the staff?

Lebanon High was facing some of the same issues but with the encouragement and support of the Superintendent, the Assistant to the Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, an energetic faculty, and school leadership, they decided to address their needs head on. After analyzing school data, an enthusiastic administrative team mapped out a year- long plan to refocus on LEARNING-FOCUSED Strategies. Components of the plan included a refresher training on the LEARNING-FOCUSED Strategies model, conferencing days with a LEARNING-FOCUSED instructional specialist, on site professional development on the Extending Thinking strategies, and sending administrators and teacher leaders to a Training of Trainers Workshop.

The faculty and staff at Lebanon High had been trained over the course of five years. Prior to the start of school, some teachers participated in LEARNING-FOCUSED Scaffolding Grade Level Learning training while others from the math department participated in LEARNING-FOCUSED Math Instruction. All staff and faculty participated in a LEARNING-FOCUSED refresher. During the refresher training teachers were reacquainted with the LEARNING-FOCUSED Model, introduced to some recent updates and given the opportunity to plan. As part of the follow-up to the training the faculty met a couple of times during the year with a LEARNING-FOCUSED Instructional Specialist to talk about what was working well and discuss any questions they might still have.

Gary Zelinske, assistant principal, designed a staff development plan that would utilize the 2 hour late start mornings once a month to address Extending Thinking strategies. When asked why they chose to focus on Extending Thinking Zelinske stated, "We knew how important Extending Thinking skills are and how they can deepen student understanding of content." During each meeting they focused on one or two of the eight strategies. In some cases they identified a couple of strategies that complemented each other (ex. analyzing perspectives and constructing support) and focused on those. Each staff development workshop modeled the Acquisition Lesson format (EATS). Teachers reviewed the steps for each target strategy, practiced the strategy and designed an Extending Thinking activity. The next month they were charged with teaching the lesson they had designed. Mr. Zelinske thought the training went well for the first time. After reflection he offered the following advice, "Focus on only 1 Extending Thinking strategy at a time and allow more time for staff to implement it as part of their class- 2 or 3 months instead of 1 month for 2 of the skills." He recognized, "It was too much for the staff. We went over at least 2 at a time and 3 the first month which we thought were the simpler ones -compare/contrast, etc." He summarized it by saying, "We also needed a higher level of accountability from the administration. We did lay out a plan but should have been more detailed and clearly laid out what we wanted done and by when...smaller chunks of information with clear modeling and practice in the training and time to implement with a good plan and a high level of accountability.

In an effort to provide additional support at the school level, the principal, an assistant principal, a member of the central office staff, and several teacher leaders participated in the LEARNING-FOCUSED Strategies Training of Trainers workshop at the LEARNING-FOCUSED National Conference in February 2009. Participants returned to school to share what they had learned with their departments.

The faculty and staff at Lebanon continue to move toward pervasive implementation improving their AYP status by meeting 7 additional targets last year. This year they are emphasizing formative assessment (distributed summarizing with Assessment Prompts) and summarizing at the end of class. In addition, they will be focusing on reading comprehension strategies and vocabulary. They will still continue to monitor all other LEARNING-FOCUSED strategies that have been implemented.

Many thanks to Gary Zelinske, Assistant Principal, Lebanon Senior High.

For more information about Training of Trainers workshops and Unlocking the Secrets Version 7 (a Learning-Focused update workshop), check out the products menu on LEARNING-FOCUSED home page.

Our What Moves You solution is an ideal option for 1 - 2 hour professional development sessions!

Summarizing Strategies Using Frames

Denise Burson
Mar 22, 2010

How do we make sense of stories? Try using summary frames. Using summary frames is a powerful Summarizing Strategy that you can effectively use to enhance students' understanding. A summary frame is a series of questions that the you provide to students that helps them develop an accurate summary of the text.

There are different types of frames that students can use to help them summarize different types of text that they encounter:

• The Narrative Frame: to summarize stories or other narratives
• The Topic-Restriction-Illustration (T-R-l) Frame: to summarize informational or explanatory text
• The Definition Frame: to summarize text that defines a concept or term
• The Argumentation Frame: to summarize text that presents an argument
• The Problem /Solution Frame: to summarize text that presents a problem and one or more solutions
• The Conversation Frame: to summarize text that presents a conversation between people or characters in a story

Narrative Story Frame

The narrative or story frame commonly contains the following elements:
1. Characters: the characteristics of the main characters in the story;
2. Setting: the time, place, and context in which the story took place;
3. Initiating event: the event that starts the action rolling in the story;
4. Internal response: how the main characters feel about and react to the initiating event;
5. Goal: what the main characters decide to do as a reaction to the initiating event - the goal they set;
6. Consequence: how the main characters try to accomplish the goal;
7. Resolution: how the story turns out.
8. (Components 3-7 are sometimes repeated to create what is called an "episode.")

T-R-I Frame

Frame Questions:

T: What is the general topic?
R: What information does the author give that narrows or restricts the general topic?
I: What examples does the author present to illustrate the topic or restriction?

Definition Frame

The purpose of a definition pattern is to describe a particular concept and identify subordinate concepts. Definition patterns contain the following elements:
1.Term: the subject to be defined (e.g., car);
2. Set: the general category to which the term belongs (e.g., vehicles for transportation);
3. General characteristics: those characteristics that separate the term from other elements in the set (e.g., runs on the ground, has four wheels);
4. Minute differences: those different classes of objects that fall directly beneath the term (e.g., sedans, convertibles).

Argumentation Frame

• Evidence: What information does the author present that leads to a claim?
• Claim: What does the author assert is true? What basic statement or claim is the focus of the information?
• Support: What examples or explanations support the claim?
• Qualifier: What restrictions on the claim, or evidence counter to the claim, are presented?

Problem Solution Frame

• What is the problem?
• What is a possible solution?
• Are there any other solutions?
• Which solution has the best chance of succeeding?

The Conversation Frame

• How did the members of the conversation greet each other?
• What question or topic was insinuated, revealed, or referred to?
• How did their discussion progress?
• Did either person state facts?
• Did either person make a request of the other?
• Did either person make a promise to perform a certain action?
• Did either person demand a specific action of the other?
• Did either person threaten specific consequences if a demand was not met?
• Did either person indicate that he values something the other did?
• How did the conversation conclude?

For more on frames, see:

Oja (1996) Using Story Frames to Develop Reading Comprehension in the Classroom ED 395 281

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