Questioning Techniques - Critical Analysis Questions

Carol Brewer
Aug 09, 2010

How do I use the Critical Analysis Questioning Technique to make the connection from instruction to assessments?

The Questioning Technique is the way in which teachers plan for and use questions. Critical Analysis questions require students to think like the author, or to think as if they write the text. These type of questions are often missed because they require students to think about what they have read. The answers are not right there in the text and many times it is not referenced. The question might refer to the text, but students have to analyze what is written. For example, "Why did the author start the passage with a quote?" Students should go back and reread the beginning of the text and think about why the author used this quote to start the passage. The question does not want the students to analyze the quote; the question wants the students to think about why the author "used" the quote to start the passage. It is important for students to recog nize and practice these questions at an early age.

The best way to implement critical analysis is for students to use their own writing. It is all about the questions that are being asked. For example, kindergarten students draw pictures of a farm, label the details in the picture and write sentences about their picture. Questions asked should be, "Why did you put the ducks near the pond?" Students have to think about the ducks and the pond and the relationship between the two. Once this questioning technique is understood and trusted by students, it is a valuable strategy for any type of assessment. Using the results from the assessments is also a powerful strategy to use in small flexible groups to meet the needs of all students.

A suggested structure for the Questioning Techniques is for schools to have a monthly focus for their questions. Just like the Comprehension Strategy of the Month, teachers model and apply one type of question throughout the month to ensure that students can understand and use them independently. Additional type questions can of course be used throughout the month, but this is the focus type question for the month.

Additional information for the Questioning Techniques can be found with the Connecting Learning to Assessments training, book and flipchart.