Questions Please!

• March 30, 2016, 4:35 p.m.

1. Show students a concrete object that is unusual or unfamiliar to them.  Listen and list questions as they begin to flow from natural curiosity. 
2. Create a sensory situation. Bring in an unusual food for students to try. Brainstorm questions before eating that can be answered by eating the food.  Connect this to reading a new text or learning a new concept.  How does questioning help you understand the new ideas better?    
3. Create an anchor chart with question stems.
4. Teach students the strategy Question-Answer-Relationship (Rafael, 1982).
   1. Right there Questions-Look at questions and identify if the answer can be located in a specific place. These are “thin” questions with short answers.
   2. Think and Search Questions-Is the answer to the question a category or summary? Do you need to located several pieces of information and put them together to create a “thick” answer? 
   3. Author and You Questions-Does the answer require that you draw a conclusion, make a prediction, or generalization using evidence from several sources or locations, as well as your prior?
   4. On Your Own Questions-Should you go beyond the new learning to answer the question? Does the question call for you to use the new learning to make a decision, solve a problem, or develop a hypothesis?

Have students generate all four types of questions throughout a unit of study. Curious learners retain more critical knowledge and apply new knowledge to many situations. 

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