Challenging Silence

Motivating our students to ask good questions is a constant battle in the classroom. We know they have questions. We give them time and other outlets to ask questions, but they still struggle to do so. During our second week of Target Team meetings, I heard numerous teams discussing the idea of how to teach the art of questioning, especially after students experience a challenging text. As I shared a week ago, our Target Teams are focusing on how to bridge the gap between advocacy, access, and academics. Students need to learn how and when to ask appropriate questions if we want them to be successful with these three focus points

Our Health teachers had an awesome discussion during our Target Team day about strategies they can utilize when encouraging students to ask questions about texts and other topics in the classroom.  The conversation started with a focus on how to incorporate difficult texts into their classes, which then quickly transformed into a discussion about how to help students make sense of these difficult texts. Their biggest concern....how can we get our students to ask more questions, especially when they are overwhelmed by a class topic or lesson? Laziness, fear of judgment from others, embarrassment, or even inability to articulate/compose a question may be the culprit of silence when teachers ask for questions from their students. Although challenging, teachers need to get creative and strategic when empowering students to ask good questions.

Here are five creative ideas to spark questioning. All of them are easily transferable to any other classroom and content: 

1. Notecards 

Sometimes, students don't know what questions to ask or don't want to sound "stupid" in front of their peers. Dr. Lance Fuhrer, one of our assistant principals, recommended writing a few questions on notecards ahead of time. When students walk in, hand out the notecards to students who don't regularly participate. From there, ask these students to read the question on the notecard during your discussion. By providing the question, it takes some of the pressure off of the students but still gives them a bit of ownership. 

2. Question Stems

Sometimes, students just need help getting their questions started. Mr. Jason Arquilla, one of the Health teachers, explained that he has a soccer ball with a variety of question stems taped to it. During a discussion, students toss the ball to a peer, and that student must ask a question using the question stem from where his/her thumb landed. There are a variety of ways to do this, but giving the students access to questions stems will provide awesome support in composing a question. 

3. Sticky Notes

Sometimes, students need a chance to write down their questions first before sharing them with others. Asking students to write down questions on sticky notes gets them thinking and writing. From there, teachers can use these sticky notes for other class activities. For example, students can post their questions around the room...a perk of the stickiness. Then, teachers can ask these student-generated questions, or ask students to travel around the room to read questions aloud or actually respond right on the sticky note. Another idea....have students leave the sticky-notes on the table until later in the period. Teachers can then ask students to work together to choose the best question at a table or a question that still needs to be answered about the topic that day. 

4. Audience-Driven Questioning

Sometimes, students need to be asked to get creative with their questions, and teachers need to get creative when asking for questions. Teachers can do this with characters, historical figures, or other relevant people/groups of people: What would you ask John Proctor after reading this scene from The Crucible? What questions would you ask the school board members when arguing for a later start time? What questions would you ask ___________ based on your understanding of _________? As with other ideas, this type of question takes the pressure of the students and makes the class content more relatable. 

5. Questioning Cues 

Sometimes, students need to be cued in a different way when asking them for questions. During a lunch and learn, Dr. Fuhrer offered this simple example: instead of just asking for questions by saying, "Any questions?", a teacher can rephrase by saying, "What questions do you have?" By changing the question, teachers imply that questions are normal and expected. Students might feel more comfortable knowing that their teacher expects questions about the content. In addition, teachers could also avoid the word 'question' altogether. For example, when my students worked on their Inquiry Projects, I had them complete a daily reflection at the end of the period. My final question, 'How can Mrs. Wilson help you?' By changing my wording from 'what questions do you have?' to 'How can Mrs. Wilson help you?' I received some awesome questions about their work that guided me through lesson planning for the next class period. 

There are also some fantastic digital resources that provide great opportunities for students to reflect and ask questions: 

• PearDeck - Integrates interactive questions and activities right into a presentation/slide deck
• FlipGrid - Records students as they ask questions or respond to questions 
• Padlet - Offers numerous options for asking questions in a bulletin board style format

How do you motivate students to ask questions in your classroom? Comment below with thoughts, ideas, and questions of your own! #whatsup

**Thanks to our awesome Health teachers (Mr. David Ricca, Ms. Laura Kurtyak, Mr. Dave Brouwer, and Mr. Jason Arquilla) for sharing your ideas and for the work you do on a daily basis for our students!