Two Don'ts and a Do: Asking questions to get students to analyze, make inferences, and generalize

Dylan Wiliam, author of Embedded Formative Assessment, cites a large research study by Ted Wragg  and colleagues that analyzed 1000 questions asked by teachers (79).  Of those 1000 questions, only 8% required students to analyze, make inferences, or generalize.

As we begin the slow slide towards summer, how can you improve your questioning AND keep your students more actively engaged?

DON’T OVERUSE I-R-E QUESTIONS.

Example

Teacher: “Who can tell me what a simile is? Mike?”

Student: “A simile compares two different things using ‘like’ or ‘as.’”

Teacher: “Good job.”

The sequence above is an I-R-E model, one that teachers should use only minimally. Why? In this model, the teacher is speaking  2/3 of the time, and only one student at a time can speak. The conversation is unnatural, one that seldom occurs in any other setting, and there is usually only one correct answer. Students quickly learn to play the game, to raise a hand to offer up the desired response, and to tune out until their name is called. a

DON’T OVERUSE THESE TYPES OF QUESTIONS:
Management questions (57% of questions in the Wragg study)
 Recall questions (33% in the Wragg study)

DO ASK QUESTIONS DESIGNED TO
Cause your students to think
Provide information for the teacher about what to do next

Would you like some CCS Reading Standard-aligned sentence starters to make your questions deeper and richer, force your kids to think, and prepare them for college and career at the same time?

Grade 6

Grade 7

Grade 8

Grades 9-10

Grades 11-12