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Intellectual Discovery Intellectual Discovery through Questioningthrough Questioning

Intellectual Discovery Intellectual Discovery through Questioningthrough QuestioningActive Learning for the Pre-Active Learning for the Pre-

KindergartenerKindergartener

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Goal:Help children work toward becoming

contributors to a subject, rather than passive spectators or recipients.

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Differentiated Questioning

• Brings fun and excitement to learning

• Improves a student’s communication abilities

• Is a teaching tool to be used at any time, with any curriculum

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The Questioning Toolkit

• Create a Questioning Toolkit which contains varied kinds of questions and questioning tools.

• Print Question examples, in large type on chart paper, for posting on classroom walls.

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Questions in My Toolkit

• What Questions• Why Questions• How Questions• Preference Questions• What if Questions• Point of View Questions

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What? is foundational questioning. It requires recognizing and recalling

information. It increases vocabulary.

• What colors are in this rainbow?• What words describe the boy in

the story?• What did the farmer plant in his

garden?• What happened next?

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Why? is the favorite question of four-year-olds. It is the basic

tool for figuring stuff out (constructivist learning).

Why do things happen the way they do? This question requires analysis of cause-and-effect and the relationship between variables. It leads naturally to problem-solving or to decision-making

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How Questions

How and how come questions are the basis for problem-solving and synthesis. Compare/contrast examples allow children to move from the concrete to the abstract.

• How could this be made better?• How is ____ like ____?

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Preference Questions

This question requires thoughtful decision-making which deserves time for discussion.

• Which do you like best?• Would you rather be President of the

United States or an astronaut? • Would you rather be the wind or a river? • (Don’t forget to ask why.)

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What if Questions

What if . . . or what would happen if . . . questions foster creativity. The teacher who facilitates these questions should make it fun, model laughter, and demonstrate “outside the box” thinking.

• What if animals could talk?• What would happen if you could fly?• What if there was no more nighttime

only daylight?

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Point of View Questions

Point of View is “looking through the eyes of” someone else.

• Interpreting what influences or motivates others is developmental.

• It fosters critical thinking skills.

The situation is a garden whose produce has been nearly all eaten by a rabbit.– What is the rabbit thinking? – What is the farmer thinking?– Why would they view the garden differently?

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What happens in most schools?

There are plenty of questions in schools, but most of them have come from the teacher, often at the rate of one question every 2-3 seconds.

Unfortunately, these rapid fire questions tend to be RECALL questions rather than questions requiring higher level thought.

The most important questions of all are those asked by students as they try to make sense out of information.

McKenzie, J. (1997, October). The question is the answer.

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Henry’s Question• One morning four-year-old Henry

asked, "Why do rocks have eyes?"

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Essential QuestionsAdvanced Pre-K students will benefit from

opportunities to tackle essential questions.

Essential Questions are universal in theme, broad in scope, allowing for inclusion of all students and a full exploration of thought.

• Why do things change?• Why does letter order matter?• What makes us healthy?

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Your turn . . . Every picture poses questions and

tells a story.• Begin a collection of interesting,

diverse pictures or photos that offer opportunities for thought provoking discussion and creative storytelling.

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Create a question template to post in the classroom

• Why _________________?• How come _______________?• Why can’t __________________?• What if ______________?• How is ____ like _____?• How is ______ different from _______?• I wonder if _________?• When will _______________?• I feel ________?

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What will be in your questioning toolkit?

• Essential questions?• Question stems?• Blooms Taxonomy?

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Sources

• McKenzie, J. (1997, October). The question is the answer. Retrieved July 1, 2009, from FNO.org

• Johnson, N. (1995). Active Questioning. Pieces of Learning. • Miller, P. H. (1993). In Theories of Developmental Psychology (3rd ed., pp. 53-

56) N Y: W.H. Freeman and Company. • Foundations: Early learning standards for North Carolina preschoolers and

strategies for guiding their Ssuccess . (n.d.). [Pamphlet]. NC: NC Office of School Readiness. Retrieved from http://www.osr.nc.gov/ProfDevandResources/ foundationsEarly_learningToDownload.asp

• Zagarella, K. (2000). The use of essential questions in curriculum planning and instruction. In NCPSA. Retrieved July 1, 2009, from http://www.masscharterschools.org/fellowships/docs/000068/index.html

• Kohl,S. CMS Specialist, Elementary Talent Development/Advanced Studies

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Questions???