QuestioningThe secretive art of finding the “WHY!”

Steven E. Hudson, Ed. D.

What is not questioning …•Questioning is not just knowledge and

comprehension questions …

Questioning strategy is a way of forming questions as you read in order to deepen your understanding and enjoyment of the text.

•Questions can be about clarifying the meaning of a phrase or passage, exploring important themes, considering the author's technique, or learning more about something you find interesting.

•Questioning is not always answering …

When you are unclear about something—in any aspect of your life—asking a question is the first step toward understanding.

•If you stop periodically and ask questions as you read, you'll find you understand the text more fully, and you're likely to have some fun in the process. Since you create your own questions, you can focus on any aspect of the text that feels important and interesting to you.

•Questioning is not about assessment …

While you read, stay on the lookout for anything that confuses or intrigues you. When you find something, stop and form a question that would help you figure out what you need or want to know

•. You might find it helpful to think about the kinds of questions you've heard teachers ask. Next, try searching for an answer in the text and images, looking up related information online, or discussing your question with a teacher or friend.

•You might find an answer right then, or you might decide to make a note of your question and save it for later. Some questions are best answered after you've read further.

What is questioning …•Integral to Question Strategy is finding an

answer, either on your own or with the help of a teacher or friend.

•Forming a useful question can sometimes be difficult, but with practice, you'll learn the types of questions that help and interest you most.

Self Check•Good questions: Often start with a

question word (who, what, when, where, why or how)• Ask about something that seems

important, not trivial • Ask about something that interests or

confuses you • Cannot be answered with a "yes" or "no"

ExampleRead the opening paragraph of Edgar Allan Poe's story "The Tell-Tale Heart":

"TRUE! nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why WILL you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses, not destroyed, not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How then am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily, how calmly, I can tell you the whole story."

Ask a question that will help you begin to understand the narrator's point of view.

My question:•Why does the narrator repeatedly insist

that he is not crazy?

My answer:•Maybe people have said the narrator is

insane because of the way he has acted. I'm going to read on to find out what the narrator has done so I can decide for myself whether I think he is sane.

Questioning Tip …

Go for the Challenge

•Rather than forming questions that are easy for you to answer, try to ask yourself questions that challenge you. Often the difficult questions are the ones that really expand your thinking. Finding an answer might take some time and effort—you might need to do research online, talk with friends and teachers, or read further in the text and think carefully about any clues you notice. Enjoy the challenge; this is where your best learning happens!

Questioning StrategiesThese strategies are designed to make your job easier … asking a good question and using questioning is good strategy but It Takes Practice, A Lot of Practice …

•Strategy Lesson: Questioning the Text

•One way I help students access those inner conversations is by showing how I think when I read. I read aloud, stop, look up at them, and share my thinking. I describe my inner conversation to them. This is one of the best methods I know of to make reading concrete.

•Often, I share my thinking by questioning the text as I am reading, because that's what proficient readers do. They wonder about outcomes, characters, new information, and concepts. Questioning is the strategy that propels readers on. Who, after all, would continue reading something if they had no questions about it?

Here are four surefire steps I follow to model the questioning strategy for my students.

1. Choose the Text for Questioning•I begin by choosing a picture book that I

know will spur a lot of questions. I purposely select a piece of short text because we can finish it quickly and explore our questions and potential answers with relative ease. Certain genres prompt more questions than others. Mysteries make us wonder about outcomes. Nonfiction stories fill us with questions about the real world and its broad range of unusual things to learn.

•Of the many great books out there, one is particularly effective for modeling questioning: Jane Yolen's The Mary Celeste: An Unsolved Mystery from History (Simon & Schuster, 1999). It's the true story of a clipper ship, named the Mary Celeste, which left New York harbor for London on November 15, 1872, and was found floating aimlessly near the Azores (islands near Portugal) a few weeks later. The crew was missing and was never found. Questions abound as to the fate of the people on board.

2. Introduce the Strategy.•With the kids gathered in front of me,

notebooks in hand, I explain how good readers ask questions when they read because it helps them understand what they're reading.

•Specifically, I might ask how many of them have questions when they read. I would then tell them that good readers have their own questions and that those questions are really the most important ones.

•When readers ask questions as they read, it keeps them thinking about the words and ideas in the book. It makes them want to read on. Asking questions helps them when they're confused, too.

3. Model Thinking Aloud and Mark the Text with Stick-on Notes.• As I read aloud the first page, I come to this

sentence: "The Mary Celeste is about a ship whose crew disappeared when they were on the high seas more than 120 years ago. The crew was never found." I stop, look up, and ask the obvious question: "I wonder what happened to the crew?" Then, I write that question on a stick-on note, show the class the note, and explain that I'm going to write down all of my questions on stick-on notes and place them at the spot in the book where they occurred to me. I point out that I leave the notes sticking out a little, like bookmarks, so that I can find them later.

•I read on until I come to a sentence on the second page that says, "Early in the afternoon of December 4th (December 5th in sea time), seaman Johnson ... spotted a smudge on the horizon." My response: "Wait a minute, I don't get this. What do they mean 'December 5th in sea time'?"

• I write, "What is sea time?" on a stick-on note. This question, it turns out, is answered on the next page, where the term is defined. So I tell the kids that sometimes when we read on, our questions are answered. I explain that when that happens, they should mark the stick-on note with an 'A' for 'Answered' and move it to the place in the text where they found that answer. It is also important to explain that some of the most important questions aren't answered, but are best left to discussions during and after reading.

Guided Practice

4. Allow Time for Guided Practice.•Too often, we as teachers, want to rush

through something because we want to get to the assessment/evaluation or we are afraid we will not have sufficient time to meet the Objectives.

•Questioning as a strategy cannot be rushed, it is like cooking a good soufflé, it must be coaxed and fretted over and then luck also plays its role.

•For about 10 minutes, I continue to think out loud and to mark the text with my questions.

•Then I invite the students to jot down their own questions in their notebooks and then to share them. One student raises his hand and asks what a chronometer is.

•Another student explains that it is a very accurate ship's clock. Soon, a lively discussion ensues. I call on the kids to ask questions, infer answers, and share information in an informal discussion of the book.

•In this way, we co-construct meaning as we read and everyone understands the book more completely thanks to the input. We are unlikely to finish this book in one sitting because I want the students to practice the questioning strategy in their own reading.

•After another 10 minutes, I ask them to go back to their places, grab a book or a magazine, notice questions they have as they read, and mark them with stick-on notes. I walk around the room and confer with students about their questions and about how asking them improves understanding.

•We work on questioning for several weeks in many ways: marking texts with stick-on notes; sorting them according to importance; bringing our questions to book clubs for discussion; talking about questions unanswered by the author; and recording questions on charts.

• Children's writer Madeline L'Engle says, "Readers sometimes grossly underestimate their own importance." This is particularly true of less experienced readers. As developing readers realize their inner conversation and begin to focus on their own thoughts and questions, reading takes on new importance. When readers interact with the text by thinking about their questions, riting them down, and pondering answers, they comprehend at a much deeper level. Classrooms change when readers begin to believe their thinking matters.

Questioning Strategies

Level I - Knowledge

Key Words

•who•what•why•when•omit•where•which

•choose•find•how•define•label•show•spell

•list•match•name•relate•tell•recall•select

Questions:

Here is the meat and potatoes for this section …

Questions …•What is?•How is?•Where is?•When did ______ happen?•How did _____ happen?•How would you explain?•Why did?

•How would you describe?•When did?•Can you recall?•How would you know?•Can you select?•Who were the main?•Can you list the three?

•Which one?•Who was?

Moving on …

Great concept, but a song title … not sure!

Level II – Comprehension …

Key Words …•compare•contrast•demonstrate•interpret•explain•extend•illustrate• infer

•outline•relate•rephrase•translate•summarize•show•classify

Questions•How would you classify the type of?•How would you compare? contrast?•Will you state or interpret in your own

words?•How would you rephrase the meaning?•What facts or ides show?•what is the main idea of?•Which statements support?

•Can you explain what is happening? What is meant?

•What can you say about?•Which is the best answer?•How would you summarize?

Level III - ApplicationStill in the rote and lowerlevel – but wait therewill be MORE!

Key Words:•apply•build•choose•construct•develop•interview•make use of•organize

•experiment with•plan•select•solve•utilize•model• identify

Questioning …•How would you use?•What examples can you find to?•How would you solve ___ using what you've

learned?•How would you organize __ to show?•How would you show your understanding of?•What approach would you use to?•How would you apply what you learned to

develop?

•What other way would you plan to?•What would result if?•Can you make use of the facts to?•What elements would you choose to

change?•What facts would you select to show?•What questions would you ask in an

interview with?

Take 5 …Explain 5 ways what has been covered to this point can be an asset to your teaching.Elaborate on 5 concerns you have over what has been discussed to this point!

Higher Level Questions …Let the Excitement Begin!

Who brought the chocolate?

Key Words•analyze•categorize•classify•compare•contrast•discover•dissect•divide

•examine•inspect•simplify•survey•take part in•test for•distinguish•list•distinction

•theme•relationships•function•motive•inference•assumption•conclusion

Questions …•What are the parts or features of?•How is ___ related to?•Why do you think?•What is the theme?•What motive is there?•Can you list the parts?•What inference can you make?•What conclusions can you draw?

•How would you classify?•How would you categorize?•Can you identify the different parts?•What evidence can you find?•What is the relationship between?•What is the function of?•What ideas justify?

Level V - SynthesisLet’s go and create something or do something or say something no one has ever, in the history of the planet

Earth said … Wow! What a Rush!

Key Words•build•choose•combine•compile•compose•construct•create•design

•develop•estimate•formulate•imagine•invent•make up•originate•plan

•predict•propose•solve•solution•suppose•discuss•modify•change

•original• improve•adapt•minimize•maximize•delete•theorize

•elaborate•test•happen•change

Questions …

•What changes would you make to solve?•How would you improve?•What would happen if?•Can you elaborate on the reason?•Can you propose an alternative?•Can you invent?•How would you adapt ___ to create a

different?•How could you change (modify) the plot

(plan)?

•what could be done to minimize (maximize)?

•what way would you design?•what could be combined to improve

(change)?•Suppose you could ___ what would you do?•How would you test?•Can you formulate a theory for?•Can you predict the outcome if?

•How would you estimate the results for?•What facts can you compile?•Can you construct a model that would

change?•Can you think of an original way for the?

Last but not least …And the winner, hands down please, is …..

Level VI - EvaluationThe forgotten step – but, oh sooooo very important …

•When one evaluates they know where they have been.

•When one evaluates they know what has worked and what has not worked.

•When one evaluates they know what is next or ‘where to go from here’.

•When one evaluates they are beginning to understand the why, how and what.

Key Words•award•choose•conclude•criticize•decide•defend•determine•dispute

•evaluate• judge•justify•measure•compare•mark•rate•recommend

•rule on•select•agree•appraise•prioritize•opinion•interpret•explain

•support• importance•criteria•prove•disprove•assess• influence

•perceive•value•estimate•deduct

No, it is not over yet …We need you help evaluating the quality of the material you received today in how it will help you in your respective classroom(s).

Please take a moment …And let us have your feedback … we really do want to know how well the information impacted you, what is useable, what is not ☺ and what we should just throw out with the wash …

Ur Turn !!!

On a scale of 1 - 5•With 5 being the highest

•With 1 being the lowest

•How would you rate ….

•The material covered in the presentation

•The skills that were introduced

•The feasibility of using the skills in your classroom

•How applicable the skills were to your learners

•The speed of the presentation

•The time(s) provided for feedback

•The answering of your questions

•The not answering of your questions

•The presenter

•The facility

•The snacks … if provided

•Overall impression

Just another minute, please!•What do you feel would have made the

presentation more applicable to your specific needs.

•If you could change anything, and we mean anything, what specifically would you have changed concerning the presentation.

Thank you for your feedback …

Please watch your first step as you step off the bus … it is a doozy!!!

Level VI - Evaluation

References• http://udleditions.cast.org/strategy_question.html• http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/questionin

g-text• Hudson, Steven E. (1994) Critical thinking: An

application for all disciplines.• Hudson, Steven E. (1998) Critical thinking: Lesson

design - Elementary and Secondary. Texas Student Educator’s Association Bi-annual conference, University of Houston, Houston, TX, October 16.

• Hudson, Steven E. Critical thinking: Lesson design - Elementary and Secondary. Texas Student Educator’s Association Bi-annual conference, University of Houston, Houston, TX, February, 1997.

• Hudson, Steven E. Critical thinking: Lesson design - Elementary and Secondary. Texas Student Educator’s Association Bi-annual conference, University of Houston, Houston, TX, October 11, 1996.

• Hudson, Steven E. Critical thinking lesson design. 1997 Summer Connections Conference, Region XIII, Austin, TX. July 14 and 15, 1997.

• Hudson, Steven E. Critical thinking: Applications for the classroom - elementary and secondary. Texas Student Educator’s Association Bi-annual conference, University of Houston, Houston, TX, October 20, 1995.

• Hudson, Steven E. Critical thinking: An application for all disciplines - elementary and secondary. Texas Student Educator’s Association Bi-annual conference, Texas Southern University, Houston, TX, March 1, 1994.

• Hudson, Steven E. Using critical thinking techniques in the classroom - elementary and secondary. Katy Independent School, 1990 Teachers’ Fall In-service, August 14, 1990.