Transcript Document 7238425

Questioning 101
It’s all about asking the
right questions
Hornets Nest Elementary School
Millie Snyder, Principal
D.J. Midgett, Media Specialist
I Can Teach That Kid How to
Conduct Research with A
Coat Hanger and aComputer.
Questions
Allow us to make sense of
the world. They are the
most powerful tools we
have for making
decisions and solving
problems, for inventing,
changing and improving
our lives as well as the
lives of others.
Jamie McKenzie
Powerful Questioning
 Leads to Information
Power
The ability to…
 Fashion solutions
 Make decisions
 Create plans
That are original,
cogent, and effective
Information Gap
We, as educators, must address
the ever increasing gap between
The rich and the poor
Not the economic gap,
But the information one…
The FUTURE is held in the hands
of the informational rich
David Thornburg, Futurist
Research & Write
 First step of the R&W
cycle
 Requires lots of prior
planning
 Probably the most
difficult and critical
step of the cycle
 Definitely MESSY!
Why Research & Write
 Students learn best
when they USE what
they find out, to
construct their own
answers to higherlevel questions
 Constructivism
Why Questioning?
 Once you have learned
how to ask relevant and
appropriate questions,
you have learned how to
learn and no one can keep
you from learning
whatever you want or
need to know
 Teaching as a Subversive
Activity
Why Questioning?
 Taps Higher Order
Thinking Skills
(HOTS)
 Using the cerebral
cortex
Where do I begin?
 Think about thinking.
(Metacognition)
 Talk about questions
 Discuss the
differences between
questions and
statements
 Brainstorm question
words, stems or
kernels
Questions &
Statements
 Make a statement.
 Write it on a sentence strip.
 Turn the statement around and
make it a question.
 Write the question on a
sentence strip.
 How does the statement begin?
 How does the question begin?
Questioning Web Sites
 From Now On www.fno.org
– The Great Question Press: Squeezing Import
from Content
 21st Century Literacies
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/21stcent/sitema
p.html
 Questioning www.questioning.org
 Questioning Strategies
– http://www.css.edu/USERS/ggaetz/Student.pages/Que
stioning_Strategies_webpage.html
 Inquiry Page
– http://inquiry.uiuc.edu/
Question Words
Ask students to list some question words words that begin questions.
With each word they give you, use it in a
simple question (or if it isn’t a question,
use it in a statement).
If the word they give is the beginning of a
yes-no question, give an example and
stress that the question is a simple one.
Deck of Questions
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Take six index cards.
Write a question word on each card.
What do you notice about many of the words?
Now sort the cards into two piles
Words that promote skinny or simple answers
Words that promote fat or complex answers
Question Words
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Who?
What?
When?
Where?
 How?
 Why?
 What if?
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Person
Thing
Time
Place
 Require thoughtful
more elaborate
answers.
How do I plan for the
use of technology in
questioning and
research?
CONTROL
the questions
Don’t Begin with the Topic
Begin with an essential question that
encompasses the topic
Kindergarten
The Wind
First Grade
Animals
Second Grade
Whales
Third Grade
City Wildlife
Fourth Grade
Careers
Fifth Grade
Stars
Essential Question
The BIG Question
 Allows students to build
their own answer
 Uses the information
gathered to analyze,
evaluate, and/or
synthesize
 Usually begins with how,
why, what if, or which
 Can’t be “looked up”, but
must be built using
researched information
Essential Question Examples
 How does the wind help and hurt us?
 How are animals alike and different from
us?
 Why are whales endangered and how can
we protect them?
 Why have we, in our society, forced
animals to live in cities?
 How can we accomplish our dream job?
 How will learning about the stars help us to
learn more about the Earth?
Supporting Questions
Little Questions that Hold Up
the Big One
 Work backwards from
the essential question
to come up with
supporting questions
 Limit your number of
supporting questions
 K-2nd three to five
 3rd-5th five to eight
Why have we, in our
society, forced animals to
live in cities?
Supporting Questions
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1. What is city wildlife?
2. Where do they live in the city?
3. What do wildlife in the city eat?
4. How does mankind "feed" these critters?
5. What plants grow wild in the city?
6. What wildlife is found in your backyard or on
your school ground?
 7. What changes have we caused in our
environment that affect wildlife?
Find the Resources and Answers
before you start.
Tools
 Q & A Chart:
Questions and Answers
 Graphic Organizer
Planning
 Open Court Stories
 Variety of resources
 Availability of resources
 TECHNOLOGY
Planning for Technology Use
 Questioning with
Students
– Inspiration or Kidspiration
– Thinking Maps
 Planning for Resources
– Authentic Websites
– TrackStar
 Gathering Information
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Search Engines
Digital Camera
Document Camera
Video Microscope
Scanner
 Sorting & Sifting
Information
– Search Engines
– NoteStar
 Synthesizing: Creating a
Work Product
– Student Writing Center
– PowerPoint (trading cards,
biocubes, artifact cubes)
– Online graphing software
(graphs of all types)
– Spreadsheets (timelines)
 Evaluating
– PowerPoint (Presentations)
– RubiStar
Online Tools: www.hprtec.org
 ThinkTank
– Research organizer
 TrackStar
– Organize and annotate websites
 NoteStar
– Organize projects and take notes online
 Web Worksheet Wizard for Teachers
– Project Poster for Students – student created quick &
easy web pages
 RubiStar
– Create and find rubrics
 QuizStar
– Create Quizzes
Online Tools for Classroom Use
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Kathy Schrock: http://kathyschrock.net/cooking/
Bibliography Maker
Boolean Machine (for searching)
Citation Maker and Citation Machine
Create a Graph
Create a Venn Diagram
Project Interactive (math tools)
SurWeb (online multimedia presentations &
photo collections)
 Timeline Maker
Using Conventional Software in
Non-Conventional Ways
Excel or other spreadsheet
 Timelines
 Charts
 Graphic Organizers
PowerPoint
 Trading Cards
 Billboards
 Biocubes
 Artifact Cubes
PETS
Food
Problems
Cages
Daily Care
Guinea
Pigs
Hamster or
Gerbil
Rabbit
Dog
Rats and
Mice
Hermit
Crab
Our Country and It's People
Immigrants: Coming to America
Where did
Page #
Who
209
Native American Indians
210
Christopher Columbus
When
212-213 John Smith
214
Pilgrims
217
Servants and Slaves
219
Dutch
220
Jewish
221
Germans
232
Mexicans
233
Carribeans
234
Cubans
235
Asians
235
What five countries are listed in
the story as being in Asia?
they come
Where did they
from?
settle in America?
Asia
Alaska
Communication Invention Links
Notes
http://inventions.about.com
Alphabet Index & Timeline
Separate section for communication
www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/
Alphabet Index & Timeline
Separate section for communication
http://www.factmonster.com
Search for inventions or inventors
National Inventors Hall of Fame
Timeline of Everyday Inventions
Inventions & Discoveries
Triceratops
 Description
– 15-20 feet tall
– 25 feet long
– 5-7 tons
 Diet
– Plants such as palms
and cycads
 Fossils Found
– Western Canada
– Western U.S.
Deborah Teague Midgett
• Birth Date: 9/10/54
• Birth Place:Columbia,
S.C.
• Family: 1 sister, 1 brother;
oldest
• Favorite Things:
– Red
– Teaching
– Scrapbooking
• Positive Qualities:
– Organized
– Creative
• Dreams for the Future:
Write a Book
Harriett Tubman
Born as slave in
1820 in
Bucktown,
Maryland
Suffered
pneumonia
from checking
owner’s
muskrat lines in
the icy river
Freed her sister Acted as a spy
and family by
for the North
taking them
during the Civil
along the
War.
Underground
Railroad
Escaped to
Pennsylvania at
the age of 29
Made a home
for freed slaves
on her own
property. Died
in 1913 at the
age of 93.
Baking Powder Bottle
Tyler Green
Mrs. Bailey’s
Third Grade
Composition
It is made of
green glass and
had a cork top.
Shape
Purpose
It is shaped like It was used to
a cylinder.
store backing
powder
Size
It measures 4 ½
inches tall and
six inches
around.
Adjectives
Dull
Smooth
Breakable
Questioning Session with
Students
 Guide their thinking
 Steer them towards the
big picture
 Give them Think Time
 Record questions
 Think about the
relationship of their
questions to the essential
and supporting questions
 If you keep working at
it—they will generate the
right questions.
Create Categories
 Group their questions
into categories
 Align the categories
to your supporting
questions
 Model how you
categorized
 Circle keywords
Concept Question Board
 Record and display
your questioning
session
 Utilize the Concept
Question Board
 Make copies of your
transparencies to
compare later work
Use Realia
Real Stuff!
 Wind
– Pinwheels, Kites,
Anemometers, Bubbles
 Habitats
– Sailboat, Moss, Shells,
Rocks, Vines,
 Storytelling
– Artifacts like old bottles,
antiques, folk toys
 Communication
– Record player, photo copier,
Braille, typewriter, radio
 Stars
– Telescope, sextant, compass,
spyglass, GPS
Comparing Real Stuff
NAME____________________________________________________TEACHER_________________________________________
TABLE NUMBER ___________ BOTTLE CONTAINED ______________
Old Bottle
COLOR
SHAPE
SIZE
COMPOSITION
PURPOSE
SYMBOLS/WORDS
New Container
Use Authentic Web Sites
 Pumpkins
 Habitats
 Community
Helpers
 Online Pumpkins Farms
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/pump
kins/farms.html#OL
 Virtual Field Trips
http://www.uen.org/utahlink/tou
rs/fieldtrips2.htm
 Real People Interviews
http://teacher.scholastic.com/co
mmclub/
The Mystery Coat Hanger
An example of how it’s about process,
not content
 What do I know?
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Name
Services
Location?
Phone Number
 What do I want to
know?
– Where is it located?
– How old is it?
– Is it still there?
 How do I find out?
The Mystery Coathanger
Clue
Resource
Name
Town
Address
Phone Number
Description
Internet Site
Keywords
What We
Found
Name
Town
Address
Description
Internet Site
www.google.com
www.switchboard.com
The Mystery Coathanger
Clue
Marotta's Dry Cleaners
Welland
Port Colborne
169 E. Main St. 49 Clarence St.
734-3231 734-3178 834-6455
refrigerated cold storage vaults
tailoring suits made to measure
cleaners and shirt launderers
Keywords
Marotta's Dry Cleaners
734-3231 734-3178 834-6455
Resource
phone book
atlas
street map
call the numbers
furs-cold
cleaners don't do that today
What We
Found
nothing
nothing - no area codes
.on.ca told us
Ontario, Canada
www.google.com
Welland AND "Port Colborne"
www.portcolborne.com could there be a site like charlotte.com
request info form
www.portcolborne.com received an email from museum curator
Marotta's cleaners
was no longer
there, but the
building was. It is
now a jewelry store.
Kindergarten – Second Grades
 MODEL, MODEL,
MODEL
 May need to assist in
rewording the
question
 Explain what you are
doing
 Model thinking for
them
Kindergarten:
How are apples and pumpkins alike and
different?
 What color are apples and
pumpkins?
 What shape are they?
 What do they need to
grow?
 What do the plants look
like when they are
growing?
 How long does it take for
them to grow?
 How big do they grow?
 How do we eat them?
First Grade
How do plants and animals in a habitat
depend on each other?
 What is a habitat?
 Why is the soil in a
habitat important?
 Why is the temperature in
a habitat important?
 Why is the water in a
habitat important?
 What kind of plants live
in certain soils?
 How much water and
temperature do the plants
and animals need?
 What kind of plants do
the animals need?
Second Grade
How do fossils tell us about dinosaurs?
 How big was your
dinosaur?
 How do we know?
 How much did your
dinosaur weigh?
 How do we know?
 What did your dinosaur
eat?
 How do we know?
 Where did your dinosaur
live?
 How do we know?
Revisit Questioning at
the End of the Research
& Write Cycle
Evaluate the product
in terms of the
supporting questions
and essential question