Questioning
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The Question Rock
I bring in a big, black rock. I tell the students nothing about the rock. We pass the rock around the circle and students can observe the rock. Then, without talking, each student generates as many questions as possible about the rock. They write all the things they are wondering about.
Common questions are:
- Why is it black?
- Where did it come from?
- How did it get so rough?
- Who gave it to Mrs. Maloy?
- Why does it smell weird?
Tanny McGregor has a great saying about questioning – “We’re in the business of questioning! We’re open 24-7!”
The Q Food
This was a really cool lesson before everyone started going gluten-free! The Q food lesson is about presenting students with an uncommon food that starts with a q (like the word question). It is intended to incite lots of curiosity and wondering. Tanny McGregor uses quinoa in her book. Most kids (a few years ago) had never heard of it, let alone tasted it. Nowadays, quinoa is a common dinnertime food.
Other foods that might fit the bill for this lesson are:
- Quince (fruit)
- Quark (cheese)
- Quisp (cereal)
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QAR
QAR stands for Question Answer Relationships. This is a good unit to take a few minutes to explain the different types of questions to students. QAR is a testing strategy, but can also help students ask questions that go deeper than yes or no questions and delve in between the lines of what the author writes.
Second graders need a good amount of practice with Right There and Think and Search questions. Referencing the text is a skill that we practice extensively.
Author and Me style questions come into play later in the year, when we cover higher order thinking skills like making inferences, summarizing, and main idea.
Paragraph Party
A testing skill I like to review during the questioning unit is referencing the text. The Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) test often asks questions like:
Using the fluency passages, I like to play Paragraph Party. Basically, we read the passage together and then a variety of the following:
Read Alouds
These are the books I like to use when modeling how to ask and answer questions:
QAR stands for Question Answer Relationships. This is a good unit to take a few minutes to explain the different types of questions to students. QAR is a testing strategy, but can also help students ask questions that go deeper than yes or no questions and delve in between the lines of what the author writes.
- Right There – The answer is explicitly stated right there in the story. These questions can be coded green, because the reader can go right to the story to find the answer.
- Think and Search – The answer is in the story, but the reader must look in different places for the answer. These questions are coded yellow, because the reader has to stop, slow down, and pull clues from different parts of the text.
- Author and Me – The answer is not directly written in the story. The reader has to read between the lines and take the author’s clues plus his or her personal schema to find the answer.
Second graders need a good amount of practice with Right There and Think and Search questions. Referencing the text is a skill that we practice extensively.
Author and Me style questions come into play later in the year, when we cover higher order thinking skills like making inferences, summarizing, and main idea.
Paragraph Party
A testing skill I like to review during the questioning unit is referencing the text. The Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) test often asks questions like:
- Which paragraph answers the question…?
- Which question can be answered using paragraph __?
- In paragraph __, which question can be answered?
Using the fluency passages, I like to play Paragraph Party. Basically, we read the passage together and then a variety of the following:
- Kids generate questions.
- I ask questions.
- I send kids on a “hunt” for an answer, where they have to provide the paragraph number.
Read Alouds
These are the books I like to use when modeling how to ask and answer questions:
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Best Question Ever
For this game, unlike the previous exercises, students can only ask one question. They have to think really hard to generate one strong, solid question.
Play the slideshow with a variety of images. Students will write one question at a time. Share out.
Asking Questions PowerPoint
The Questioning Cube Game
Play the Questioning Cube Game @ Blue Ribbon Readers. Students respond to right there questions on a given task.
For this game, unlike the previous exercises, students can only ask one question. They have to think really hard to generate one strong, solid question.
Play the slideshow with a variety of images. Students will write one question at a time. Share out.
Asking Questions PowerPoint
The Questioning Cube Game
Play the Questioning Cube Game @ Blue Ribbon Readers. Students respond to right there questions on a given task.