ASKING QUESTIONS
all questions are not created equal
Question 1. Name the native american tribe that inhabited this area between 1600 and 2002.
Question 2. Compare 1790 Native American culture to current American culture.
Question 3. The year is 1850. Recommend a plan to the European-American explorers who are about to "discover" this area that will enable them to meet and get to know local cultures but not destroy them.
In what ways are the above questions similar? In what ways are they different?
Benjamin Bloom suggested that, similar to plants and animals, questions can be classified. An effective teacher asks questions that become systematically more complex.
Take a handout on Bloom's Taxonomy of Question Types and roll on!
What questions do you ask to help students define concepts?
What questions do you ask to help students link concepts to meaningful generalizations?
DISASSEMBLE THE STACK OF BLOCKS. REASSEMBLE THEM IN ORDER OF COMPLEXITY (AND SIZE).
WHILE REASSEMBLING THEM, REFLECT ON YOUR OWN QUESTIONING STYLE. WHICH QUESTIONS ARE MOST DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO PHRASE AND USE WITH STUDENTS?
SET A GOAL AROUND QUESTIONING WHICH YOU WILL BEGIN WORKING ON NEXT WEEK.
Following is a list of Blooms' Taxonomy of Question Types with a brief description and a sample question:
KNOWLEDGE - recognize or recall information
What Native Americans inhabited this area from 1600 - 2002?
COMPREHENSION - understand material sufficiently to organize and arrange it
Describe the native culture that was here in 1810.
APPLICATION - using knowledge and information in a new situation
Summarize the major changes in Native American culture between pre- and post-contact.
ANALYSIS - to take information or knowledge apart into component pieces
Contrast Native American culture in 1790 with Native American culture in 2004. What parts are similar? Different?
SYNTHESIS - performing creative thinking with knowledge or information
The year is 1850. Recommend a plan to the European-American explorers who are about to "discover" this area that will enable them to meet and get to know local cultures but not destroy them.
EVALUATION - judge the merit of an idea, a solution to a problem, or aesthetic work
Did the first European-American settlers in this area interact appropriately with the native culture? Why or why not?
Higher order questions include analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Several research studies, including current brain function research, indicate teachers must ask higher order questions to assure transfer in their students. Give an example of a higher order question you ask and explain the context in which you use the question.