1 Engaging Students Incorporating Depth, Complexity, and Questioning Strategies into the classroom. Phase 1 “Plan for Using Questioning” November 4, 2009 Kannapolis Intermediate School

2 Goals and Objectives for Phase 1  Why Use Questioning Strategies?  What is Depth and Complexity?  Increase understanding of Levels of Questioning (Revised Bloom’s)  Tools for formulating higher order questions

3 Questioning Strategies  Methods used by teachers and students to ask questions that require the respondent to use high-level, critical, and/or creative thinking skills when processing information or responding to the question.

4 Depth….The Bigger Picture Refers to how a person approaches “the big picture”. Often, the approach starts with the concrete and moves to the abstract; or starts with the known and moves to the unknown.

5 Depth … continued Requires students to examine  facts & concepts  generalizations  related principles and theories Necessitates uncovering details and new knowledge related to a topic of study. Encourages students to adopt perspectives and to see patterns in connections.

6 Complexity…. More Parts Bridges the content to other disciplines, enhancing the relevance for students Complexity encourages students to  Relate to concepts and ideas at a sophisticated level  See associations among diverse subjects, topics, or levels  Find multiple solutions from multiple points of view

7 Depth: Requires a student to uncover and expand on the details about the car Complexity: Requires a student to see the working relationships between the different car parts

8 How to increase Depth and Complexity Teachers choose instructional materials that engage, develop, and challenge. Teachers model for and interact with students: ask questions provide feedback give assignments provide assessment Students engage with the content and each other at high levels, with increased Depth and Complexity in their interactions.

9 Why use Questioning Strategies?  Questioning strategies are essential to the growth of critical, creative, and higher level thinking skills. (Shaunessy,2005)  When teachers regularly model questioning strategies and expect student questions, students learn to formulate questions that will improve their learning. (Fisher, 2007)

10 The better teachers are at USING questions, the better students will be at ASKING questions!

11 Good questions help: Provide Clarification Check Assumptions Provide Reasons and Evidence Examine Viewpoints Investigate Implications and Consequences What is meant by ______? How could you say that another way? How do you know? How could we prove or confirm that? If ____happened, what would be the result? Support your conclusion. Why do you believe that? What feelings or emotions might have caused _____?

12 Original Revised Bloom’s Bloom’s Evaluation Synthesis Analysis Application Comprehension Knowledge  Creating  Evaluating  Analyzing  Applying  Understanding  Remembering (Based on Pohl, 2000, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, p. 8)

13 “While questions which elicit lower level thinking are an important part of teaching, they are useless unless they build toward questions which help kids develop higher order thinking skills.” Benjamin Bloom

14 Area and Perimeter: Pete ’ s dog lot is 4 ft wide and 6 ft long. What is the area and perimeter of the lot?

HIGHER ORDER! 15 Pete’s dog lot is 4 ft wide and 6 ft long. Describe what happens to the area and perimeter if he doubles the width of the lot?

16 Data Analysis: Sara scored the following on her math tests. 78, 86, 90, and 78. Find the median and the mode of her scores.

HIGHER ORDER! 17 Sara scored the following on her math tests so far. 78, 86 and 90. What would she have to score on the fourth test to make sure the median score will be 82?

18 You try: 1. If a triangle measures 12 in, 12 in and 18 in, what type of triangle is it? 2. What is ?

19 squintgape Which would you probably do if you had trouble seeing clearly and didn’t have glasses? glimpsescrutinize Which can you do more quickly?

20 Would you suppress a profound thought? Would you pay homage to something imperious? Do you ever feel solitary? What does it feel like?

21 What are some ways you have made questions higher order?

22 Tools of the Trade Effective Questioning Techniques Bloom’s Taxonomy  Posters, Planning Guides Depth and Complexity Handout Resources Adapted from: TAG Office Portland Public Schools