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Differentiation TechniqueAsk Better Questions

Read The Overview: Four Types of Questions You Can Ask

Asking questions is *such* a basic tool of teaching, yet how many of us have ever been taught to ask good questions? In this opening to a series about questioning, we'll explore how to get students asking each other questions.

Specific Examples of “Ask Better Questions”

The Resiliency Tournament

I got to work with several groups of students (of many ages) and I tried out this task: building a tournament to decide who was the most resilient historical figure or fictional character? Kids came up with some amazing ideas.

Beware Vague Questions

I’ve been doing tons of work to re-write old questions. You can see all of my updated questions here and, since you’re a Depth and Complexity person, you can see my Depth and Complexity re-writes here. I’ve gotten pretty good at spotting how I can fix my bland, low-level questions. But one problem is un-fixable. […]

Evaluating Characters on a Graph

Here's an idea to integrate two-dimensional graphing with deep character analysis. Use the right characters, and you've got an exciting debate on your hands. Plus, it leads to a beautiful product that's perfect for Open House.

Evaluate with Academic Tournaments

The bracketed tournament isn't just for college basketball. Set up a tournament to determine best president, state, element, or literary character and challenge your students to make interesting judgements.

Ask Creative Questions

Is this the message I want to give to my gifted students? "Follow the directions?" This is a room full of students who are creative, flexible, divergent thinkers. These are the future Noble Laureates, inventors, and revolutionaries. Let's allow them (or better yet: force them) to exercise their creative muscles.

Puzzlement Tournament

Perfect to wrap up the year: a four-round puzzlement tournament.

Inquiry Training: Teach Students To Ask Better Questions

Inquiry Training is a model of instruction that looks a lot like 20 Questions. You'll teach your students to ask more helpful questions and to avoid rushing to a hypothesis too quickly.

Introducing “Criteria” To Students

Teaching our students to identify the criteria behind a decision will make them better decision makers and help them understand others' points of views.

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