Cues, Questions, and
Advance Organizers
for Nebraska City Public Schools
Mitzi Hoback
ESU 4
How many questions do teachers ask?
What’s in your toolbox?
Goals for our session . . .
 Revisit
your teacher’s toolbox
 Review
Marzano’s Instructional Strategies
 Cues, Questions
 Explore
and Advance Organizers
ways to weave technology into
the instructional strategies
ESU 4 Instructional Strategies Wiki

http://esu4instructionalstrategies.wikispaces.com
“The illiterate of the 21st century
will not be those who cannot read
and write, but those who cannot
learn, unlearn, and relearn.”
Alvin Toffler 2001
An American writer and futurist
Ave. Effect
Size
Percentile
gain
Identifying similarities and differences
1.61
45
Summarizing and note taking
1.00
34
Reinforcing effort and providing recognition
.80
29
Homework and Practice
.77
28
Nonlinguistic representations
.75
27
Cooperative learning
.73
27
Setting objectives/providing feedback
.61
23
Generating and testing hypotheses
.61
23
Questions, cues, and advance organizers
.59
22
Category
“The most important single factor
influencing learning is what the learner
already knows. Ascertain this and teach
him accordingly”
David Ausubel
Previewing
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Any activity that starts students thinking about the
content they will encounter
Helps students activate prior knowledge
Particularly useful for students who don’t have a lot of
background knowledge about the topic
The activation of prior knowledge is critical to learning
because it helps students understand new information,
predict what might be coming, and clarify
misconceptions.
“Educational researchers have shown that the activation of
prior knowledge is critical to learning of all types.”
~ (Marzano, 2001, 2007)
Previewing
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Cues
Questions
Advance Organizers
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The research on using advance organizers is significant. 3 to 29
percentile gain.
The research on using cues is also significant. 3 to 32
percentile gain
How do you use cues in your
classroom?

Video Clip
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Photos
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Brief Teacher Summary

Hints
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Quick Draw

Skimming

Preview Questions
Technology Tools for Cues

Videos
 BrainPop http://www.brainpop.com/educators/home/
 Watch Know Learn http://www.watchknowlearn.org/
Khan Academy http://www.khanacademy.org/
 National Geographic Education http://bit.ly/zBFHyP
 ThinkFinity http://www.thinkfinity.org/
 YouTube www.youtube.com
 www.zamzar.com
 quietyoutube
Photos
 Getty Images http://bit.ly/zME8dz
 Google Images http://bit.ly/xrcNHm
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Advance
Organizer
s
Advance Organizers: graphic organizers
presented in advance of the lesson
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Focus on what’s important in a visual manner
Organize information
Help students see relationships between ideas, patterns in
the information where they exist
Help students maneuver through text
Enhance comprehension
Aid in transfer of knowledge
Getting ready to learn…..
The film “A Country in Conflict” describes the conditions of the North and South prior
to the Civil War and the events leading up to the Civil War.
What do you already know
about the Civil War?
While watching the film.
Think about:
•What were the political,
economic, and social conditions
that existed in the South and North
before the Civil War?
•How did the differences between
the North and South lead to war?
•Could the differences have been
resolved using another means
other than war?
What did you learn as a result
of watching the film?
Anticipation Guides
Before reading: In the column labeled me, place a check next to any
statement with which you agree.
After reading: Compare your opinions on those statements with
information contained in the text.
ME
Text
_______ ________ 1. Before the building of the canal, ships traveled South to get from the
Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean.
_______ ________ 2. The fastest way from the Caribbean to the Pacific was by plane.
_______ ________ 3. The building of the canal continued the US policy of isolation.
_______ ________ 4. The geographic conditions helped make the building of the canal
easier.
_______ ________ 5. A canal through Panama would benefit the US politically and
economically.
_______ ________ 6. Latin America welcomed US control of the Panama Canal.
_______ ________ 7. The control of Latin America by the US required the US to send
troops to protect its interests.
See the wiki for examples of advance
organizers and anticipation guides
http://esu4instructionalstrategies.wikispaces.com
Questioning
The Art of Questioning

Great teachers are great questioners.

Questioning is an everyday form of Instructional
Feedback.
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Questioning is a great engagement tool.
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Questioning comes in many forms.
Share Your Wisdom
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Work in groups of 3 or 4.
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Read each research-based statement about questioning.
Discuss the implications for your classroom.
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Choose a facilitator for your group.
Choose a reporter for your group.
Every group member is a recorder!
What are you currently doing in your classroom that
addresses each statement?
What additional strategies might you use?
When time is called, the reporter should be prepared to
summarize the conversation for each statement and share
with the entire group.
Teachers ask many questions. Most
teacher questions are at the lowest
cognitive level—known as fact, recall, or
knowledge.
Implications:

Sattes,B. & Walsh, J., (2005). Quality
questioning research-based practice to
engage every learner.
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Teachers asked an average of
50.6 questions; students
posed only 1.8 questions in a
30 minute period.
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Encouraging teachers to encourage
children’s curiosity: A pivotal
competence. Journal of Clinical Child
Psychology, 8, 101-106.
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Teachers should plan their
questions before asking.
Teachers should ensure
that questions match the
instructional objectives
and promote thinking.
Teachers should
purposefully plan and ask
questions that require
students to engage in
higher level thinking.
Not all students are accountable to
respond to all questions.
Implications:

Teachers frequently call on
volunteers, and these
volunteers constitute a
select group of students.

Sattes,B. & Walsh, J., (2005). Quality
questioning research-based practice to
engage every learner.
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Teachers should establish
classroom norms that
every student deserves an
opportunity to answer
questions.
All students’ answers are
important.
Every student responds every time!
Make every classroom activity one in which all
students respond to every
question/activity/discussion.
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“Smile if you’re ready.”
“Nod if you’re on page 16.”
“Hold your pen up and wiggle it if you have your homewo
.”
“If you agree with me on this, raise one pinky.”
“If this concept makes sense to you, give me a thumbs up.”
“If you’re finished, turn your paper over.”
“Hold up the handout if you have received one.”
Richard Howell Allen, Impact Teaching, 2002
 Try
some procedures that get every child
involved:
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Random Name Callers
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http://tinyurl.com/692tlxh
Use Paired Responses (A/B partner response)
Use choral responses
Use hand signals (thumbs up/down)
Use response systems
Use playing cards
Teachers typically wait less than one
second after asking a question before
calling on a student to answer.
Implications:
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Teachers wait even less
time before speaking after
the student has answered.

Sattes,B. & Walsh, J., (2005). Quality
questioning research-based practice to
engage every learner.
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Both wait times 1 and 2
promote student thinking
and foster more students
formulating answers to
more questions.
Teachers often accept incorrect answers
without probing; they frequently answer
their own questions.
Implications:

Sattes,B. & Walsh, J., (2005).
Quality questioning researchbased practice to engage every
learner.
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Teachers should seek to
understand incorrect or
incomplete answers more
completely by gently
guiding student thinking
with appropriate probes.
Probes for incomplete or incorrect….
1.
2.
3.
4.
Say more about that….
Give an example….
Tell me why you think that….
I might agree but I need
more….
30
In Summary…
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Before learning new information, teachers should
help students retrieve what they already know
about a topic or “activate prior knowledge.”
Cues, questions and advance organizers are
common ways that a classroom teacher helps
students use what they already know about a
topic to learn new information.
Advance graphic organizers help students focus on
important information by providing a mental set.
Commitment:
•Jot
down one new thing you will try in your
classroom as a result of today’s discussion.
•Tell someone else what you plan to do.