WELCOME TO OUR
LAST SESSION!
In the interest of time we are not
doing a teambuilding activity, but
we’ve printed out a couple of good
options to do with students for you to
look at while people are getting
settled
If you are taking this course for ADE
credit…
• Schedule at least one of the
observations before the end of
February, and then we’ll
schedule the next one
• Identify at least ONE thing you
will be doing in your lesson that
relates to what we’ve talked
about in this class
• Do the first page of the
documentation sheet and turn it
in prior to the observation!
Let’s take a look at the 12 word summaries you did about
the significance of incorporating engagement strategies
into informational lessons…
Now Back to the Strategies and
Response Cards!!!
Predict
Work
independently or
with your group to
predict the
outcome to the
scenario
Be prepared to
share
K-W-L
What I
know
What I
would like
to learn
What I
learned
Or K-P-(Predict)-L
Partner A turn to partner B.
Tell or teach your partner the
two most important things you
have learned so far about...
Switch roles and repeat the
process.
Graphic Organizer
Write down information from the
text or presentation into your
graphic organizer
OUTCOME STATEMENTS
I need more
help
with . . .
3 - 2 - 1
3 important terms
2 ideas or facts you would like to know
more about
1 skill or concept that you have mastered
Ticket out the door
•Write directions here.
•Write closure question here.
•Be sure it aligns to
lesson objective.
21
48
37
13
14
18
23
In 12 words or less,
summarize the most
important aspects from
today's lesson.
Snapshot
Write a
“snapshot”
of today’s
learning in
25 words
or less.
Minute Paper
You have one minute to write down
the key points of today’s lesson.
Be prepared to share.
Find Someone Who…
Find someone who can answer
one of the questions on your
handout.
Have them write the answer and
sign your paper.
Now, find a different person to
answer another question.
Keep going until all of the
questions are answered.
Sort the cards or items
into groups
Sort
Create a label for each
group you are creating
Be prepared to share
Let’s try it!
Unhook your strategy cards
Create two (possibly three) stacks
I’ll try this
Not my style, or won’t work in my setting
Maybe…
Active Learning Checklist Assessment
Take a look at the tool that can be used to for teachers to
evaluate their lessons.
Time for a quick break!
Questioning and Discussion is
emphasized in the Framework for
Teaching
•Domain 3 – Instruction
• 3b. Questioning and discussion
techniques
• Quality of questions/prompts
• Discussion techniques
• Student participation
QUESTIONING FOR
GREAT DISCUSSIONS!
Topic: Asking Quality Questions and Leading Effective
Discussions
Do: Analyze characteristics of good questions and class
discussions
Level of Thinking: Analyzing
Let’s talk about
questioning before
getting into
discussions –
The concepts are
more different than
you might guess….
This is what you don’t want to do…
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhiCFdWeQfA
Questioning
Teacher provides questions and focused
feedback to students that :
Activate prior knowledge
Probe students’ conceptual
understanding
Lead to deeper understanding
What do you know about questioning
techniques?
Give one, get one: 2 minutes to think, 2 minutes to
share
• Under “Give one” write:
• What do you know about questioning strategies?
• What problems do you have with questioning in
your classroom?
• Under “Get one” write two new things you learn
from two other partners
Why Questioning Matters:
• Instruction which includes posing questions
during lessons is more effective in producing
achievement gains than instruction carried out
without questioning students.
• Oral questions posed during lessons are more
effective in fostering learning than are written
questions.
• Questioning makes student thinking visible and
provides immediate feedback to the teacher and
students alike.
Question their background knowledge first!
• Guide students from the known to the
unknown
• Focus on content that is most important, not
on what students will find most interesting
• Use cues, questions, and organizers to set the
stage for learning
Cont’d background knowledge
• Before new knowledge can be incorporated into
students’ existing schema, the schema must be
activated
• You can discover and clear up misconceptions by
taking time to ask questions before you begin a
unit of study!
“Skinny” v. “Fat” Questions
“Skinny” Questions
• Lower cognitive questions
• Recall verbatim or in student’s own words material
previously read or taught by the teacher
• “Skinny” questions are also called:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Factual
Closed (only one right answer)
Convergent (only one right answer)
Direct
Recall
Knowledge
“Fat” Questions – lead to critical thinking
• Higher cognitive questions
• require students to take knowledge and/or skills they
have learned and manipulate that information to create
an answer or to support an answer with logically
reasoned evidence
• “Fat” questions are also called
• Open ended (no definite answer)
• Divergent (many acceptable responses)
• Interpretive
• Evaluative
• Inquiry
• Inferential
• Synthesis
What kind of question
is used most?
•60% lower cognitive
•20% higher cognitive
•20% procedural
Not All questions need to be higher order
Lower-order,
convergent
questions are
effective when the
teacher needs to
give factual
information and
help students
commit those facts
to memory
Benefits of Higher Cognitive Questions:
Produces superior learning gains for students
• Divergent questioning increases:
• On-task behavior
• Length of student responses
• Number of relevant contributions volunteered by students
• Number of student-to-student interactions
• Speculative thinking on the part of students
• Relevant questions posed by students
Questioning tasks
• Remembering: eliciting factual answers, testing recall and
•
•
•
•
•
recognition
Understanding: translating and interpreting
Applying: using facts, rules, or principles
Analyzing: breaking down into parts, forms
Evaluating: judging or considering why something “is what
it is”
Creating: thinking up new ideas related to the topic
Let’s try it out! (Processing time!)
Think of a lesson topic that you will be
introducing in the near future.
On the handout provided, as each
level of discussion is described, write
a possible question when prompted to
do so.
Remembering
• What do you remember about . . . ?
• How would you define . . .?
• How would you identify . . .?
• How would you recognize . . .?
• Describe what happens when . . .?
• How? Where? Who? Why? What? When?
Stop and write a
“remembering” question you
could use in the lesson.
Understanding
• How would you compare …? Contrast…?
• How would you clarify the meaning…?
• How would you differentiate between…?
• How would you generalize…?
• How would you express…?
• What can you infer from…?
• What did you observe…?
• How would you identify…?
• Elaborate…?
• What would happen if…?
Stop and write a
question you could
use in tomorrow’s
lesson to determine
level of understanding.
Applying
• What actions would you take to perform…?
• How would you develop…to present…?
• What other way would you choose to…?
• What would the result be if…?
• How would you demonstrate…?
• How would you present…?
• How would you change….?
• How would you modify…?
• How could you develop….?
• Why does… work?
Stop and write an
application question
you could use in the
lesson.
Analyzing
• How can you classify…according to…?
• How can you compare the different parts…?
• What explanation do you have for…?
• How is…connected to…?
• Discuss the pros and cons of ….
• How can you sort the parts….?
• What is your analysis of …?
• What can you infer …?
• What ideas validate…?
• How would you explain…?
• What can you point out about …?
Stop and write an
analysis question
you could use in the
lesson.
Evaluating
• What criteria would you use to assess…?
• What data was used to evaluate….?
• What choice would you have made….?
• How would you determine the facts….?
• What is the most important….?
• What would you suggest….?
• How would you grade….?
• What is your opinion of….?
• How could you verify….?
Stop and write an
evaluating question
you could use in the
lesson.
• What information would you use to prioritize…?
• Rate the …
Creating
• What alternative would you suggest for…?
• What changes would you make to revise…?
• How would you generate a plan to…?
• What could you invent…?
• What plan could solve the problem…?
• How would you portray…?
• Devise a way to…
Stop and write a creating question
you could use in tomorrow’s
lesson. (Totally ok if there would be nothing
appropriate for the lesson – we don’t get to
“create” that often!)
Hand out bookmarks
Wait-time (aka Think-time)
• Average wait time teachers allow after
posing a question is one second or less
• Students whom teachers perceive as slow or
poor learners are given less wait-time than
students teachers perceive as more capable
• For lower cognitive questions successful wait
time is 3 seconds
• For higher cognitive questions the more wait time
teachers give, the more engaged students
become and the better they perform
For students, 3+ seconds wait time :
• Improves achievement
• Improves retention
• Increases number of higher cognitive responses
• Increases length of responses
• Decreases failure to respond
• Increases amount of quality evidence used to
support inferences
• Expands variety of responses
• Increases student-to-student interactions
• Increases number of questions posed by students
For teachers, 3+ second wait time:
• Increases flexibility of teacher
responses (teachers listen more
and engage students in more
discussions)
• Expands the variety of questions
asked
• Increases number of higher
cognitive questions asked
How to respond to student answers:
• Use student responses to form your next
question and narrow the focus of the
discussion
• Probing questions help you know how
deeply the student is thinking
• Teacher redirection and probing help
student achievement when they focus on
clarity, accuracy, plausibility of student
response
Your response to their answers will
determine whether or not they
continue to answer!
• Acknowledge correct responses
• Gently correct misconceptions, preserving the feelings of
the student who responded
• Listen carefully to student responses!
• Establish community where all answers are accepted as
appropriate, and if it’s not correct it will
give the group the opportunity to explore
the concept further –
model this for your students
Questioning Tips:
• Ask questions that focus on most important
elements of the lesson
• Ask questions before and after material is read
and studied
• Scaffold lower ability students: ask lower
cognitive questions, gradually transitioning to
higher cognitive questions
• Teach students strategies for making inferences
• 3 seconds wait time for lower cognitive questions
• More than 3 seconds time for higher cognitive
questions
Encourage your students to ask questions
as well
• Teach students about the difference between convergent
•
•
•
•
(one answer) and divergent questions (open ended)
Explain to students that once they are on the job one of
the main ways they will learn to be more effective
employees is by asking questions, and it is a skill they
need to develop, and that you will practice in class
On a regular basis require that students write and turn in
both types of questions related to the topic being covered
Use a student-generated question related to the lesson
objective as an exit strategy regularly
Provide frequent opportunities for students to write and
ask questions, other than by saying, “Are there any
questions?”
Now that we know about questions, what
about effective discussions?
With your table group read the handout,
Characteristics of a Good Classroom Discussion
Task:
With your group, highlight what you agree should
be the 5 most
important items on the
list for teachers to
pre-train their students
about.
Let’s look at the Classroom Discussion
Rubric
This may be WAY MORE than
you have the time or energy to
use in class, but does outline
characteristics of effective
class discussions, so can be
used as a tool to see what to
teach students to do to have
meaningful discussions
3,2,1 Closure
• Identify 3 characteristics of
effective class discussions
• List 2 classifications of types of
questions (there are a few
acceptable answers here!)
• What is 1 way students benefit
from adequate wait time?
Quick break!
OBJECTIVE
• KNOW: Arizona College & Career Readiness
Standards for Speaking and Listening
• DO: Identify, Read, and Summarize AZCCR
Anchor Standards for Speaking and Listening
• L.O.T. Understanding
AZ College and Career Ready Standards
include standards for speaking and
listening.
• The Anchor Standards define what students
should understand and be able to do by the end
of each grade. There are also grade specific
standards that provide additional specificity.
Read the “Note on range and
content of student
speaking and listening”
Highlight and annotate as you
read.

Read the Note on Range and Content
Highlight the evidence that supports the following:
• The importance of classroom conversations.
• Settings/groups students should be in for
conversations.
• The type(s) of conversations our students need to
participate in.
• The impact technology has on speaking and listening in
acquiring and sharing knowledge.
Now read standards 1-6
9 Big Ideas within the Speaking and
Listening Standards
• 1. A HUGE part of speaking is listening.
Both are essential to be college or career ready.
• 2. Students need to know how to talk.
Some need more practice than others so don’t let them off the
hook. They will improve and gain confidence with practice.
• 3. Structured, regular opportunities to talk in pairs.
This allows students to process info and you can walk around and
check for understanding and provide feedback.
Speaking & Listening Standards, cont’d
• 4. Structured, regular opportunities to talk in small groups
Teach what an effective group discussion looks
like, practice and provide feedback regularly
• 5. Provide time for students to talk to the whole class
It is important to provide a “safe” classroom
• 6. Students should contribute accurate and relevant info to
discussions
Speaking & Listening Standards cont’d
• 7. Students should respond to and develop what others
have said
The CCRS (and real life) calls for and is about students talking to each
other
• 8. Analyze and synthesize a multitude of ideas in various
domains
In other words, talk about ideas- at home, at school in all classes
• 9. Use technology to increase speaking/listening opportunities
Our students must be prepared to:
quickly make connections between
speaking, listening, reading and writing
and using these modalities
simultaneously and with technology
when appropriate.
Closure- 3 W’s
• What I learned today about speaking and listening
standards.
• So What?(relevancy, importance, usefulness)
• Now What? (how does this fit into what I am doing in my
classroom)
Changing
gears to…
putting students in groups and making the
work meaningful
Student Learning Groups: Homogeneous
or Heterogeneous?
• Some teachers believe it is best to group students of all
ability levels.
• Others believe it is best to group students of similar
ability levels.
• There are advantages to both according to Robert
Marzano, Jane Pollock and Debra Pickering in Classroom
Instruction That Works.
If time permits…read the article:
Student Learning Groups:
Homogeneous or Heterogeneous?
Discuss the prompts on the second page
with your table group.
Some final thoughts on grouping students…
Allow for “extra” partner when one is ELL or has
special needs
Set groups of threes, fours, and or fives that will
stay constant
and/or
Change groups depending on activity/lesson
Ticket out the Door
• One thing I learned about group work is…
• One question I still have about group work is…
for attending our class!
• Please complete the ERO evaluation for this class as
soon as you can. (No one gets compensated until everyone completes
the evaluation.)
• Please sign up for our CTE Literacy Support class that will
begin Monday, March 30.