Teaching with Depth…
using Questions
Partially Adapted from Polk County, Florida Professional Development
Presentation
Making Sense &
Worthwhile Tasks
“What are our kids really being
asked to do?”
“How are we keeping up with
Cognitive Demand?”
Why do we ask questions?
A Conversation About Questioning
In a high school science classroom,
the following dialogue was heard:
Teacher: Why do I ask questions?
Student: So you can check up on us.
Teacher: What do you mean, check up on you?
Student: To see if we are learning anything.
Teacher: Are you saying that when I ask you a question, it’s like
my giving you a test or quiz?
Student: Yup.
Teacher: What if I said, "I ask questions to learn from you; I want
to know how you are thinking about what we are learning"?
Student: I would have to think about that.
Teacher: Why?
Student: Because I never thought about it that way. I thought you
were checking up on whether we were listening to you. I didn’t
think you were interested in my thinking.
Source: Ester Fusco, What Was the Question? Rethinking Questioning, ASCD
Teacher Reflections:
DOK in your classroom
√As the teacher, do you:
1. Ask at least 3 to 5 questions per lesson?
2. Ask questions that require students to go through at least 2 thinking steps?
3. Ask the same number of questions of all students?
4. Ask students to explain their answers?
5. Avoid giving answers away or hinting at answers when you ask questions?
6. Ask open ended questions?
7. Ask students to be specific and complete in their answers?
8. Ask students if they agree or disagree with an answer given by you or another
student.
9. When students say, “I don’t know,” do you:
a) ask the same question again,
b) rephrase the question and ask it again
c) ask a question that breaks the 1st question down into smaller parts
Some Questioning Strategies
1.
Ask questions that require students to go through at least 2 thinking steps
2.
Ask students to explain their answers
3.
Avoid giving answers away or hinting at answers when you ask questions
4.
Ask open ended questions
5.
Ask students to be specific and complete in their answers
6.
Ask students if they agree or disagree with an answer given by you or
another student.
When students say “I do not know”:
7.
•
rephrase the question and ask it again
•
ask a question that breaks the 1st question down into smaller parts
So why do we ask
questions?
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•
•
•
•
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Purpose of ?’s in Classrooms:
Develop interest and motivate students to become
actively involved in lessons
Develop critical thinking skills and
questioning/inquiring attitudes
Review/summarize previous lessons
Nurture insights by exposing new relationships
Increase Student-Student discourse and
collaboration
Assess achievement of instructional goals/objective
Depth of Knowledge
DOK references the complexity of mental
processing that must occur to answer a
question/perform a task:
FOR EXAMPLE:
• Adding is a mental process.
• Knowing the rule for adding is the intended
outcome that influences the DOK.
• Once someone learns the “rule” of how to add, 4
+ 4 is DOK 1 and is also easy.
• Adding 4,678,895 + 9,578,885 is still a DOK 1
but may be more “difficult.”
DOK is not about difficulty...
Difficulty is a reference to how many students answer a
question correctly.
“How many of you know the definition of an atom?”
*DOK 1 – recall*
If all of you know the definition, this question is an easy question.
“How many of you know the definition of hydrophobic?”
*DOK 1 – recall*
If most of you do not know the definition, this question is a difficult
question.
Verbs are not always used
appropriately...
Words like explain or analyze have to be
considered in context…
• “Explain to me where you live” does not
raise the DOK of a simple rote response.
(low order)
Even if the student has to use addresses or landmarks,
the student is doing nothing more than recalling and
reciting.
DOK is about what follows the verb...
What comes after the verb is more important
than the verb itself.
“Analyze this sentence to decide if the
commas have been used correctly” does
not meet the criteria for high cognitive
processing.”
The student is merely using the rule he/she was taught.
Same Verb—Three Different DOK Levels
DOK 1- Describe three characteristics of
metamorphic rocks. (Requires simple recall)
DOK 2- Describe the difference between
metamorphic and igneous rocks. (Requires
cognitive processing to determine the differences
in the two rock types)
DOK 3- Describe a model that you might use to
represent the relationships that exist within the
rock cycle. (Requires deep understanding of rock
cycle and a determination of how best to
represent it)
DOK is about complexity
The intended student learning
outcome determines the DOK level.
Webb’s Four Levels of Cognitive Complexity
• Level 1: Recall and
Reproduction
• Level 2: Skills & Concepts
• Level 3: Strategic Thinking
• Level 4: Extended Thinking
What does this look like in the
classroom?
Using your current benchmark:
• Level 1 (recall)  __________________
• Level 2 (skill/concept)  _____________
• Level 3 (strategic thinking)  __________
• Level 4 (extended thinking)  _________
…turn and talk…
What level am I?
A scientist synthesizes a new drug. She wants to
test its effectiveness in stopping the growth of
cancerous tumors. She decides to conduct a
series of experiments on lab mice to test her
hypothesis. What should she do?
ANS: level 2 – students must understand
what is a hypothesis and apply this
knowledge
Writing Scaffolded
Questions
The EQ is the umbrella
Writing Scaffolded Questions


SC.912.L.17.20 Predict the impact of individuals on
environmental systems and examine how human lifestyles
affect sustainability. High
EQ: How do the needs and wants of humans affect their
surroundings? Level 3




What needs do you have as a human being? Level 1
How do you or your parents attain those resources? Level 1
Discuss the affects that these needs and wants may have
on the environment. Level 2
Based on the chart . Predict the effects of the loss of a
major non-renewable resource such as fossil fuels . Level 4
1. Compose 1 Essential
Question (EQ) for your lesson
plan.
2. Develop 3 probing/scaffolded
questions
“’He who learns but does not think,
is lost. He who thinks, but does not
learn is in great danger.”
*
Confucious
Design and formulate a series of higher order questions
supplementing your current lesson’s theme and learning objective.