Thinking Processes – Teaching and Learning Activity

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Thinking Processes

Reasoning, processing and inquiry

Questioning/Methodology of inquiry

(Students) collect information from a range of sources to answer their own and others’ questions.

Explain to students that they will be learning how to develop and ask the kind of questions that will help them understand what they read and what they think or are thinking about when they read the text. The activity will involve asking questions of other students after reading the text.

Select a text on a class topic or for a reading activity.

Protocols for listening and taking turns should be revised or established prior to the activity.

Assessment for learning

Make observations and keep records of students participating in discussions including developing and asking questions.

Students' ability to frame questions that targets relevant information will inform further planning.

Key question:

• How can we understand what we have read?

Model a selection of questions about the text using the question stems:

• Who?
• What?
• When?
• Where?
• Why?
• How?

Ask students to brainstorm and record a few possible questions related to the text using the question stems. 

Guide students into the process of determining which of the questions could provide a more complex, detailed or open answer rather than a simple or closed answer, such as yes or no.

To engage students in the process of framing questions use a questioning die such as a large foam die or one made from a net (Doc - 53KB).

The die is labelled on the faces:

• Who?
• What?
• When?
• Where?
• Why?
• How?

See Questioning for further information.

Record the questions under the question stem headings.

See Closed and Open questions.

Ask students in turn to throw the die. The stem shown on the upper face of the die is used by the student as the starter for a question.

Ask students to respond to the question.

Discuss the activity with the students and ask them to reflect on how the questions assisted them in their learning.

Key question:

• How might we know what each of us thinks about the text?

Explain to the students that the next step is to use the brainstormed questions to elicit responses from other students in order to understand their thinking.

This technique requires students to listen carefully to each other as this is a critical part of a questioning pedagogy.

Assessment as learning
Ongoing assessment using the Classroom Discussion Checklist recording sheet (Doc - 267KB).

Note that the checklist also includes behaviours from the Interpersonal Development and English (Speaking and listening) domains.

Roll the die and ask a student to frame a question using the starter stems.

Invite another student to respond.

Ask students to respond to each other by using  starter stems. 

Use the response to develop the initial question into a more thoughtful question. When the discussion has peaked roll the die again and encourage discussion between students.

Starter stems such as:

• ‘I agree with … because…’
• ‘I disagree with … because…’

Starter stems such as:

• ‘Can you tell us more about…?’
• ‘Why do you think….?’

Examples of question starter stems.

Assessment of learning
Ongoing assessment using the Classroom Discussion Checklist recording sheet (Doc - 267KB).

Students complete a reflection. Student self assessment (Doc - 73KB).

Extension
Students can use the starter stems to frame a written question/s about the text. These can be answered in groups or with a partner.