Strategic Questions

“Teaching students how to generate questions as they work with mathematics encourages students to become mathematical text critics.”  – Laney Sammons

In Reading with Meaning, Debbie Miller points out that questioning is a vital tool for helping readers create meaning.   Just as readers develop and refine questions to comprehend a text, our young mathematicians must use strategic questions to gain understanding of mathematical concepts.  As teachers of math, it is our job to help students construct meaning from the math materials we present.  One way to do that is to help them develop strategic questioning techniques to evaluate the processes they choose, check for accuracy, and refine their problem solving strategies.

We want our students to know that mathematicians ask questions to gain greater insights into the concepts they are exploring.  In Building Mathematical Comprehension, Laney Sammons tells us that students should know the ways that mathematicians use questioning:

1.  Mathematicians ask purposeful questions before, during, and after problem solving.

Teachers can think aloud and show how good questions arise during problem solving.  We can model how to utilize quality questions before, during, and after math processes.

2.  Mathematicians ask questions for a variety of reasons.

We can model some of the many reasons mathematicians ask questions.  Brainstorming with students is another great way to generate a list with a variety of reasons for asking questions.  Questions clarify meaning, increase engagement, check validity, and gather information for problem solving –  just to name a few.

3.  Mathematicians understand that there can be more than one answer to a question.

Most students think once they have found the right answer that they are finished.  We need to develop the understanding that there can be many ways to solve a problem and more than one correct answer.  We want our students to become complex thinkers who deepen their understanding through questioning.

4.  Mathematicians understand that quality questions often require more exploration.

We can expand our students’ thinking by modeling the excitement that comes with challenging our curiosity.  We can create a classroom environment that celebrates digging deeper and wanting to know more.

5.  Mathematicians understand that the thoughtful questions and discourse of others may inspire their thinking.

Our young mathematicians need to know their questions are valued and that math talk is respected and celebrated as a way to build greater understanding.

Children are naturally curious and we know that questioning and learning go hand in hand.  As teachers of math we want to inspire our students to think, question, and reflect.  We also want to empower them to know what good questions are and help them develop the habit of asking quality questions that will inspire and extend their learning.

Find out more about quality questioning at Donna Boucher’s  Math Coach’s Corner:   http://www.mathcoachscorner.com/2014/08/the-q-factor-adding-quality-to-our-questions/

Please continue to follow along as we explore Building Mathematical Comprehension.  You can check in out here: https://www.myedresource.com/shop/page/2/