In preparation for the start of new #goaltime projects and some upcoming Mystery Skype sessions, I wanted to spend some time improving the questions that students are asking. In the move to NGSS, asking questions is the first science practice on the list. When starting investigations, students are quick to get going, but I want to slow them down just a bit so that they begin with wonder and that there is a foundation that drives the investigation. I also see an improvement in their science writing when their claims (CER) are directly related to a question they asked before they started.
5 Clue Challenges I learned about the 5 Clue Challenge project from Mike Soskil during his Ditch Summit interview. The project is a collection of short videos (2-3 minutes) where a mystery location, person, animal, or object is shared by slowly revealing clues. The videos can be paused for as long as needed to allow time for students to research, discuss, and ask questions based off of the clue. Class discussions turned in directions I did not expect based off of questions students asked or information they found while searching. One example of this was a clue about population of a city when some students found population data based off of city limits and others found metro area statistics. After completing a few challenges on video, I turned the tables and asked student groups to write their own clues that were then presented to our class. Quantity Over Quality (to start!) Students began proposals for their new #goaltime projects and I wanted to weave in another element I had learned from Paul Solarz: asking PHAT questions. These are questions that are Pretty Hard And Tough....skinny questions, he says, are those that can be quickly looked up on Google. With the right question(s), students can continue that deep dive into their topic or learning goal throughout the project time. I created a new graphic organizer and shared with them the expectation to ask a really tough question. I felt really good about the direction of the project, but I failed in facilitating the asking of that tough questions! Some students did not want to write a question they did not know the answer and many simply put the first question they thought of in the blank and moved on. An example was, “why do snakes shed their skin?” This answer could be found in a short time with a Google search, but I got a puzzled look when I challenged him to ask a deeper question. Other students left the question blank because they were paralyzed by the request to write one good question. They may have been thinking through possibilities, but could not recall the ideas they had rejected. My requests began to change as I conferenced with students, instead of looking for the one PHAT question, I began asking them to physically write 10 questions or more. We reviewed lists and eliminated skinny questions and narrowed down to deeper questions. Students began self-selecting better questions and they were not the first questions on their lists. I look forward to beginning next #goaltime sessions with a longer list of potential questions instead of the pressure to declare one awesome question right away. How will we know what a good question is unless we have something to compare it to? What are resources and strategies you use to facilitate better questions from student? Please share in the comments below. |
Matt HawkinsGull Lake Middle School Archives
March 2018
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