Charlie Beales

Questions Game
When to use? This strategy could be used to get an idea of what the students know before a lesson
or a means of seeing what they have learned after one.
Description of strategy: What is it? The strategy for this lesson is designed as a group exercise for
an 8th grade social studies class. However, this strategy could be used anywhere from 6th grade to
12th grade. The expectations and number of questions desired will likely vary depending on the
grade. One or two low level questions per group for lower grades (6th - 8th) may be adequate
whereas higher grades (9th the 12th) could be pushed to create more detailed high level questions.
Most disciplines could use this strategy to gain an idea of prior knowledge or assess progress when
discussing any written work.
Debriefing the strategy: Why use it? Teacher Questioning as Assessment by Peter Afflerbach
states that there are two purposes for rigorous questioning: 1) as a guide to inquiry and thinking and
2) to determine what the person answering the question knows. In other words, this strategy
provides a catalyst for student thinking as well as a means of knowing what the students know.
Also, as stated in Janet Allen's Tools for Teaching Content Literacy, this activity leads to "increased
comprehension and significant, student centered class discussions" and it also "helps ensure all
members of the class participate in discussion of the assigned reading." If implemented in a way
that leads to the best possible outcome, this exercise can help take the questioning process from a
teacher dominated IRE (initiate-respond-evaluate) approach to a more in depth student-centered
one, which Afflerbach recommends as conducive to high level critical thinking.
Directions for the strategy: How does the strategy work in practice?
1.
2.
3.

The students watch a video and/or read a written text

The students then break into groups of two or more and create questions based on the text.
They then exhange those questions with other groups and they answer each other's
questions.
4. The class then discusses the questions and answers they created.
Differentiation: How might the strategy be modified to meet the needs of individual and
exceptional learners? This strategy can be open to all types of questions. There is always a need
for textually explicit literal and inferential thinking which doesn't necessarily have to lead to high
level critical thinking. Afflerbach refers to divergent questioning that can lead to a more open
response where answers can be opinions. With open questions like this, students who may have a
learning disability of some kind can still participate without worrying about having the "wrong"
answer.
Disclaimers & Cautions This exercise is a short version of what is recommended for the full
question game strategy in Tools for Teaching Content Literacy. The students are supposed to discuss
the text using questions and answers as a basis for more discussion which would then lead to more
questions and answers. This strategy is dependent on student interest and prior knowledge, which is
a random factor depending on what is being taught and who the students are. For the full potential
of the exercise to be realized, an hour of class time rather than the 20 minutes for this brief
minilesson may be necessary. Futhermore, if this exercise proves inadequate for providing questions
or answers representative of higher level thinking, then IRE level instruction, with questions only
getting literal and low level inferential replies, can still be used to lay the foundation for more high
level questioning in the future.

References and Related Resources

Afflerbach, P. (2007). Teacher questioning as assessment. In Understanding and using reading
assessment, K-12 (pp. 51-70). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Allen J. (2004). Tools for Teaching Content Literacy. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.