Encouraging Students to Question the World Around Them

     We want our students to be thinkers, problem solvers, engineers, researchers, designers and so much more. That's a tall order for young children, but it certainly possible! Before we can get students to answer questions, however, we need them to start asking meaningful questions. 

     My students tend to need quite a bit of practice developing questions that push their thinking, and often stumble or give in when faced with a problem to which they cannot immediately find a solution. Without a doubt, this is something that teachers need to address sooner rather than later. 

     Introducing the idea of asking Open and Closed Questions gave my students a great start in developing deep, research-worthy questions. Here are the guidelines I gave my students:

STEP 1:

1. Ask as many questions as you can.
2. Do not stop to discuss, judge, or answer the questions.
3. Write down every question exactly as it is asked.
4. Change any statement into a question.​

STEP 2:

• Categorize the questions as closed or open.
• Closed Questions: They can be answered with yes or no or with one word.
• Opened Questions: They require an explanation and cannot be answered with yes or no or one word.

    In groups, students work to develop as many questions about a broad topic as possible. Every question is written on its own post-it note, as this allows us to be able to sort our questions either in groups or as a class later on. We continually return to these questions, revising them to make stronger ones and using some as a starting point for discovery!

   

    My class was able to use this strategy throughout content areas and the kids loved it! As a bonus, they even came to respect each others ideas and creativity a bit more over time. I hope you can give it a try!

Floating and Sinking: Our Science Unit!

   A whole unit on floating and sinking? How perfect for our fish tank!!

   With the new science standards on the rise, I've been working with my fifth graders on making the shift from "scientists" to "engineers." The basic idea being that it's the students questions, discoveries, and designs that guide our science lessons. Giving that kind of power to 25 11-year-olds is tough, but they certainly LOVE the adventure. 

   In our first experiment, we wanted to find and answer to our question: What makes objects float and sink? What made this experience more "theirs" than "mine"? My students worked in small groups to select their own objects to test. This led to great conversations and was a HUGE step in helping them to think like researchers. What's more, rather than me giving them a ready-to-use worksheet, they designed their own means for recording data. Here are a few of the final the results: 

   Last week, students were given the chance to design their own clay boats, applying what they discovered during our earlier trials. I gave them the following instructions:

Your goal:

Design a boat that floats and can support weight.

Step 1:  Draw your design (include labels and descriptions)

Step 2: Build and revise! - Illustrate and record in your science notebook.

We folded a sheet of printer paper into fourths and drew each revised design in the next box. This was great for showing how engineers revise their thinking as they work through a problem. Not to mention, the kids had a blast testing and retesting their designs!