Question Time

As part of our Whole School CPD, I have been focusing on "Questioning".
Rather than looking at scaffolding questions and use of Blooms or Solo taxonomy, my focus was more on my questioning patterns.
As Teachers we are constantly reflecting on our practise and striving to make our best better. One thing I am guilty of is choosing the same students to answer questions. We've probably all called on our "reliable" students during observations to answer questions as we know they will and there won't be any awkward silences.
I have tried a variety of methods when it comes to choosing students to answer questions. I have a random name Powerpoint as well as the random function on Class Dojo. These are good for varying the students who are chosen to answer but still do not guarantee that all students are taking part.

I decided to trial a "tick sheet". One student is nominated as the "Question Monitor" and during the lesson they put a tick next to the name of students who answer questions. Half way through the lesson, I check the sheet and I am then able to see which students have not been chosen. This then enables me to focus my questions on those students. 

Alongside this, I have introduced "Catch and throw" questions. I ask a question and a student "catches" it. If they cannot answer then they can "throw" it to another student. They must then "catch" the question back and say whether they agree/disagree and try to answer the question for themselves.

It's early days but so far I have found this to be very effective in my lessons. The students also enjoy the competition element to try and get a tick next to their name.

Interactive starters

I've recently been experimenting with starter activities, especially those that focus on improving listening skills.


Acapela.TV  

This is a great website for creating short cartoon video clips.

First you need to choose a character and then you need to choose the language.

Insert the text and then click play.

Some characters speak quicker than others so you will need to consider that when choosing classes to use it with.

I have used these clips in a variety of ways;

1) Give students a list of words, they tick off what they hear.

2) Multiple choice questions.

3) True/false questions.

4) Listen and summarise in English.

With year 7, we looked at basic introductions. First they listened to the one I had created and answered questions about it and then they got to make their own. We shared them as a class and gave feedback to each other.

Voki

You can spend ages on this website creating animated clips. 

It is perfect for designing unique listening activities. 

Here is an example from a year 8 German lesson on "Town"

Students were asked to listen and note what was in the town.
Less able students were given a tick list.