Book Study Instructions

We are currently reading "From Reading to Math" by Maggie Siena.

Please answer the questions below for each chapter by adding a comment. Contribute to the discussion by replying to at least 2 other comments. Please don't forget to reference page and paragraph numbers so we can all follow along!

Schedule for posting:
February: Read and discuss chapters three and four.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Chapter 3, Question 4

How can you rephrase questions you commonly ask so that you don't know the answers before asking the questions?

7 comments:

  1. Pg. 39, states that good questioning strategies are when the answer is open-ended, not black and white. Is there a pattern here? Will this always work? I like these two models for varied questions as it proposes the student think beyond black and white. I think too often we as teachers, just ask the same questions, where we are looking for one answer. This does not really give the student the opportunity to think in his or her own way. I can think of many times when a student can solve a problem differently than the conventional way and sometimes their answer can touch another student! It is a great experience to observe!

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  2. In p. 42-43, Siena does a great job of bringing out the "Going Deeper" types of questions. "What did you notice?" "What made you think that?" Is it as simple as making sure "you " is in the question?
    What do "you" think?
    See... I have no idea.
    Also the author challenges us not to just be concerned with our questioning abilities, but are we also teaching the children how to be "astute" questioners. She feels this leads to skillful problem solving.
    Do "you" agree with her?
    Again...no idea.

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    Replies
    1. My thinking is she just wants the student to talk not the teacher. I think they would really benefit from paraphrasing or reflecting in a journal what they learned or heard. The problem I have is lack of time to read all the journals.

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  3. I try to ask the easy question first and then follow up with the open ended. For example :Ann had the pattern 18,14,10,6. What is the rule Ann used to make the pattern. Then you follow up with the open ended quesiton: Explain why the number 4 will not be in Ann's pattern. And then :Create a new pattern with the same rule.

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  4. On pages 38-40 I like that they state questioning in the heart of learning. If we don't question ourselves then we are not continuing the learning process. I like how on page 39 they discussed the four types of math questions. It is a way to look at my own questioning terms throughout my lesson so I can move my learners forward.

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  5. I always ask them what the answer is and ask them to tell me why. That always makes them think they are wrong and immediately want to change the answers.

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  6. The PreK teacher makes a great point on page 39 when she explains how asking question that she does not know the answer to makes her listen better to her students' responses so that she can monitor their math comprehension.

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