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Questioning

The act of questioning is one of the cornerstones of learning.

 

Questioning seems like it should come naturally, because for people who are naturally curious, it does come naturally. 

 

Some learners are brimming with curiosity – they question and dig deeper into information as a matter of course.  That’s one of the many abilities that we educators would love to bottle so that we can sprinkle some onto our kiddos who have other talents and gifts, but are missing that burning curiosity about the world they inhabit.

 

So – how do we teach Questioning? 

 

Like most skills worth having, it takes a multi-modal effort.   In my experience, teaching Questioning requires modeling, lots of modeling.  And then some more modeling.  Oh – did I mention modeling?   In addition, I think it requires encouragement, support, and practice.

 

What kinds of things to we focus on when we practice asking questions? 

~ How to ask many, varied, and unique questions.

~ How to generate questions to dig deeper into a topic.

~ How to craft (pose and refine) questions for specific purposes.

~ How to ask questions which cross disciplines.

~ Recognizing the many different types of questions.

~ Recognizing the relationship between questioning and information.

 

Below are a few of my favorite resources for teaching Questioning…. keeping in mind that it is from within a rich pool of information that a fountain of questions most easily comes.

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