Effective
teachers know that learning to ask good questions is a crucial part
of teaching. Parents, too, can use questions to promote thinking.
Open-ended questions ("Why do you think the butterfly flew
away?") are more likely to encourage creative thinking than
close-ended ones ("How many antennae does a butterfly have?").
Some questions provoke more complex thinking; others ask for information.
Both kinds of questions have their place.
When a child asks you a question, one good first strategy is to
turn it around and say, "That's a good question. What do you
think?" Asking for your child's ideas about finding out more
is also a good strategy. Teachers know that answers to questions,
whether correct or incorrect, can be very revealing. By listening
to their answers and asking your children to explain their thinking,
you can see their level of understanding.
What about "Wrong" Answers?
Suppose your child answers incorrectly? Avoid a negative or judgmental
response. A "wrong" answer can be a great opportunity
for learning! Asking "What made you think that?" or "How
did you arrive at that answer?" can reveal the thinking behind
the answer, and often allows a child to figure out a new approach
on her own.
Be sure to treat some "correct" answers with the same
scrutiny as incorrect ones, so your child won't be tipped off when
you ask "What made you think that?" All answers can be
questioned--even those that sound "correct" at first.
Science is all about questioning! It's important for teachers and
parents to openly acknowledge when they don't know the answer to
a question, and to model ways to find it out...ask someone who might
know, look in a book, consult the Internet, ask a librarian, conduct
an experiment, or, together, analyze the problem again. |
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· What do you think happened?
· What do we know now?
· What do you mean by...?
· Can you explain why?
· What might another explanation
be?
· Can you compare this with something
else?
· How is this the same or different
from..?
· What questions do you have?
· What could we do to find out?
· How could we test our ideas?
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