Using a Question-Centered Approach to Reading andWriting

Jenny BixbyJoe McVeigh

March 31, 2012TESOL, Philadelphia

1. How do you use questions in the classroom

2. Types of questions

What kind of question is it?

1.What is the approximate attendance at this conference?

2.What was your first impression of Philadelphia?

3.What’s this presentation going to be about?

4.You will stay until the end of this presentation, won’t you?

a) display question

b) experiential question

c) fact-based question

d) leading question

What kind of question is it?

1. Do you use the TESOL website very often?

2. What makes a professional organization valuable to its members?

3. Why do most people join TESOL?

a) essential question

b) topical question

c) yes-no question

3. What is an essential question?

1. Who are your friends?

2. What makes a city livable?

3. Is discovery always a good thing?

4. Does school prepare you for work?

5. What makes you want to buy

something?

What do these questions have in common?

An essential question should:• be thought-provoking and grab the

attention of your students• have transfer value (to other content

areas)• link to prior knowledge• require core content that you will be

covering

--- Wiggins & McTighe

4. Using backward design when planning a lesson or

course

Backward design

Backward design

What is backward design?

1. Identify what the lesson or unit outcome will be.

2. Determine how you will measure it.

3. Choose one or two essential questions to guide learning.

4. Select readings that will provide content students need to students reach the outcome.

5. Design your activities.

5. Using questions to frame your lessons will:

• give students a __________ for learning• keep the focus of attention on __________ rather

than covering points or completing activities• elicit __________views; cause students to

__________what they know• lead to __________ thinking • show students the value of __________ and

discussion for knowledge and understanding• introduce concepts that can __________ to other

areas of study

Questions lead students to the content, through the content, and finally to write about the content.

6. Looking at a

question-centered lesson

Theme: Life events

Skills:

• Reading- building reading fluency

• Vocabulary- using the dictionary

• Grammar- simple past with regular and irregular

verbs

• Writing- showing sequence

.

An essential question should:• be thought-provoking and grab the

attention of your students• have transfer value (to other content

areas)• link to prior knowledge• require core content that you will be

covering

--- Wiggins & McTighe

ESSENTIAL QUESTION:

What events change our lives?

LEARNING OUTCOME:

Write a paragraph about an event in your life.

Questions lead students to the contentNumber the important life events. In what order do they usually happen? Did any of these events happen to you recently? Discuss your answers with a partner.

got a job got married graduated from collegegraduated from high school started school moved to a different home was born

Discuss the question with your classmates:

What events change our lives?

Reading 1

In 1993, Greg Mortenson made a promise, and it changed his life completely. He promised to build a school in a small village in Pakistan. Before that, his dream was to climb the tallest mountains in the world. Now his dream is more challenging: to build schools.

In the summer of 1993, Mortenson started a very dangerous climb up K-2 in Pakistan. His dream was to climb to the top. Two thousand feet from the top of the mountain, a man in Mortenson’s group had an accident. As a result, Mortenson never reached his dream. He was extremely disappointed. During the trip down the mountain, he got lost in the snow. After many days, he found a tiny mountain village. He was exhausted and couldn’t walk.

The village residents of Korphe (kor-fe) welcomed him. They were very poor, but they took care of Mortenson for many months. The village didn’t have a teacher or a school. Mortenson decided to build a school for the village. He wanted to give a valuable gift to them—education. That decision changed his life.

[Reading text continues]

Questions lead students through the content.

Think about the Unit question, What events change our lives? Answer the questions. Then discuss your answers with a partner.

1. Which events happened in your life? Check the boxes. [List of boxes to check.]

2. Which event changed your life? When did this event happen? How did it change

your life?

Write a paragraph about an event in your life.

Students are led through the brainstorming, planning, and writing process. They are encouraged first to think again about the essential question, What events change our lives? They make a timeline about a personal event that was important, answer questions about the event, and then write.

How can I use this approach with the materials I have?

From Making Connections, McIntire & Williams

7. What is an essential question you can use in your classroom next week?

It should be:• be thought-provoking and grab the

attention of your students• have transfer value (to other content

areas)• link to prior knowledge• require core content that you will be

covering

Some useful resources

Review copies available. Please complete form.

Download copies of a version of these PowerPoint slides (minus copyrighted

materials) at

www.joemcveigh.org/resources

Thank you !