Questioning

We went from rainbows to shadows in our class. I had been looking for a more focused opportunity to practice developing various levels of questioning rather than just quickly thinking of some as I went. It is a task that requires practice so I was happy when my coworker asked if I could help her come up with some questions to ask our students about shadows. I tried not to overthink and applied the knowledge I gained in school as I would on the spot while in the classroom. Here are the questions I came up with. I felt that they covered concepts of gathering, processing, and applying. What levels from Arthur Costa’s Model of Intellectual Functioning do you think these fall in?

Shadow questions:

• If you were a shadow where would you go when you aren’t on the ground?

• Where do shadows go when we cannot see them?

• Can we feel light?

• Where does light come from?

• Do light and shadows play together?

• Can we put together our shadows to make different shadows?

• What would school be like if we didn’t have any light?

• Can we make light? How?

• Why are shadows the color they are?

• Can we make shadows in other colors?

• Can we make a picture out of shadows and light?