Using Focused Questioning to Increase Student Engagement

Written by Anna Cychowski, 7th & 8th Grade Science Teacher

Student Engagement: Centering your lesson around a focused question & varied methods of investigation.

I use two-day cycles in the classroom in order to both establish a routine students are comfortable working in and to make sure content is being covered fully through exploration, redirection of misconceptions and practice. Each of my two-day cycles starts with a question. Questions are basically just SWBAT objectives written in a student-friendly, question format.  Some questions are more interesting or enticing than others, but they get the students excited for the lesson. More often than not. I have students itching to share what they think the answer is and arguing with one another about scientific concepts before class even starts (aka my dream come true).

Example:  Does water ever disappear?

Class opens with the question after the Do Now. While I circulate to check Do Now’s, students write their question in their notebook, then skip some space underneath. This skipped space is for students to add thoughts they have or evidence that helps them answer the question at the end of day one and two of the cycle.

Day one begins our exploration and individual reflection in the cycle.  For our exploration of the example question, students looked at a series of pictures of steps in the water cycle without knowing what they were, I asked the students to put them in order and write what happened to make each step transition into the next in their groups. Afterwards students answered a series of scaffolded reflection questions and I circulated to check for misconceptions as well as guide student thinking. Day one closes out with students going back to the question of the day section in their notebook and jotting down what they think the answer is based on the knowledge they acquired or what they observed that day.

Day two is our clearing up misconceptions and practice day. For our “Does water ever disappear?” lesson, students read a short article about the water cycle. In the article they underlined what they already knew from yesterday, and circled any information new to them.  Afterwards, they constructed a water cycle model for their notes. At the end of class, students completed an exit ticket, then went back to their notebook to write their final answer for the question of the day.

In order to push engagement even more, I plan to share the best QOTD responses for each class at the end of the week. Not only will this allow students to see each other’s final answers, it will better identify for them what their written responses should look like.