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Session 2. Questioning and Participation

Objective. Upgrade weak questions into questions that start thinking, and pair each with a wait time and a routine in which every pupil responds.

Why this matters

A question is the cheapest tool a teacher owns, and the one most often wasted. Ask it quickly, take the first hand, and thirty-five pupils learn that thinking is optional. Ask it with a pause and a way for everyone to answer, and the same question wakes up the whole room. This session is about small changes in how you ask: the pause, the order of questions, what you do with a wrong answer, and a routine that needs only paper.

Key ideas

Why a few hands hide the many

When the first hand answers, the others learn that thinking is optional. The teacher also learns only what the quickest pupils know.
In a class of 36 and a 45-minute lesson, one-at-a-time answers give each pupil only a few seconds of speaking.
The aim is that every pupil thinks and responds often, even when only a few speak aloud.

Better questions

Closed questions have one short answer and suit warm-ups and recall. Open questions ask for reasons, comparisons or choices and make thinking visible.
Plan two or three key questions before the lesson and write them in your plan. Good questions are rarely invented on the spot.
Make the question specific: what to look at, how much to write, who to talk to. 'What did the author mean?' becomes 'Which word shows he is afraid?'

Wait time

After a question, teachers often wait about one second. Research by Mary Budd Rowe found that waiting three seconds or more leads to longer, better-reasoned answers and more pupils taking part.
Count silently 'one, two, three' in your head. Say 'Think first, I will not choose yet' so the silence feels planned, not awkward.
Wait again after an answer. A second pause often brings a fuller answer from the same pupil or a new voice.

Routines where everyone responds

Paper slips or mini-boards held up on 'three, two, one'; A, B, C, D cards; or a show of fingers 1 to 4 for answer choices. All need only paper and pens.
Think-pair-share: 20 seconds alone, 30 seconds with a partner, then a few pairs share. Everyone has spoken to someone before anyone speaks to the class.
When you do call on someone without a raised hand, give thinking time first and choose a pupil who has already written an answer. Use a warm tone, and accept 'pass, ask my partner'.

Question types at a glance

Type	Example	Best use
Recall	What is 6 x 7?	Quick warm-up; use all-student response
Explain	Why does ice melt faster on the dark stone?	Check understanding; pair first
Compare	How are the Syr Darya and Amu Darya alike and different?	Deeper thinking; use a two-column table
Choose and justify	Which method is faster for 48 + 29, and why?	Make reasoning visible; accept several answers
Predict	What will happen to the pond if there is no rain for a month?	Curiosity before a lesson or experiment

A question routine for everyone

1AskOne clear question

2Wait3 to 5 seconds, silent

3Think or pairAlone, then a partner

4Everyone respondsSlip, card or board

5Choose voicesRead a few, no names

Five moves, about one to two minutes in total.

What to do with a wrong answer

How you react to a wrong answer teaches the whole class whether it is safe to try. If you say 'no' and move on, pupils learn to stay silent. If you find the sensible part of the answer, name it, and then ask a follow-up, they learn that an attempt is useful.

Try three moves. Say what is right ('You are correct that the river is long'). Ask the pupil or a partner what would change the answer ('What happens near the mouth?'). Or put the wrong answer on the board as 'a common idea' and ask the class to test it. A wrong answer then becomes information for everyone, not a mistake of one child.

Build questions like steps

A good sequence starts with an easy question that nearly everyone can answer, then asks for an explanation, then asks for a comparison or a choice. Early success gets pupils talking; the later question makes them think.

For a lesson on the water cycle, you might ask first 'Where did the puddle go?', then 'What had to happen for the water to leave?', then 'Why is the air near the canal damper than in the courtyard?'. Write these three questions in your plan. When the first one is answered in silence, you know to go back a step before moving up.

Examples from the classroom

The slips in Grade 6

Scene. Jasur teaches Grade 6 Uzbek language in Fergana. He asks which words in a sentence are adjectives. Instead of calling on a hand, he gives 30 seconds and says, 'Write your two words on your slip.' Then pupils hold the slips up on 'three, two, one'. In ten seconds he sees that about a third have written a noun. He re-teaches with one more example before moving on.

Insight. An all-student response shows the whole class's understanding in seconds, not only the quick pupils'.

Waiting in Grade 8 chemistry

Scene. Malika asks her Grade 8 class in Tashkent why iron rusts faster near the sea. Nobody speaks. She wants to fill the silence but counts silently to five. A pupil, Sardor, says, 'Because of the salt in the air?' Another adds that rain makes it worse. Two more pupils join in. She says, 'Good, now check this with a partner,' and the room starts talking.

Insight. A few seconds of silence let slower thinkers get their idea ready; the answers that follow are fuller.

A wrong answer in Grade 4

Scene. Dilnoza asks her Grade 4 class in Samarkand how many sides a hexagon has. Aziz says, 'Five.' She does not say no. She says, 'Let us count together,' draws the shape and counts with the class. Aziz counts six and smiles. Later he volunteers again, because he was not made to feel foolish.

Insight. Treating a wrong answer as a step toward the answer keeps the pupil willing to try.

Common pitfalls

Asking 'Does everyone understand?' and treating nodding as proof.
Calling on the first hand every time, so the same few pupils do all the thinking.
Filling the silence yourself after one second and giving the answer.
Using cold calling as a punishment or a surprise instead of a safe routine with thinking time.

Hands-on activity · ~40 min

Upgrade the Question

In groups of four, take the 8 question cards from the Activity Kit. Each card shows a weak question a teacher really might ask.
For each card decide in one phrase what is weak: closed, too big, vague, guessable, shaming or not tied to the objective. Write it on the back.
Rewrite five of the questions so that they start thinking. For each, add the wait time (in seconds) and the response routine (slip, card, pair) you will use.
Swap with another group. Read their rewrite and mark each with a tick (starts thinking) or a question mark (still unclear). Discuss any question mark for two minutes and fix it.

Your facilitator will guide you through this activity in the session.

Questions to discuss

Which rewrite changed the thinking the most? What did you change in it?
In your own classroom, which routine can you use tomorrow without any new materials?
How will you handle a wrong answer so that the pupil keeps taking part?

Reflect

How long do you usually wait after a question? Ask a colleague to count it in one of your lessons.
Who answers most in your class, and who has not spoken aloud this week?
What do you say when an answer is wrong? Does the pupil want to try again next time?

Try it tomorrow

In one lesson, ask three planned questions, count silently to three before choosing anyone, and note whether new voices appear.
Use paper slips or A, B, C, D cards for one check of understanding, and write down how many pupils had the right answer.
When the next wrong answer comes, name the sensible part and ask one follow-up question before correcting.