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Session 2. Driving Questions That Work
Objective. Turn a textbook topic into a driving question that is open, researchable with local evidence, linked to the standard and interesting to students, and test it with four checks.
A lesson can have good materials and clear steps and still feel pointless to students if nobody knows why they are doing it. A driving question answers that. It also decides whether students will need evidence, or only a memory. In this session you will practise turning a topic into a question that is open, local, linked to the standard and the right size for your timetable, and you will learn to test it quickly before the lesson.
Key ideas
What a driving question does
- A driving question gives the lesson a reason: students know why they measure, read or compare. It replaces the sentence 'today we learn about ...' with a question they want to answer.
- It is not the same as a quiz question. A quiz question has one right answer you already know; a driving question needs evidence and a reasoned answer.
- PBLWorks and teachers who use it describe good driving questions as open, engaging and tied to the learning goals. Use that as a start for inquiry lessons of any size.
Four checks: Open, Evidence, Standard, Interest
- Open: can it be answered in one word, or by one fact? If yes, it is closed. Evidence: can students collect the data in 1-2 lessons with materials you have?
- Standard: does answering it reach the outcome in your unit? Interest: would a Grade 6 student in your village care about the answer?
- Use the four checks as a short list: tick or cross each. A question with two crosses is not ready; rewrite it before the lesson.
From topic to question: three moves
- Move 1: find something local. Instead of 'Water cycle', look for a canal, a rainy day, a dry puddle. Move 2: add a decision or a comparison: 'which', 'how much', 'what happens if'.
- Move 3: size it to the time. 'Why did the Aral Sea shrink?' is too large for 45 minutes; 'How much water does our class use in a day?' fits one or two lessons.
- The Question Formulation Technique from the Right Question Institute lets students produce questions, improve them and pick priorities. Try it when you want students to own the question.
Try it in your next lessons
- Rewrite the title of one lesson in your next unit as a driving question and write it on the board before students enter. Check it with the four checks.
- Evidence to bring back: at the start, ask students to write one thing they would like to find out; at the end, how far the question got answered. Keep the board photo or a copy of the question.
- Ask one colleague to read the question and tell you in their own words what students must do. If they cannot, simplify.
From topic to driving question
Why closed questions stop the thinking
A closed question has one short correct answer, so the first student who knows it ends the thinking for everyone. 'What is the largest river in Central Asia?' is closed. 'Where does the water of our canal come from, and what would happen to our fields if it came 10 days later?' cannot be answered by a single fact; students must find out, compare and decide.
Open does not mean vague. 'Is water important?' is open but gives students nothing to do. A good driving question is open in the answer and specific in the task.
Sizing and testing a question
Many strong questions fail because they are too large. Try the size test: can students collect the evidence in one or two lessons with materials you can get? If not, narrow the place, the time or the group: 'in our village', 'for one week', 'in our class'. Put your question through the four checks and ask a colleague to say it back in their own words.
When students write questions themselves, as in the Question Formulation Technique, keep the steps short: produce, improve, choose. Students' own questions raise interest, but you still check them against the standard before the lesson goes ahead.
Examples from the classroom
The tree in the school yard
Scene. Malika, Grade 5 science, Samarkand, has a unit on plants. Her first question, 'What is a plant?', fails the open check. She walks round the yard with students and notices a mulberry tree and a wall without sun. The new question is 'Where in our yard should the school plant a bean bed, and how do we know?'. Groups compare light and soil over three days.
Insight. A local anchor turns a topic into a decision that needs evidence.
Water in Khorezm
Scene. Jasur teaches Grade 8 geography in Urgench. 'Why did the Aral Sea shrink?' is too large for one lesson. He keeps the link to the standard but narrows the scale: 'How much water does our class use in a day, and what would one litre per person per day add up to in a year?'. Students count cups, washing and cooking over one evening and multiply.
Insight. Narrowing the scale keeps the standard and makes evidence collectable.
Fractions at the bazaar
Scene. Dilnoza, Grade 5 mathematics, Tashkent, changes 'Add fractions' to 'How can three families share two big flatbreads so that everyone is happy?'. Groups cut paper circles, record different fair ways, and check each other's. After 20 minutes they connect their cuts to the textbook's fraction notation. Her colleague reads the question back as 'Share two breads fairly among three', which shows it is clear.
Insight. A good question has an everyday problem inside and still reaches the textbook idea.
Common pitfalls
- Writing the question after the lesson plan is finished, as a title, so it does not drive any activity.
- Choosing a question you cannot afford: it needs materials or time that the class does not have.
- Making the question so open that students do not know what to do first.
- Using a question that has an answer in the book, so the best strategy is to look it up.
Rewrite the Weak Questions
- Read the eight question cards in your Activity Kit (various subjects and grades). Alone (5 min): tick the four checks for each card and circle the failed check.
- In pairs (12 min): choose any four cards and rewrite them so that they pass all four checks, using the three moves (local, decision, size). Write the evidence students would collect.
- In groups of four (13 min): each person brings a topic from their next unit. Use the Question Formulation steps on paper: write 6 questions in 3 minutes, mark each open or closed, change two, then choose the best one.
- As a whole group (10 min): each group reads its best question; the others test it with the four checks by showing 1-4 fingers. Record the final version for your plan.
Your facilitator will guide you through this activity in the session.
Questions to discuss
- Which of the four checks failed most often in the weak questions, and why?
- How did making the question local change what the evidence could be?
- Which part of your own unit is hardest to turn into a question, and what could you try?
Reflect
- Which questions do you usually ask at the start of a lesson, and how many are closed?
- What local thing near your school could anchor a question this month?
- What would you do if students ask a question you cannot answer?
Try it tomorrow
- Turn the title of one lesson into a driving question and test it with the four checks.
- Read the question aloud to a colleague and ask what students must do. If they cannot say it, simplify.
- At the start ask each student to write one thing they want to find out; at the end, how far you got.
Further reading and links
A good driving question is open, needs evidence you can collect, reaches the standard and matters to students.