036: Asking Good Questions [Part 1]

This episode kicks off a two-part series on one of the most powerful tools in your teacher toolbox: the questions you ask. Part 1 focuses on the purpose behind our questioning and the impact thoughtful questions can have on student participation, mathematical thinking, and classroom culture.

You’ll reflect on how intentional questioning can invite more voices into discussion, help students work through mistakes, and uncover deeper understanding. Together, we’ll examine simple but strategic ways to shift the way questions are used so they become a bridge to meaningful learning rather than a checkpoint for right or wrong answers.

Why Questions Matter in Math Classrooms

Hello again, Meaning-Makers. It’s Jillian here from Team Meaningful Math. What if I told you that today we’re going to begin exploring a topic that has the potential to completely change the dynamic of your classroom? That this single shift can actually give your math instruction a complete makeover? 

I know, you might be thinking, Jillian, what ONE thing could possibly have this much of an impact on my math instruction?” Well, the “one” thing I’m referring to is questions… specifically the questions we ask our students. 

Because this is such a loaded topic, we’re going to make it a two part discussion. Today, for Part 1, we are going to reflect on our purposes for asking questions and why asking our students questions is so important. Next week, for Part 2, we will explore the qualities of good questioning and how to plan for them. 

We have a lot to talk about today, so let’s dive right in! 

Moving Beyond Checking for Understanding

As elementary teachers, we know that our young learners are naturally curious. Their minds are like sponges, ready to absorb information. But beyond just feeding them facts, it’s our job to engage that curiosity and turn it into deeper learning. That’s where asking questions comes in.

Possibly the most evident and common reason teachers ask questions is to check for understanding. But there are so many other valuable reasons why we could, and should be asking questions. 

Using Open-Ended Questions to Invite Participation

One of the most impactful ways questions can be used is to invite students to participate in discussions. When we use questioning to increase student participation, we are sending the message that we expect everyone to be part of the discussion. 

Sample Questions That Lower the Barrier to Entry

In order to accomplish this, these questions will need to be open-ended and generic in nature. Surprisingly, these questions often don’t actually involve any math at all! 

For instance, when using a story problem to introduce a lesson, you might open up the discussion by asking your students, “What is the story mostly about?” “Who are the characters and what are the characters doing in the story?” “What do we know?” or “What are we trying to figure out?” 

These questions are low-risk and general enough that all students, even our students who may not be the most confident math learners, can access them. 

Encouraging Every Student to Contribute

Now, it is important that at this stage we do not allow students to opt out of the discussion, unless of course there is a pre-existing reason that would prevent them from doing so. If you happen to check in with a student who says, “I don’t know.” you can follow up by asking, “Ok, can you tell us something that you do know?” Or, you could choose to call on another student, then come back to the original student and ask them to restate that child’s answer in their own words. 

We get to send the message that we expect all students to be active participants in the class discussion and that their thinking is valued. 

Asking Questions to Help Students Get Unstuck

Another benefit of asking questions is to guide students’ thinking when they feel stuck, or to help them rethink their responses when they’ve made an error. 

Scaffolding Without Giving Too Much Away

When students don’t quite know how to get started with a problem, or don’t know how to move forward, we can strategically ask questions to help them work through it. When we don’t use questions to help our students get unstuck, we tend to substitute our own thinking for the student’s thinking. 

Or, sometimes we may accidentally provide the student too many hints. This can be problematic because once the student finally reaches the answer, they don’t have a full understanding of how they reached the answer. 

Instead, we can ask supporting questions to help a student get started or to help them become unstuck. For instance, we can ask, “What have you tried already?” “What steps have you taken?” “What did or didn’t work?” or “What strategies have you used?” 

We can even suggest strategies by saying something like, “What would a model of this problem look like?” or “Is there a math tool available that could help you?”

Using Questions to Uncover Math Misconceptions

What if a student isn’t necessarily stuck? They have solved the problem but have made a math error. We can ask questions to clarify what the misconception is. Sometimes when we ask a student to explain how they solved a problem, the student will catch their mistake in the explanation. 

Another favorite “go to” question of mine for this specific scenario is, “Is there a hidden question in the problem that means the solution needs more than one step?” 

Often we do not understand why students make the mistakes they do, or we cannot identify the logic for their answers. By asking more questions, we can understand and also help our students understand where their misunderstandings lie. 

Probing Student Thinking to Deepen Understanding

Asking questions is crucial if we want to probe students’ thinking or encourage them to extend their ideas. 

Asking the Right Questions After a “Correct” Answer

It’s important to understand that getting an answer right doesn’t necessarily mean a student has a complete understanding of the concept. It’s possible the student guessed, or happened to reach the correct solution using flawed reasoning. 

So asking questions such as, “Can you tell us more about that?” “How do you know?” “Can you prove your answer?” or “Will that work every time?” can reveal the depth of understanding the student has. 

Creating a Culture of Safe and Respectful Questioning

Before we end this conversation, I think it’s also important to note that our purpose in asking questions is never to catch students who aren’t paying attention or who truly don’t know the answer to a question. If we want to create a classroom culture in which all students feel safe to be an active participant and recognize that we value their thinking, our questions must be purposeful and we must also be respectful of our students’ developing ideas. 

Meaning-Makers, that’s all for today. I know it was a short episode, but we have laid a solid foundation for part two. Next week we’ll dig into what makes a question truly effective, and learn how open-ended questions can increase engagement, encourage rich discourse, and help uncover deeper mathematical understanding.

Until next time Meaning-Makers, have a great one!