Setting the Q
Guidance for teachers - Ensuring an appropriate level of challenge
The Thinking Frames Approach tends not work with WHAT questions as they are too closed. To promote thinking skills associated with Science Level 3 and above teachers need to pose either a HOW or a WHY question.
Often, particularly with the younger children, teachers find it hard to choose the right wording for a question. Should this be the case then we have found that it is best to pose a pair of questions - E.g. What will happen when..? Why..? See the video for more details
The wording for the question is vital to ensure that it is pitched at a suitably challenging level. By applying an understanding of the Levels Mountain we can gain a 'gut feeling' as to suitable stem words to use within our questions.
Beth Bramall explains how she plans appropriate questions to offer an appropriate level of challenge to the different children in her class.
| National Curriculum Level | Appropriate literacy and/or thinking skill | Wording to help pose a suitable question |
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| 2 | Comparing, sorting & grouping |
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| 3 | Linking cause and effect |
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| 4 | Applying scientific vocabulary within a description or explanation |
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| 5 | Applying scientific ideas and concepts to offer an explanation of an unfamiliar context |
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| 6 | Justifying and/or analysing an explanation through the application of a scientific model |
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| 7 | Forming an explanation of a scientific phenomenon by synthesising two or more models (Key Ideas) from different areas of the curriculum |
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