QAR for the Primary Grades

We all know that the easiest way to increase student achievement is to improve instruction and questioning is the most powerful tool in our teaching repertoire.  The CCSS rely heavily on text-based evidence and higher-level thinking.  Questioning really builds the bridge between literal and inferential understanding and content knowledge.  

Recently, I read something about questioning that is based on Costa' work:

Well-structured questions include three parts: an invitation to think, a cognitive process and a specific topic.  “The order of the three parts may vary, but all three are necessary to formulate an effective question to promote thinking.”  This strategy is based on the work of Costa and the “Three Story Intellect.”  It is a very simple yet profound strategy for questioning.  How simple is that!

1. an invitation to think       "Penny, 

2. a cognitive process         can you explain in your own words

3. a specific topic               how you solved this problem?"

Here's a photo of a product I just posted on Teachers Pay Teachers on QAR for the Primary Grades.  

Right There Questions are in your hand questions - Students look closely with a magnifying glass for Think and Search Questions - Author and Me require thinking and On My Own come from the heart 

Increasing Instructional Rigor

Are you interested in increasing the instructional rigor of the lesson you teach and the tasks that students complete?  I just posted a Depth of Knowledge (DOK) Questioning Tool flip book on TPT.  This tool is based on Norman Webb's Depth of Knowledge that aligns with the rigorous expectations of the CCSS.  DOK has four levels: level 1 recall, level 2 skill/concept, level 3 strategic thinking and level 4 extended thinking. This flip book includes the DOK Expectations for Student Performance, the DOK Descriptors or verbs and the DOK question stems.  I really like how Depth of Knowledge aligns beautifully with both the CCSS and the Understanding by Design process.  When you study UbD, you learn that lessons, tasks and assessments are always designed to build understanding.  Acquire, making meaning and transfer are the three levels of understanding in UbD.  The same is very similar in Depth of Knowledge where acquire, use, and extend understanding are the three levels.  Just click on my TPT button and look for Depth of Knowledge (DOK) Questioning Tool.  This tool will be very useful for planning rigorous lessons, tasks and assessments for your students and as a tool for asking higher-level questions in class.  When I model DOK in classrooms, I make a copy of the tool for each group in the classroom to utilize during the lesson that I teach and for future lessons.  

Everyone loves stuff that is free.  You can download my first product on TPT for free or download it by clicking here.  It's titled,  DOK (Depth of Knowledge) in the Content Areas.  For each level of DOK and for each content area of English Language Arts, Writing, Math, Social Studies and Science, a variety of performance levels are provided.  For instance, under the Social Studies tab, you would go from...

                                        Level 1 Identify specific information

Level 2 Describe interpret or explain issues or problems 

                                        Level 3 Draw conclusions and cite evidence

                                        Level 4 Analyze and synthesize information from multiple sources

I hope you enjoy this product.  Let me know what you think!

Have a Ball with BLOOM'S Taxonomy!

I'm off school today so I'm trying to catch up on everything.  Consequently, I have posted two BLOOM with higher-level thinking products on TPT today.  The first one is BLOOM with Questioning blooms to hang up on an English Language Arts focus wall for reference.  In the photo below, notice the stems with the key words and the flower pots.  The stems are an editable resource and along with the pots are available free on www.sparklebox.co.uk.  If you aren't acquainted with Sparklebox, everything is free.  All you need is lots of white cardstock and access to a colored printer.  It's like free, one-stop shopping!

The second is a two for one product.  In Part 1, students construct a Bloom's Ball as a tool for creating higher-level questions.  I have used the Bloom's Ball many times with kids as I have modeled this activity in classrooms.  Part 2 is a performance task where students customize the 12 panels of the Bloom's Ball in response to reading a literary or non-fiction book.  Directions for this task are included and this performance task can be completed individually or as a group project.  I'd love to hear from you if you try these resources.

Completed Bloom's Ball

Putting the Panels Together