As teachers, we plan every part of our lesson. But, do you think about the questions you want to ask while planning to help you meet the goals of your lesson? In this post, I share four types of math questions and discuss the importance of thinking about the questions you want to ask during the lesson planning process.
Planning a single lesson can sometimes take hours. And, while we tend to be thoughtful about the activities we choose to do, we don’t always take time to make intentional decisions about what kind of math questions to use during the lesson.
It’s easy to think we know what math questions to ask when we’re teaching the lesson; however, if we don’t plan for the questions in advance, we may miss important opportunities to help our students make connections and understand the content on a deeper level.
Asking good math questions is essential to helping students make sense of math. When we make a plan for what questions to ask before the lesson begins, we take the time to consider how students will respond to the new material, what misconceptions students will develop, and what errors they will make. We can then use good math questions to address these areas.
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) states, “the effective teaching of mathematics uses purposeful questions to assess and advance students’ reasoning and sense making” (p. 35). This means the questions we use must provide opportunities for students to explain and reflect on their thinking to gain a deeper understanding of and make connections between math concepts and skills.
NCTM divides the types of questions teachers ask into four categories and recommends using all four types of questions during a lesson.
This type of question establishes what students know and requires them to recall facts, math terms, or procedures.
Examples of these types of questions include:
These questions draw out student thinking and require students to explain, clarify, or elaborate on their thinking. This type of question includes communication about the steps necessary to find a solution or complete a task.
Examples of these types of questions include:
This type of question provides opportunities for students to explore the structure of mathematics, connect mathematical ideas, and look for relationships between concepts.
Examples of these types of questions include:
These questions allow students to dig deeper and reveal their understanding of the concept or skill. They also allow students to highlight their reasoning and justify their actions.
Examples of these types of questions include:
The types of math questions we ask and the manner in which we ask them is essential to developing student understanding. It’s important we avoid funneling our questions, leading students to a predetermined procedure or outcome based on our thinking, and work toward focusing our questions to guide students using their own thinking and ideas.
As you prepare for your next lesson, be sure to make a plan for the questions you will ask and think through the way your students may respond so that you have appropriate follow-up questions.
Ready to get started? Download my good math questions guide using the form below.
What tools do you use to plan for purposeful math questions during math talk? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
NCTM (2014). Principles to actions: Ensuring mathematical success for all. NCTM: Reston, V.A.
