The art of asking a question

Have you even had that feeling, either during the middle of teaching or immediately after saying goodbye to a group of kids wearing befuddled looks on their faces, that maybe you are not getting through? This has happened to me more times than I care to admit. But similar to other shortfalls, I feel it is better to know you're missing the mark than to not.

So where to start? How to adjust?

I have found that a little self-reflection can go a long way. We as ELL teachers know we are constantly differentiating instruction. But are we differentiating our questions? Anyone familiar with the Socratic method of teaching and learning will tell you that the great bulk of learning is done through questioning.

The trick to asking questions to a group of multi-level learners is to understand the complexity of the question we are posing. Take a glance at Bloom's pyramid. Think of your questions as a ladder, you should start at the bottom if you don't want to tip over.

Want some more support with creating intentional questions? Take a look at this winner of a diagram!

Any questions? :)

Draw Write Color!

One of my all time favorite activities which I file under the heading "Laura's Go-to, no-prep needed, differentiated, all-subject, 5-minute, engaging, mini-lesson". I'd say that pretty much encompasses what it is all about.

Materials needed: scrap paper, pencils, crayons

1. Draw 1-5 lines on each paper (Kinde's get 1 line, upper grades get more)
2. Kids (and yourself- come on!) draw a picture in the blank space (maybe you want it on a certain topic, or simply a free-draw). Set a timer (2-3 minutes), stick to it.
3. Everyone write a few sentences (be clear on expectations) describing your drawing. I like to use sentence starters/stems with my younger grades ("In my picture I am..." "This picture shows..."). I also like having a white board handy to  quickly joy down proper spellings.
4. Color it in!
5. Share out, get and give positive feedback
6. I like stapling our pictures together with a construction paper cover to make simple class books.