At last term’s NACE member meetup, hosted by The Science Museum, attendees shared tried-and-tested approaches to using questioning effectively to challenge all learners in science. Spanning all phases, and applicable across other subject areas, here are 10 ideas to try in your own classroom…

1. “Tinker time”

Rhian Roberts, Science Lead at Thomson House School, outlined the use of “tinker time” – time for learners to explore the question: “What do you know already?” As well as allowing teachers to assess current understanding and misconceptions to inform future planning, Rhian notes that this also allows pupils to take ownership of their learning, share knowledge with peers, and ask their own questions to move their learning forward.

A similar approach is used at Hydesville Tower School, where learners are prompted to list questions at the start of a new unit. Questions are then shared with peers for up-levelling using Bloom’s Taxonomy, and displayed to be addressed as the unit progresses. The impact, says Science Leader David Burnham, has included “increased ownership of learning, greater engagement, higher thought processes and a raised awareness of the broader scientific field.”

2. Question starters

At Ysgol Gyfun Garth Olwg, sentence stems are used to help learners develop increasingly challenging questions. For example, they might work as group to generate questions based on a photograph, using the following stems:

• Why do you think…?
• Can you explain why…?
• What evidence can you find…?
• Are there any other ways you could…?
• How successful was…?

Groups then swap questions and suggest answers to those posed by their peers. Dr Nia Griffiths, Head of Science, says this approach has led to higher engagement and longer-lasting focus on the task, as well as developing independent learning skills.

3. Solo exploration, double-up, present

At Invicta Grammar School, a three-stage process is used to answer a set of questions, shared out across the class. First, learners work independently on the questions they’ve been given, with support and resources available to develop a detailed response and identify potential discrepancies. They then pair up, collaborating to develop responses further. Finally, they present their work to the whole class, speaking as the “expert” on the questions they have investigated.

“Having worked on two sets of questions, students are doing almost twice as much work in the time available,” says Assistant Director of Science Charlotte McGivern. “They also develop skills to support one another, and the ability to articulate their answers fully.” She recommends jotting down prompters on post-it notes to share with learners during the first stage, helping them to fully explore each question.

4. “Phone a friend”

Peer support is also used at Bardfield Academy, where learners are encouraged to “phone a friend” to help them answer a question in more depth. Science Coordinator Heather Weston says this has meant learners feel more confident about asking for support, as well as providing opportunities for more able learners to share and develop their understanding by explaining difficult concepts to their peers.

To implement this effectively, Heather recommends encouraging learners to attempt to answer the question themselves first, using the “phone” option as a secondary measure to add depth and detail. She also suggests discussing the approach with more able learners separately to ensure they are ready and willing to be the “friend” at the end of the line.

5. Pose, pause, pounce, bounce

This four-stage approach to questioning was shared by Louise Mayhook, a member of the science department at The Bromfords School and Sixth Form College. First, pose a question to the class. Next: pause. Ask students to think, think again, write down and refine their response. Once the tension has mounted… pounce! Choose a student to share his/her answer and pause again to allow time for this. Finally, bounce: ask another student to comment on the first response.

Louise explains that this strategy embeds the effective use of thinking time, encourages learners to make notes (freeing up working memory), extends thinking, and challenges learners to listen closely to peers in order to build upon others’ ideas and develop a shared response.

6. Bouncing questions

Returning to Invicta Grammar School, here again questions are “bounced” from learner to learner – starting with a fairly simple question, and moving up through increasing levels of challenge towards synoptic questions that link with other areas of study. Biology teacher Hannah Gorski explains that this approach helps to build confidence and teamwork, while allowing the more able to develop and verbally consolidate their understanding of challenging concepts and links between them.

In a similar approach, Burton Borough School also “bounces” questions around the class. This time, learners prepare their own questions to ask peers. The first student chooses another to respond, who answers and in turn chooses the next. The school’s Jeremy Price notes that this approach has supported the development of strong subject knowledge and enjoyment, with learners motivated to come up with challenging questions for their classmates.

7. What happened first?

At Charterhouse Square School, learners are challenged to identify the correct order of events in science-related timelines. Given a set of milestone scientific achievements, discoveries and inventions, learners discuss their ideas about which happened first, providing arguments to back up their chronology. For an example of this, the school’s Amie Dickinson recommends the electrical inventions timeline game available via The Ogden Trust website.

In a similar vein, Science Coordinator Damian Cook shared an example from Oliver House School in which learners are challenged to analyse the elements of a food chain, answering the following questions:

• Why do you think this animal has been so successful at being at the top of the chain?
• What would it take for this animal to lose its position at the top?
  

For an additional challenge, learners are asked to consider which animal the top predator had evolved from, providing evidence to support their answer. Damian notes that once learners become accustomed to this approach, “they start to think like scientists and stretch their minds, which benefits their other studies – I hope!”

8. Visual prompts

The use of visual prompts alongside challenging questioning was a recurrent theme at the meetup. Shona Butler, Science Lead at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, shared the Explorify website as a useful source of engaging images and videos to prompt questions and discussion. She says this approach has helped learners develop confidence in considering a range of ideas, explaining their ideas and justifying their responses.

The Basildon Academies’ Michael Frempong and Hayley Richards – Heads of Science for the Lower and Upper Academies respectively – also advocated the use of pictures or objects to stimulate thinking and discussion. They noted that this allows all learners to contribute, while providing ample scope for learners to ask their own questions – of the objects, the teacher and each other.

9. “Fact first” questioning

To challenge learners to think in more depth about a subject, Drapers’ Academy’s Luxy Thanabalasingham shared the “fact first” approach – starting by giving learners a fact and challenging them to investigate further by generating “how” and “why” questions. Learners may work independently or in pairs, progressing to share their questions and ideas with the wider group. This is an effective way to move on from simple factual questions, Luxy says, encouraging learners to develop their higher-order thinking skills.

10. Write your own exam question

Finally, Weston Favell Academy’s Charlotte Heffernan shared her use of an activity in which learners are challenged to create their own exam questions and accompanying mark schemes. To get started, she suggests providing an answer and asking learners to suggest the question, or providing a question and asking learners to create the mark scheme.

Learners could also be challenged to create questions appropriate for different ability levels, considering what the examiner would be looking for and how key skills and knowledge could be assessed. This approach allows for self-differentiation, Charlotte notes, and has improved learners’ independence in answering questions.

Member resources

• Webinar: Effective questioning in science
• Webinar: Science capital: putting the research into practice
• NACE Essentials: Realising the potential of more able learners in GCSE science
• NACE Essentials: Using SOLO Taxonomy to increase challenge in the classroom
  

To access these resources, log in to our members’ site.

Published earlier this term (exclusively available to NACE members), the NACE Essentials guide to realising the potential of more able learners in GCSE science offers guidance for science leaders and teachers seeking to improve the quality of challenge in their lessons. In this excerpt, guide author Ed Walsh shares 10 “killer questions” all science departments should consider when reviewing provision for those capable of attaining the highest grades in the subject.

1. How close is the relationship between objectives and questions used in lessons and the outcomes and command words used in the exam specifications?

If the former are dominated by stems such as “know” and “understand”, how well will learners be prepared to answer higher-order exam questions with stems such as “suggest” and “justify”?

2. How are learners being encouraged to apply ideas to novel contexts?

It isn’t necessarily the case that topics should start with concepts and then progress to application; in some cases, application may be a good way to introduce a topic and develop ideas.

3. Are learners presented with evidence to analyse?

What opportunities do they have to engage with something such as a diagram or graph to make sense of and interpret? 

4. What common cause is being made with maths?

What might be learned if a science teacher were to observe more able learners being taught maths, and the maths teacher then to see them in science?

5. Are maths skills being ramped up?

It’s worth deconstructing stretch and challenge questions in terms of the maths skills and then thinking through how to teach these. As well as having mastery of individual skills, students need to be able to select and combine skills.

6. Is a good range of types of high-level questions being used?

Make sure these are not solely based on understanding complex ideas. When asking higher-level questions you can increase challenge by altering the stem of the question, broadening the range of command words you use. You can also ask for a longer response, possibly one that requires linking ideas from different parts of the subject.

7. Is the teacher modelling effective practice in answering extended questions?

Can students recognise such a question, and plan a structure and approach to answering it? Try modelling the construction of a high-quality response, showing how you select key terms, structure the writing and ensure it matches what the examiner is looking for.

8. How effectively is assessment data being used to identify development areas?

How well can learners complete the sentence “To get a good result in science I need to focus on…”? What’s guiding their revision?

9. How has data from the summer 2018 series been used to identify development areas?

It should be possible to interrogate candidate performance to answer questions such as “How well did high-attaining learners in my school cope with AO2 questions and how does this compare with the national picture?”

10. How well does KS3 prepare students for GCSE science?

Is the KS3 course doing its job in terms of getting more able learners to be “GCSE-ready”? How well does it support able learners to master key ideas, understand how to investigate various phenomena and use skills from other parts of the curriculum such as working numerically and developing written responses?

Read more…

• Log in to our members’ site for the full NACE Essentials guide to realising the potential of more able learners in GCSE science. 
• Not yet a member? Find out more.

1. Would it be better if we all spoke the same language?

2. Should celebrities influence you more than your parents?

3. Should you believe the history books?

4. Do humans need religion?

Earlier this year, NACE member and Challenge Award holder The Broxbourne School was named one of nine schools selected to lead regional language hubs across England, supporting the new Centre of Excellence for Modern Languages. In this blog post, MFL teacher Alison Pateman shares some of the school’s keys to success in promoting the study of and high attainment in modern languages.

1. Make pupils secure… but keep them on their toes!

At The Broxbourne School we achieve this by combining routine with new elements. Our learners know their teacher will begin a new unit by teaching them the necessary vocabulary and grammar and allowing them to write it down in their books. But exactly how the new language will be presented, practised and consolidated is very varied, so they don’t know what to expect next. All our MFL teachers use a mixture of their own techniques and games, in-house-made SMART Notebook files, PowerPoints and worksheets, alongside engaging materials we have on subscription. Songs are fun and a great way to make words stick, while puzzle-making programmes like Tarsia challenge learners think that bit harder, again aiding memory.

2. Encourage learners to be creative

There are endless ways to present, practise and explore languages. Our Year 7 learners produced some wonderful pipe cleaner bugs to practise present tense verb forms. Old kitchen roll cardboard interiors are another good prop – challenge learners to move rings of paper independently of each ring to manipulate language into sentences. The origami paper finger game lends itself to all sorts of language activities. Equally, learners enjoy being creative with scenarios – for example, the Year 8 pupil who wrote her German homework as a series of social media posts, or those who wrote about the weather as a cartoon strip. Meanwhile Year 8 French pupils enjoyed playing a “blame game” to practise all forms of the perfect tense.

3. Celebrate languages outside the classroom

Last year saw our first ever MFL House Quiz, in which learners faced rounds testing their linguistic and cultural knowledge of the countries where our offered languages are spoken. We always celebrate the European Day of Languages (EDL), when all form tutors promote the importance of language learning – for example by taking the register with responses in a foreign language and wearing badges to show which languages they speak. Last year learners looked around the school for EDL posters with greetings in 10 different languages, competing for a prize if they could work out which was which. 

4. Grab a slice of the action on PSHE days

Languages are a part of the autumn term Year 8 PSHE day when all learners spend 30 minutes learning an entirely new language, mostly offered by teachers who normally teach other subjects.  Last year beginners’ sessions were offered in Russian, Afrikaans, Portuguese, Spanish or Greek. In the summer, we have an entire day dedicated to French. Learners visit a recreation of a French café (complete with French food, drink and music), complete quizzes, make posters of Francophone countries and prepare for an afternoon performance of “Les Trois Mousquetaires”.

5. Make life-long memories abroad

All our learners who study German have the opportunity to participate in an exchange to Schopfheim in southwest Germany, and to host their German partner on the return visit. Towards the end of the summer term Years 7 and 10 go on a cultural and study trip to France. The Italian students are offered study trips in the summer and autumn terms to Urbania, where they stay with local families, attend language lessons and do cultural activities.

Alison Pateman is a member of the MFL department at The Broxbourne School, a NACE member and Challenge Award-accredited secondary school and sixth form in Hertfordshire. She has been an MFL teacher for 25 years. She teaches French and German and has a particular interest in teacher and pupil creativity in language learning.

As schools across the UK celebrate Libraries Week (8-13 October), NACE Associate Judith Mason outlines seven approaches to ensuring more able readers are effectively challenged and supported.

Reading provides a wide range of opportunities to challenge more able learners and there’s certainly an abundance of wonderful books to share and explore. In my visits to schools I’ve been able to see some great teaching that has really inspired children to read and challenged their thinking. Here are my thoughts on some of the strategies that seem to work well in providing challenge in reading…

1. Cultivate independent reading for pleasure

For all children, it’s important to foster a love for reading. Children who enjoy reading are more likely to read well. And developing reading for pleasure and positive attitudes to reading is part of the English National Curriculum. There are lots of ways to encourage readers – and some ways that can put them off! Even our more able readers might sometimes enjoy re-reading an old favourite that seems rather easy for them. Of course, there can be enjoyment in tackling something harder and we need to encourage that too. Give them some choice – but also give them recommendations to extend the range of reading and try something new.

2. Select quality texts to teach reading

Choosing the right texts is really important. Again, we need to consider texts that will appeal to the children and provide motivation for reading, especially if they have to dig deeper into the meaning. Select texts with multiple challenge opportunities – through the theme or subject matter (which may be outside the children’s direct experience), the complexity of the sentence construction, unfamiliar vocabulary, narrative style, the organisation of the text or the visual features. By recognising the potential to explore these different opportunities, we can provide challenge for our more able readers – and also ensure that we give the right support for all readers to make sense of more challenging texts. Think about the different opportunities for learning, not only what must be learned.

3. Ask authentic questions

In discussion about a text, there is an opportunity to explore different ideas and views and to ask children to give their reasons for them. It can help to start the discussion with a really good, genuine question. Value and encourage different responses – though you can challenge them too.

4. Develop dialogue about reading

Encourage children to think about the ideas and views of others. Act as a “conductor” to build exchanges between them that develops thinking. Ask one child to respond to another, to add a comment or to ask another question. As teachers, we can add information into the discussion to develop knowledge and understanding, as well as asking our own questions in response to children’s comments. Deeper comprehension is more likely to be developed in this way than through written answers to a list of questions with little discussion.

5. Develop independent reading strategies

To read more challenging texts independently, children need to use a range of strategies and even more able readers may need to be taught how to use them. For example, it may help them to visualise what is happening where there is a lot of different information, to summarise to make sense of longer passages or to use prediction to develop the skill of inference.

6. Provide different ways to explore and respond to reading

Drama is often a great way to explore texts in depth, for example a character’s feelings or motivation at different points in the narrative. It can also be a great way to try using unfamiliar language. It can also be helpful to give children some choice in the way they respond to a text, through their own art, creative writing, film or on-screen presentation. 

7. Provide guidance for parents/carers

We often provide guidance for parents/carers to help their children when they are first developing as readers. Older and more able readers are then sometimes left to read on their own. This of course can be fine and it’s a joy to see children engrossed in a book, laughing to themselves at the humour or turning the pages as quickly as they can to find out what happens next. But just as dialogue about reading is good in the classroom, it can also be helpful at home. Providing some discussion points for parents – or for the children to use with their parents – is another helpful strategy.

Finally, be ambitious for all children. Present challenge opportunities that they can all access. They may surprise you!

NACE is proud to be supporting the School Library Association (SLA)'s Great School Libraries campaign – a three-year campaign dedicated to raising the profile of school libraries. Find out more here.