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.

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.

Are your primary maths lessons too quiet? Ahead of her upcoming workshop on strengthening talk in primary maths, NACE associate Sarah Carpenter explains why effective discussions are key to deepening and extending learning in this core subject. 
 
Often there’s an assumption that primary mathematics is about numbers, concepts, operations – and not about language. But developing the language of maths and the ability to discuss mathematical problems is essential to help learners explore, reflect on and advance their understanding.
 
This is true for learners of all abilities. But for more able mathematicians in particular, regular opportunities to engage in talk about maths can hold the key to deeper, more secure understanding. Moving away from independent, paper-based work and the tunnel-vision race to the answer, discussion can be used to extend and deepen learning, refocus attention on the process, and develop important analytical, reflective and creative skills – all of which will help teachers to provide, and learners to be ready for, the next challenge.
 
If you’re still not sure why or how to use discussions effectively in your primary mathematics lessons, here are five reasons that will hopefully get you – and your learners – talking about maths… 

1. Spoken language is an essential foundation for development. 

This is recognised in the national curriculum: “The national curriculum for mathematics reflects the importance of spoken language in pupils’ development across the whole curriculum – cognitively, socially and linguistically. The quality and variety of language that pupils hear and speak are key factors in developing their mathematical vocabulary and presenting a mathematical justification, argument or proof.” – National curriculum in England, Department for Education, 2013
 
Or to put this another way, when else would we expect learners to write something if they cannot say it? As Anita Straker writes: “Sadly, children are frequently expected to write mathematics before they have learned to imagine and to discuss, and those who do not easily make connections are offered more pencil and paper work instead of vital talk and discussion. Yet in other subjects it would be unthinkable to ask children to write what they cannot say.” – Anita Straker, Talking Points in Mathematics, 1993

2. Practice is needed for fluency… 

… and fluency is what the new SATs expect – not only in numbers and operations, but in the language of mathematics as well. For mathematical vocabulary to become embedded, learners need to hear it modelled and have opportunities to practise using it in context. More able learners are often particularly quick to spot links between mathematical vocabulary and words or uses encountered in other spheres – providing valuable opportunities for additional discussion which can help to embed the mathematical meaning alongside others.
 
Free resource: For assistance in introducing the right words at the right stage to support progress in primary maths, Rising Stars’ free Mathematical Vocabulary ebook provides checklists for Years 1 to 6, aligned with the national curriculum for mathematics.

3. Discussion deepens and extends mathematical thinking. 

The work of researchers including Zoltan Dienes, Jerome Bruner, Richard Skemp and Lev Vygotsky highlights the importance of language and communication in enabling learners to deepen and extend their mathematical thinking and understanding. Beyond written exercises, learners need opportunities to collaborate, explain, challenge, justify and prove, and to create their own mathematical stories, theories, problems and questions. Teachers can support this by modelling the language of discussion (“I challenge/support your idea because…”); using questioning to extend thinking; stimulating discussion using visual aids; and building in regular opportunities for paired, group and class discussions.

4. Talk supports effective assessment for learning. 

More able learners often struggle to articulate their methods and reasoning, often replying “I did it in my head” or “I just knew”. This makes it difficult for teachers to accurately assess the true depth of their understanding. Focusing on developing the skills and language to discuss and explain mathematical processes helps teachers gain a clearer picture of each learner’s current understanding, and provide appropriate support and challenge. This will be an ongoing process, but a good place to start is with a “prior learning discussion” at the beginning of each new maths topic, allowing learners to discuss what they already know (or think they know) and what they want to find out.

5. Discussion helps higher attainers refocus on the process. 

More able mathematicians often romp through learning tasks, focusing on reaching the answer as quickly as possible. Discussion can help them to slow down and refocus on the process, reflecting on their existing knowledge and understanding, taking on others’ ideas, and strengthening their conceptual understanding. This slowing down can be further encouraged by starting with the answer rather than the question; asking learners to devise their own questions; pairing learners to work collaboratively; using concept cartoons to prompt discussion of common misconceptions; and moving away from awarding marks only for the final solution.
 
During her 20-year career in education, Sarah has taken on a variety of roles in the early years and primary sectors, including classroom teaching, deputy headship and local authority positions. After a period as literacy and maths consultant for an international company, she returned to West Berkshire local authority, where she is currently school improvement adviser for primary maths and English. As a NACE associate, Sarah supports schools developing their provision for more able learners, leading specialised seminars, training days and bespoke CPD.

At last term’s NACE member meetup at the National Maritime Museum, attendees had the opportunity to exchange approaches and resources to support working in depth for more able learners. From the plethora of fantastic ideas exchanged on the day, here are seven to try in your school…

1. Going SOLO

NACE associate Heather Clements opened the discussion with an overview of SOLO Taxonomy, and several attendees also shared examples of how their schools are using SOLO. Ideas included showing the SOLO verbs on class walls with colour-coding by taxonomy stage, to develop learners’ language and motivate them to move up a level, and incorporating the taxonomy in marking webs at the start and end of units.

2. TED breakfast club

Shared by Rachel Bellfield at Capital City Academy, this breakfast club provides a filling and stimulating start to the day – with mental fodder provided in the form of subject-related TED talk recordings. Participating learners make notes in a journal, keeping a record of links to their lesson-time learning.

3. Oxplore.org

Recommended by a number of NACE members, this website run by the University of Oxford aims to engage 11-18 year olds in complex ideas and debates that go beyond their school curriculum. Users can take on the site’s “Big Questions”, watch videos, test their knowledge, join live online events, and pose their own questions.

4. Really short stories

To challenge learners to focus on the quality of their vocabulary and precision of language use, Fran Pett at John Ruskin Primary school suggested giving tight parameters for written tasks – such as a 16-word limit for short stories, or a maximum number of sentences per paragraph.

5. Headteachers’ challenge

At Oakleigh House school, learners are challenged each week to take on the headteachers’ challenge, posted up on the Aim High board. Responses are shared in an assembly, with outstanding work showcased on the board.

6. Questioning for parents

To help parents and carers develop their use of questioning, Salcombe Preparatory School runs workshops on this topic, featuring practical demonstrations by staff and students. These events are supported by a booklet on questioning for parents and carers, and aligned with other events for maximum reach.

7. Model United Nations

Finally, Nathan Wooding at Edge Grove Preparatory School recommended participation in the Model United Nations as an inspiring and engaging way for learners to develop a whole range of skills, including independent learning, project work, research, critical thinking and negotiation.

How does your school support working in depth? Add a comment below to share your ideas.