Ask, Don't Tell: A Guide to Great Questions
๐ฏ Learning objectives
After this article, you should be able to:
- Tell the difference between closed and open questions
- Use wait time instead of giving answers
- Follow up with questions that deepen thinking
Children ask about a hundred questions an hour. Adults, meanwhile, ask the wrong kind. Here is how to make your questions count.
Closed vs open questions
| Closed (one word answer) | Open (thinking answer) |
|---|---|
| "Is this rock heavy?" | "What do you notice about this rock?" |
| "Do plants need water?" | "What do you think would happen if we never watered this plant?" |
| "Is the boat floating?" | "Why do you think the boat floats but the coin sinks?" |
Open questions have no single right answer โ so there is nothing to be "wrong" about. That is what makes them safe to think about.
Wait time: the hardest skill
After you ask, count to five in your head. Children need time to think. Most adults answer their own question after two seconds โ and the child learns to wait for the answer instead of making one.
The magic follow-up
Whatever the child answers, say the four most powerful words in teaching:
"What makes you think that?"
It works for right answers, wrong answers and wild answers. It turns a guess into reasoning.
More question starters
- What would happen ifโฆ?
- How could we find outโฆ?
- What is the same aboutโฆ and โฆ?
- What would you change to make it better?
- What else could we try?
Never fear "I don\'t know"
The best answer a child can give is "I don\'t know โ yet". Model it yourself. Then say: "How could we find out together?" That is the entire scientific method in one sentence.
Practise right away with one of our inquiry lessons.
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