I’ve found that students don’t always know how to ask questions in class discussions, especially questions of one another. But, they can learn this skill. I’ve prepared the following that I now distribute to my students. It’s proven quite helpful.

When a classmate offers an insight during a discussion…

…listen. Really Listen. Jot down at least one insight that resonated with you and ask yourself why it resonated with you.

Ask follow-up questions like…

• I found this insight particularly interesting (mention the insight and why you think it was interesting). Could you share more about why you mentioned this?

• I would love to hear more of your thoughts about ___________. Have you done any additional thinking about this? If so, could you share that with us?

• You gave a great example of __________________ to illustrate your point about ________________. Have you seen other examples that also illustrate that point.  

• I want to be sure I understood you correctly about ________________ (restate the insight in your own words). Am I understanding your meaning? If not, can you help me understand better?

• When you picture (mention the insight) playing itself out in the future, what does that look like to you?

• How might you use this insight (mention the insight) to guide your behaviors and actions in the future?

• What do you think others might see to know this (mention the insight) is occurring?

• You mentioned this (mention the insight) as being quite important. What do you think changes when that is not present?

• Thanks for sharing this insight (mention the insight). It’s not something I’ve thought much about before. I would love to learn more. Any resources you could point me toward?

• You mentioned this as something quite positive or beneficial (mention the insight). Can you envision a situation in which this could be too much of a good thing? If so, what might that look like? 

You can access a printable copy of this here.