MKPS



The Power of Questioning in the EYFS

Contents





























Page 4 Introduction to Questioning Page 5 What are open-ended questions? Page 6 Why are open-ended questions so powerful in the early years? Page 7 Open-ended Knowledge Question Types Page 8 The 6 stages of thinking in young children Page 9 - 1.The Immediate Thinker - Very young children Page 10 - 2.The Expresser & Comprehender Page 11 - 3. The Clarifier & Grouper Page 12 - 4.The Experimenter Page 13 - 5. The Problem-Solver Page 14 - 6. The Predictor & Explainer Page 15 What are Open ended questions? Page 16 Why are they so powerful? Page 17 Confidence and the “I can” attitude

Questioning helps Children to Think Creatively and Critically - develops a depth of learning

Having their own ideas (thinking creatively) Thinking of ideas that are new and meaningful to the child Playing with possibilities (what if? what else?) Visualising and imagining options Finding new ways to do things Making links (building theories) Making links and noticing patterns in their experience Making predictions Testing their ideas Developing ideas of grouping, sequences, cause and effect

































Working with ideas (thinking critically) Planning, making decisions about how to approach a task, solve a problem and reach a goal Checking how well their activities are going Flexibly changing strategy as needed Reviewing how well the approach worked

Types of Open-ended Knowledge Questions • • • • • • • • • •

What happened when…? What happened before/after…? What did it look/feel/sound/taste/smell like? What do you remember from…? Describe what you know about… Tell me about your… Name all of your favourite… What did you use to make it? List everything you think you might nd in… Describe to me _____ (block structure, etc.) and how you made it.

Open-ended Comprehension Questions

fi

Why do you think…? Which one do you have more/less of? How can you tell the difference between _______ and ______? Can you give me an example of ______? How do you know that…? What happened rst, second, third, etc.? Tell me what happened… How could you say that differently? Name some… (shapes, animals, vegetables, etc.).

fi

• • • • • • • • •

Open-ended Analysis questions • • • • • • • • •

Why is this important? In what ways are these different/similar? What do you think will happen? How much/many _______ will we need to …? Is there anything that you would change? If so, why? Why do you think…? What comes next in the pattern of_______? What could we do differently next time? Did that ever happen to you? Tell me more about that.

Open-ended Evaluation Questions • • • • • • • • •

What other ideas do you have to add? What other ending to the story can you come up with? How will you organise______? What else could you do/use? How will you prepare for…? What could we have done instead? What’s one solution to the problem? How could you assemble these _______ to make _________? Tell me how you will… (draw your picture, make your city out of blocks, etc.)

Open-ended Creating Questions • • • • • • • •

What changes would you make to…? How many ways can you…? Why did you choose… (those materials, that order, etc.)? How could we make the/this_____ (stronger, better, etc.)? How will you make a new… (design, pattern, etc.)? Why do you think it is important to…? Rank these______ according to ________. How are you planning to do that?

Other open-ended strategies • Making Predictions – What do you think will happen…? • Extend on Thinking – What would happen if there were…?

• Consider Consequences – What would happen if you jumped and I wasn’t there t catch you?

• Assess feelings – How would you feel if that happened to you? How do you think feels? • Similarities and Differences – How are these the same? What makes these go together? What make these different? • Solving problems – What could you do to…? • Evaluate – What made you decide…? •

The 6 stages of thinking in young children

Most 3-year-olds are primarily concrete thinkers. This means that their speech and thinking are quite literal— often focusing on what is physically in front of them. Some 3-year-olds might not be able to answer the more complicated questions that older children can. Children begin moving into more abstract ways of thinking at age 4. For example, a group of 4-year-olds might engage in more advanced dramatic play, pretending that a stick they found outside is a fork or

















spoon.

1.The Immediate Thinker - Very young children

The Immediate Thinker is ready to answer questions with information from their direct experience. Your questions should relate to more concrete things that they can see, feel, hear or remember. They are often ‘What’ questions. Things like: What can you hear outside? What do you think it is? Can you tell me about what you’ve made? What does it feel like? Can you find something green out here?

















These questions are important because it helps them to explore their sense of self, notice detail, and encourage curiosity in the world around them.

2.The Expresser & Comprehender From here we get more specifically into problem-solving, while the questions we want to talk about here are still very much about their concrete environment. And that’s important too!

Differing from The Immediate Thinker, here we’re asking them about what they think about their experience too. Open-ended questions like: How do you feel about that? What happened when you jumped off the rock? How do you know that?

















Why do you think that happened?

3.The Clarifier & Grouper - approx 30-50 months At this stage, we’re dealing with how ideas relate to one another. We’re looking for solutions to different situations. According to ‘What to expect, when?’ from the DfE, these kinds of questions are understood at around 30-50 months. We’re talking about open-ended questions like: How are these the same? How are they different? Why is this here? What else could work for that? Can you see anything that could help us to do that?























What else do we need to make this sandwich?

4.The Experimenter This is when children start to think about cause and effect in the here and now. They might not be ready for abstract thinking yet, but they can explore their options and think about what might happen when they make an action. Mostly, this stage is all about ‘What do you think is going to happen?’, but it can be emotional too. When reading a story you could ask ‘How do you think the bear feels?’ or in a real-life situation you can try to encourage empathy by asking















‘How do you think that made Charlotte feel?’. It helps children to begin stepping into another person’s shoes.

5.The Problem-Solver Now we’re really moving. This stage is all about encouraging children to think about the effect of something, and how they can create that effect. As ever, it’s important for children to lead the play. But rather than questions like ‘What will happen if we leave the water outside overnight?’ it’s more ‘How do you think we can make this water become ice?’. Also things like: How could we make this structure stronger? What else do you want to add to your creation? What might make Michael feel better?





















What helps you to feel better when you’re upset?

6.The Predictor & Explainer

Probably the most advanced stage of open-ended questioning, this is al about understanding what might happen under different circumstances. It’s also about understanding why things might have happened.

This can take a lot of cognitive load because they need to both consider situations outside their direct experience, and predict the future in that alternative world. This might seem a simple thing for us to do, but it’s not easy for a 5year-old. We’re talking about questions like: If that were to happen, how might he feel? Why did the ball fall down the pipe that way?

















I wonder what would happen if we turned it around? What do you thin

What are open-ended questions? Open-ended questions: Can’t be answered with yes or no. Don’t have a right or wrong answer. Encourage discussion, not short answers. Don’t assume too much about the activity or situation you’re questioning. Give control to the child. They tend to start with a ‘What’, ‘How’, ‘Where’ or a ‘Why’ (and rarely a ‘Which’ or ‘Who’). Great open-ended questions can start with a ‘Tell me about…’ or an ‘I wonder if…’ as well. Think of them as good conversation starters. Most importantly, they should be about tuning into the child and listening deeply before responding, creating a powerful learning moment.



























Close-ended questions, on the other hand, can easily impart our own expectations onto a child, blocking their creativity and their self-confidence.

Why are open-ended questions so powerful in the early years? "In addition to sustained shared thinking, staff/parents engaged in open-ended questioning as a matter of course, are in the settings where children made the most progress” So why are they so beneficial? They help children to learn problemsolving. Instead of giving them the ‘right’ way to do something, open-ended questions encourage independent thinking and guide children towards drawing their own conclusions.They give children the opportunity to try, fail, hypothesise, experiment and succeed on their own. They also: Stimulate more language use. Show there are many solutions to one problem. Affirm children’s self-confidence. Allow children to take charge.

























Help to encourage creative and critical thinking.

Children need to be given confidence with an “I can” attitude They need -to hear, see and talk about a rich variety of subjects -to think about words and their meanings -to learn to solve problems not only mathematically but linguistically

Our “Reading” scheme begins by adding breadth and depth to developing language it offers a range of familiar and unfamiliar experiences to build both confidence and vocabulary When ready for the mechanics of reading (phonics) they have already been exposed to a richness of language experiences





























The skill and art of open ended questioning is key to expanding language Parents can play a major part in language acquisition Confidence in spoken language means reading readiness is accelerated Reading soon becomes an enjoyable and rewarding part of daily life

We hope you will support your child with a little quality “talk about it” time each day at home Becoming a wordsmith is the most valuable life skill and will have rich rewards as they progress right through their time at school and beyond

















Mr Simon Driver