3 Ways to Use Math Questioning in Your Classroom

There are so many ways to use questioning!  It all depends on your purpose. I wanted to talk about 3 different ways that you can use questioning in your classroom immediately. I am going to give specific examples related to math because I that is what I love, but the listed questioning purposes can be the same for any subject: learning about your students, informing instruction and reviewing important skills.

Purpose #1 – Use Questions to Learn About Your Students

A Fun Getting to Know You Math Activity

Make the connection between numbers and real life while learning more about your students with this Mystery Numbers math activity.  Students first choose several facts about themselves that include numbers. Then they generate and record questions and numbers in the Mystery Number Booklet. Their partner must guess which questions and numbers match. Here are some sample questions and answers that your kids may come up with.

Which number represents my house number in my address?  1,486

Which number represents how many brothers I have? 0

Which number represents the number of movies I saw this month? 4

This free activity incorporates numbers that students experience in their everyday lives.

Teacher Tip – Model this activity by using yourself as the example first and have your class try to guess which numbers match your questions. Kids ALWAYS love learning more about their teacher.

Teacher Tip – This is a great back to school activity, but you can still use it during anytime of the year.

Watch this video for details and grab the free template in the description.

Purpose #2 – Use Questions to Review Skills

Practice Makes Perfect When Learning Math Concepts

Our kids need ample time for meaningful review.  Expose your students to different question types (multiple response, true or false, multiple choice, etc.) that are aligned to important math concepts. This helps them deepen their understanding and become flexible with their thinking.

If you are looking for an easy way to incorporate questioning throughout your day, check out Flip & Go Math Cards.  They are great for math centers, small group instruction, early finishers and so much more! In addition, they are easy to assemble: simply print, combine and GO!

Teacher Tip – Make review fun by incorporating games like SCOOT or making it into a math competition so that students stay engaged and it does not feel like drill and kill.

Purpose #3 – Use Questions to Guide Your Instruction

Quick Assessments Before, During and After Your Math Lesson

Questioning is one of the most important parts of classroom instruction.  As teachers, we strive to probe student thinking and expand their reasoning skills. We also use student responses to inform our instruction. What did they know before I started this lesson? Are they able to explain how they got their answer? Did they “get” it?

Use these free probing questions by clicking on the photo below. 

**The questions were adapted from the book Teaching Numeracy 9 Critical Habits to Ignite Mathematical Thinking with special permission from the author Margie Pearse.

Teacher Tip – Hole punch the cards and ring them with a binder clip by category (before lesson, during lesson and after lesson). This will help you keep them all in one place and make then easy to refer back during any point of your math instruction.

I hope you enjoyed reading this posts. For more elementary math tips & strategies check me out at mrelementarymath.