Questioning Video Library

Questioning enables teachers to explore students’ thinking while they are learning, so that we can respond to their needs in a timely way. Effective questioning makes students’ thinking visible so that we can find out what they know, and what they still need to learn.

Video Transcript: (pdf) This document contains a transcript of all of the video segments in this series.

Segment 1: Effective Questioning (video) This segment introduces oral questioning as an assessment for learning practice and explores the purposes of oral questioning.

Segment 2: Planning Questions (video) Effective questions elicit students’ thinking, identify their misconceptions, and scaffold their learning. A three-step process for planning questions is presented.

Segment 3: Questioning – Making Thinking Visible (video) Teachers implement a variety of questioning strategies to probe students’ thinking, encourage students to elaborate on their responses and create a safe environment in the classroom.

Segment 4: Questioning In Action (video) Working collaboratively, teachers observe a colleague’s videoed lesson in which he implements a variety of question types, and some of the strategies presented in Segment 3.

Segment 5: Questioning – Engaging Students in the Conversation (video) This segment focuses on the way teachers ask questions so that students are more fully engaged in classroom discourse – incorporating think time, providing opportunities to rehearse their answers individually or in small groups, and engaging all students in thinking about the answer.

Segment 6: Questioning – What We’ve Learned (video) Teachers share their experiences – both successes and challenges – as they continue to look for ways to improve oral questioning.

A video viewing guide exists to support the use of these videos in a professional learning setting.  To access the viewing guides, please visit our Professional Learning Facilitators’ section of this site.