1. Cold call:
- Name the question before identifying students to answer it.
- Call on students regardless of whether they have their hands raised, using a variety of techniques such as random calls, tracking charts to ensure all students contribute, name sticks or name cards.
- Scaffold the questions from simple to increasingly complex, probing for deeper explanations.
- Connect thinking threads by returning to previous comments and connecting them to current ones. In this way, listening to peers is valued, and after a student’s been called on, they remain part of the continued conversation and class thinking.
2. No opt-out
Requires a student to (eventually) correctly answer the question posed to them. When a student gives an incorrect or partial answer, call on other students for an answer - take a correct answer from students with their hands raised or cold call other students until the right answer is given - and then return to the student who gave the incorrect or partial answer for a complete and correct response.
3. Think or ink pair-share:
- Students are given a short and specific timeframe (1-2 minutes) to think or ink (write) freely to briefly process their understanding/ opinion of a text selection, discussion question or topic.
- Students then share their thinking or writing with a peer for another short and specific timeframe, for example, a minute each.
- Finally, the teacher leads a whole-class sharing of thoughts, often charting the diverse thinking and patterns in student ideas. This helps both students and the teacher assess understanding and clarify student ideas.
4. Turn and talk
When prompted, students turn to a shoulder buddy or neighbour and in a set amount of time, share their ideas about a prompt or question posed by the teacher or other students. Depending on the goals of the lesson and the nature of the Turn and Talk, students may share some key ideas from their discussions with the class.
5. Hot seat
The teacher places key questions on random seats throughout the room. When prompted, students check their seats and answer the questions. Students who do not have a hot seat question are asked to agree or disagree with the response and explain their thinking.
6. Fist-to-five or thumb-o'meter
To show the degree of agreement or commonalities in ideas, students can quickly show their thinking by putting their thumbs up, to the side or thumbs down. Alternatively, they can hold up a fist, or place their hand near their opposite shoulder, for 0/ disagree or 1-5 fingers for higher levels of confidence or agreement.
7. ABCDE cards
The teacher asks/ presents a multiple-choice question, and then asks students to simultaneously (“on the count of 3”) hold up 1 or more cards, labelled A, B, C, D or E, as their individual response.
8. Voter’s choice
Give students a choice of possible answers to a question and have a vote on the correct option.
9. Scatter questions
Scatter questions over the whole class and move around the room to ensure questions are evenly distributed. Often teachers question students in their direct line of vision so using scatter questions counters this.
10. Who has answered?
Distribute slips of paper or card at the beginning of the lesson, and as students answer a question, they hand over one of their cards. Teachers can clearly see who still has all their cards and can target an appropriate question. This technique also allows teachers to engage reluctant students, who may be given fewer cards.
11. Bouncing ball
Address a question directly to a named student, and keep others involved by asking them to consider what else they could add or whether they agree. For example, “John, do you think that Macbeth really wants to kill the King at this point? Sam, do you agree? What evidence can you find? Does anyone think something different?"
12. Audience choice
Ask a student who often answers to select 2 or 3 other students to answer - thus keeping them involved.
13. What's the question?
"The answer is 42 - what could the question be?" or "The answer is Henry VIII, how many questions can you think of that this could answer?"
14. Quiz programs
Use quiz-program type/ formats on the whiteboard, for example, Who wants to be a millionaire, Family feud and so on.
15. Four corners
Students form 4 groups (vary the number as required) based on commonalities in their responses to a question posed. In their groups, students discuss their thinking and one student shares their ideas with the class. Students in other groups/ corners can move into that group/ corner if they change their thinking based on what they hear.
16. Thunks
Clever questions, or 'thunks' such as: “If I ask if I can steal your pen and you say yes, is that stealing?” Or “Can I ever step on the same beach twice?” are fun and thoughtful starters. They can be used simply to spark thinking or dialogue, or they can be more targeted towards the topic or the subject at hand.
