Prioritizing questions

Today was the day we prioritized questions. We did it in small groups. The enthusiasm and "success" varied greatly from group to group.

Table 2 (Olajuwon, Kayla, Khalil, and Alex) were very successful. They began right away by eliminating questions. When I asked them what their criteria for eliminating questions was, they said they eliminated questions that didn't make sense or questions that they already knew the answers to. I thought that they were clearly beginning to develop an understanding of what makes a good question.
The questions they chose were: "How did Byron become a juvenile delinquent?" and "Why was Byron proud of Kenny?"

Table 6 (Adonis, Kim, Anjahna, Donte) seemed unmotivated and uninspired by the task. They chose a question that didn't make sense: "I wonder why Byron went to juvenile delinquents?" I think they were confused about the term, which tells me that for the next cycle, I need to do a better job of solidifying their knowledge of key terms within the Qfocus before having them generate questions.

Table 5, and Terran in particular, had some confusion differentiating closed and opened questions, which means his understanding of types of questions is still developing. That's ok because since this is just the first of many questioning cycles, there will be time to solidify understanding in this area. Deavion in table 5 said that he thought they should choose the question that was talked about most in the book.

I also experimented with the questioning protocol in guided reading with my highest guided reading group. One student in particular, Zeke, had been unenthusiastic with this book, which surprised me since it seemed like it would be so engaging for a young male reader. I did see the questioning engage him in the book differently. He was definitely more active and motivated in the discussion. The Qfocus I gave them was: survival. Here are the questions they came up with:
-Why isn't he trying to do nothing, if he's seen movies about how to survive?
-Why didn't he pack a lunch or a first aid kit?
-Why doesn't he have a phone?
-How did Brian survive 3 days without any food?
-Why did Brian think he was going to die?

After they finished generating questions, they were able to categorize all the questions as open without much of a hitch. Then they prioritized the questions, which was interesting.

Brandon wanted to prioritize the question "How did Brian survive 3 days without any food?" At first they focused on answering the question, and I had to redirect the conversation around the merits of a question. This might be something that's not intuitive for even the highest students? But once I redirected, they went with it. Alex thought this was a good question to prioritize because "you can agree or disagree a lot...it's a question we can all ask questions about and say yes or no." Zeke countered by suggesting that they prioritize the question: "Why didn't he have a phone?" He explained this by saying that it was a good question because "There could be many different reasons why he didn't". Alex countered by saying: "I think it's not (a good question) because a phone is not as serious as food." This thinking shows that Alex was thinking about which question related most relevantly to the qFocus of survival. In the end, Amaya summarized why they chose Brandon's question: "It's a good question because it adds up to how he's able to survive." They were motivated and excited to answer the question as independent reading finished, let's hope they bring lots of good ideas to discussion tomorrow (I'm calling them to the table again for guided reading). I'm also considering letting them research survival methods more if they're interested...