Language Learners can engage in rich conversations around art at all language levels. Encourage critical thinking and deepen collaborative discussions by varying and differentiating the questions you ask. Enable ML students to participate and offer meaningful contributions by preplanning questions and scaffolding with language supports.
“Where in the body do you see “stretched?” Point to where is the body you see stretched.”
- We can increase MLs’ participation by adjusting the questions we ask in three ways:
- Type of question (Purpose)
- Level of Complexity (DOK)
- Level of Language output (Hierarchy)
“What is the circular part of the body? Show me with your finger; how is the body a circle? Draw it with your finger.”
- Types of Questions
- Gathering Information, leading students through a process
- Inserting Terminology/vocabulary
- Exploring meanings and relationships
- Probing and getting students to explain their thinking
- Generating discussions
- Linking and applying
- Extended thinking
- Orientation and focusing
- Establishing context
“My version of angular looks like this. Where am I angular? Where else? Is that it?”
Level of Complexity – DOK (Depth of Knowledge) and Bloom’s Taxonomy
ML students don’t always have the language to express their thoughts and knowledge in English. Students at lower levels of language proficiency can respond to higher-order questions when the output is structured to match their language level.
- DOK (Depth of Knowledge) and Questioning
- Level 1: Recall/Remembering — What is a …? List three …?
- Level 2: Skill/Concept/Understanding — How would you say that in your own words?
- Level 3: Strategic Thinking/Applying –What evidence supports your idea?
- Level 4: Extended Thinking/ Evaluating & Creating — How would you improve …?
“These are samples of how dancers create different shapes with their bodies. How can you show “twisted” in your body?”
Level of Language Output
Are questions differentiated so MLLs at every language level have an opportunity to participate?
- How will students respond to your questions?
- Pointing/prompting
- Yes/No
- Either/Or
- Simple: What? Where? How?
- Complex questions with support
- Open-ended questions
Layering Questions
Questions can build on one another to move the conversation along. A series of simple yet effective questions can help students to dig deeper while scaffolding the discussion as it progresses.
Use these questions drawn from VTS: Visual Thinking StrategiesTM to structure a discussion around a professional work of art or a student work in progress. Referring back to what you see, to the supporting evidence in the work, keeps the discussion grounded in the work of art.
- What did you see/notice in this … (art work, scene, dance, tableau, etc.? (Observe)
- What do you think is happening? (Connect)
- What did you see that makes you say that? What more can we find? (Provide Evidence)
- Why do you think they did that? (Elaborate)
Additional Questioning Supports
- Provide MLLs the questions in advance
- Allow for extra wait time – wait 8-10 seconds for a response before moving the conversation along
- Allow for non-verbal response – pointing, gesturing, selecting from images, etc.
Check Yourself
- Consider the questions you ask ML students:
- How do the questions promote thinking and discussion?
- Are the questions scaffolded in complexity? If not, how could they be adjusted? What supports will you need to enable language learners to fully engage in discussion?
Learn more with Deepening Conversations through the Use of Differentiated Questioning Techniques, Created by Jennifer Stengel-Mohr for ArtsConnection:
Questioning Strategies for MLLs