This is a blog about questioning students in lessons.
A couple of years ago, I first blogged about Pose, Pause, Pounce, Bounce! If you are not familiar with this superb questioning strategy, then I would strongly recommend that you download my resource for your classroom. Then read the supporting blog to explain the resource in fuller detail. Download the PDF here.
I take my Pose Pause Pounce Bounce inspiration from a CPD event led by HMI inspector Pam Fearnley who, after 7 years of searching, finally
Pose, Pause, Pounce: around 15 years ago I heard of this from my dad who was in the military as that;s one way they train instructors. The ‘Bounce’ add on is great. LOVE the question matrix! Honestly, that can just go up on the wall and students (or any person in the world doing any research project) will surely benefit from beginning there. I’m going to use it today! I’ve a huge amount of enthusiasm for this great collaborative thinking and resource sharing across teaching. Isn’t this fun!
I have been using pppb successfully this year and shared it with colleagues. This matrix is excellent and I’m sure will become another mainstay. Thanks so much for sharing – don’t stop!
The use if Pose, Pause, Pounce, Bounce (PPPB) seems to have taken a really interesting turn here. I have used it during my educational practices in schools and can successfully say that it works, especially with children who often contribute minimally in class discussions and questioning. It allows them to be involved and they are aware of the support of their peers and the teacher. The use of the Question Matrix appears to be really powerful and I will certainly be using it in my future teaching practice.
One thing that would be interesting to see if whether the children could use it to question one another on a topic rather than the teacher questioning the children. An example of this may be using at the start of a topic; to elicit what the children know and get the children to formulate their own questions to research or ask one another. Margutti (2006) comments that the use of questioning by teachers is a very powerful tool for learning. This supports the Question Matrix, as judging by the comments and the overall receiving of the model; it has been welcomed warmly and successfully infiltrated into the Primary classroom.
References:
Margutti, P. (2006). “Are you human beings?” Order and knowledge construction through questioning in primary classroom interaction . Lingustics and Education. 17 (4), 313-346.
Hi Emma. Thanks for the reference. I will have a look. Good luck with using the matrix. Highly recommended!
Hello, I am close to finishing my BEd (Primary) degree and have been searching for how this question matrix actually plays out in an upper primary classroom. Thank you!! This powerpoint is perfect for explaining Weiderhold’s (1991) Question Matrix. I can see how it is perfect as a brainstorming tool at the beginning of, or during an inquiry unit. My question is, could it also be used as an assessment indicator for the level of thinking a student can show?
Many thanks! I’ve just followed your Twitter feed too – looking forward to more amazing sharing.
ManusBan
Hi ManusBan – that’s a good question. I would encourage you to consider the purpose of the assessment in the first place and then work backward from there.