How to use questions to check understanding during your lessons
Written By: Author(s): Tom Sherrington and Sara Stafford
1 min read
Even if a student says that they have understood, teachers cannot know for sure until they check.
Seeking regular opportunities to formatively assess students’ understanding and using this to inform what happens next in the lesson.
What does it mean?
Teachers need to know exactly where students are in their learning at all times (as far as that is possible) to best support mastery of a skill or concept. There are two stages to this process:
Gathering information by constantly checking for understanding and sampling student responses
Responding to this information with a swift intervention to remedy misconceptions or mistakes, or to advance to the next level of challenge.
A key element of checking for understanding effectively is, as Doug Lemov calls it, ‘rejecting self-report’. Even if a student says that they have understood, teachers cannot know for sure until they check.
What are the implications for teachers?
Think of questioning as information gathering; collect a sample of answers which represent the whole class’ progress and use this to inform your nex
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This article was published in October 2018 and reflects the terminology and understanding of research and evidence in use at the time. Some terms and conclusions may no longer align with current standards. We encourage readers to approach the content with an understanding of this context.
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