Math Question Journals

“Questioning and learning are intricately linked.”  – Laney Sammons

We want our students to think, reflect, and ask questions to extend their thinking.  This process helps young learners take more responsibility for their work and learning outcomes.  By asking questions, they are able to refine what they know and fill in the gaps that are missing to develop deeper understanding.  One great tool for building independence and reflective practice is a math question journal.

Students should be able to answer questions posed by their teachers, but research shows that when students are able to ask questions about their own learning, their understanding increases.  It is often hard for young learners to know how to ask effective questions, so this is definitely a skill that should be modeled and taught.  A question journal is a great place to practice this strategy for problem solving.  Individual journals provide students with a personal way to keep track of their questions and reflect on how their knowledge is growing over time.  They are also a great place to show their work in answering questions that are asked of them.  When tackling a math task, students can list questions before, during, and after the process.  They can also make predictions and compare those to their final answers.  The goal is to help students learn to self-question while working.  As teachers review the journals, we are able to gain insights into our students’ thinking and can give specific feedback to promote growing comprehension.

Here are a couple of resources to help you get started:

http://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/free-resources/math/math-journals

http://www.teachjunkie.com/math-subject/how-tomath-journals-interactive/

Math mentor Laney Sammons provides us with another great guide to mathematics questioning in chapter 4 of Building Mathematical  Understanding.  This is a must have for math teachers!