Shared Inquiry Questions

The leader of a shared inquiry discussion not only prepares the interpretive questions that start discussion, but also regulates its flow. The writers challenge the students with unclear, inaccurate, and contradictory statements. Then, with the students’ answer they will ask for evidence. After the question has been solved the leaders must create another question but one with meaning. Interpretation is the main purpose in an inquiry discussion question because interpretations will be different for every student. Interpretation questions stimulate conversation and appeal to the text for evidence. A good interpretive question composes questions from the text to prepare discussion and forces the leader to work with ideas about its meaning. The characteristics for good interpretive questions are that they should make you think and have you doubt yourself. When you are going to answer there should be two

Evaluative questions should ask you to participate and form judgments, ideas, and issues that the question or the discussion raised. You can answer in your own opinion, reasoning, and experience. Good evaluative questions are based on what the author is saying, firmly grounded in the text and in the light of the direction a discussion is taking. In a shared inquiry discussion, there is often no clear distinction between interpretive and evaluative questions. The two types of questions frequently merge into each other. Sometimes it’s valuable to set aside the later portion of a shared inquiry discussion for questions that clearly address broader, evaluative issues that may range far beyond the text. In a shared inquiry discussion, leaders should not pose questions that aren’t really statements in disguise, nor should they ever attempt to guide the group on fixed routes through the selection. Also, leaders should refrain from readily offering their own opinions or making definitive statements. If