Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Explore: Hot seat

30 minutes

Discover: Open-ended questions

10 minutes

Thrive: Spin the wheel

Explore: Hot seat

Teacher note: Before the lesson, ask 1-2 students if they will volunteer to be in the hot seat. By asking them beforehand, you can explain what’s involved and boost their confidence by explaining why you picked them.

Step 1

Ask a student to volunteer to sit in the hot seat and share something they care about with the class (such as sport, a recent family holiday, or a particular animal). Explain to the class that they will ask this person questions to learn more about their topic of choice. It is important you do not offer suggestions on types of questions as this is part of the debrief.

Step 2

After 2-3 minutes of questions, pause the activity and thank the student who volunteered, then facilitate a class debrief.

Use the following questions to prompt discussion:

What additional information did you learn by asking questions?
Did you struggle to think of questions to ask? Why/why not?
Which questions or question types helped produce a lengthy or deep response?
What is the difference between open and closed questions?

Provide the following explanation to assist their thinking:

The questions we ask are important. Different types of questions are more effective than others in opening up conversation and increasing our communication and social skills. Learning these skills will boost confidence when building connections with others. We will explore this more in the next part of the lesson.

Discover: Open-ended questions

Step 1

Select 1 student to assist you during this activity, as the class will be working in 2 separate groups. Once you have an assistant, divide the class in half and give them 1 minute to decide on a team name and captain. Ask the teams to stand at different ends of the classroom and read out the following instructions:

The aim of the game is to figure out what word the teacher or assistant has written down through a series of questions.
Team 1 can only use closed questions (those with a yes/no response).
Team 2 can ask open-ended questions (which typically begin with what, how and why), excluding direct questions such as ‘What’s written on the sheet?’. An example of a permitted question might be, ‘What does the object feel like?’ or ‘What ingredients are needed to make this food/meal?’
Captains will play rock, paper, scissors to determine which team can use open-ended questions.

Word suggestions (teacher and assistant to agree on a theme and word to write down):

Animal: wallaby, centipede, French bulldog
Place: Darwin, Paris, Antarctica
Food: Vegemite, grapefruit, spaghetti bolognese

It will quickly become apparent the open-ended team have the advantage. After both teams have successfully guessed the word, swap strategies so each team has an experience of closed and open questions.

Before debriefing, share an appropriate story about the frustration of talking to someone who only gives yes/no answers to demonstrate communication barriers.

Step 2

Next, ask them to discuss the benefits of using open-ended questions with a partner and debrief as a class.

Use the following questions to prompt discussion:

Why are open-ended questions more effective?
When is it more practical to ask closed questions?
Why can it be more challenging to use open-ended questions?

Provide the following explanation to assist their thinking:

Formulating open-ended questions can be challenging and requires skill (the skill of questioning). Fortunately, this skill can be developed, and it’s okay if it doesn’t come naturally to you. By learning to ask open-ended questions, people are more likely to open up and think deeply about themselves and the world around them. Whereas closed questions involve less risk and vulnerability, open-ended questions can assist with building deeper connections and closeness.

Step 3

To practise developing meaningful questions, the class can create a Question Wheel using the free Spin Wheel website. Ask students to form pairs and discuss open-ended questions they could ask someone to get to know them better.

Examples:

What is your favourite film of all time?
What is something you’ve learned about yourself in the past 12 months?
What is a tradition unique to you or your family?

Step 4

Ask pairs to select their favourite question and add it to the Spin Wheel (aim for a total of 20 questions). The wheel must be completed for the next part of the lesson.

Thrive: Spin the wheel

Step 1

Explain that students will use the Spin Wheel they developed to practise asking open-ended questions and get to know each other better. Each time the wheel is spun, students will pair up with someone they don’t usually spend time with and take turns answering.

Step 2

Project the Question Wheel on the screen, put it in full-screen mode and hit spin. When the wheel stops, students should ask each other the question before thanking their partner with a handshake or high five.

Depending on the time available, play 5-6 rounds, then debrief the activity.

Use the following questions to prompt discussion:

Which question (from the wheel) is your favourite and why? How could it help build connection and understanding?
Which questions would be useful to break the ice with someone you just met?
Are there any questions you wouldn’t ask someone you just met?

Provide the following explanation to assist their thinking:

Asking open-ended questions can be incredibly helpful in building connections and making new friends; they can help reveal similar interests and experiences and lead to greater trust and respect. When someone asks you an open-ended question, they show that they care about what you have to say and want to understand you better. Open-ended questions also allow for a deeper exploration of ideas and perspectives, which can lead to more interesting and meaningful conversations.

Tribe: Building Connections Through Open Communication

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