Q Tasks

Carol Koechlin and Sandi Zwaan; Year: 2006; Media: 144 pp/paper; ISBN: 978-155138-197-8; Grade Range: 4-12

Understanding is a process, and the most critical key to improving understanding is through asking questions. This timely book shows teachers how to develop a questioning culture among students.

Offering students essential survival skills for the complexities of the information age, Q Tasks presents practical strategies that will empower them to become critical thinkers and users of information. This step-by-step book outlines more than 80 tried-and-proven classroom activities that will take students beyond memorization and rote learning. Teachers will find innovative ways to help students ask real questions that focus on personal understanding and give them ownership of their learning experience. It focuses on tasks such as:

evaluating the reliability of information;

connecting with literature and the arts;

analyzing personal issues and setting realistic goals;

exploring scientific and mathematical concepts;

delving deeper into world issues;

testing new ideas.

Each “task” is clearly delineated and contains explicit teaching instructions, curriculum contexts and evaluation techniques. The flexible tasks are designed to nurture curiosity and cultivate wonder and imagination. They aim to create a community of learners that deal with rich information and offer opportunities for sharing the learning with others.

More and more, the demands of our world involve the critical and creative use of information. By encouraging students to ask their own questions, teachers help students develop the tools they need to cope better not just in school, but outside the classroom and into their adult lives.