Power of the Question

John Sawatsky

Name of lesson: IQ2: Interdisciplinary quality questioning
Suggested grade levels: middle/high school (7-12)
Suggested subjects: English, journalism, social studies (although could be adapted to other disciplines as well, like science)
Suggested time allowance: two to three 45-minute periods or one to two 90-minute block(s)

Lesson overview

This lesson explore three qualities of questions — open, neutral and lean (narrow). In an accompanying video, ESPN coach John Sawatsky provides tips, including focusing on What, How and Why questions. Using his tips, students will examine the importance of questioning to discover how asking good questions can elicit good information.

Objectives

Students will

• Describe how a question determines an answer.
• Identify and explain Sawatsky’s three qualities of questions: open, neutral, lean
• Create open, neutral and lean questions.
• Evaluate others’ questions based on these three qualities.
• Analyze and critique the qualities of interview questions in video clips.
• Recognize how honing these questions can help to discover new information.

Materials

• note cards and/or Post-it notes
• Three to five subject-specific articles/primary sources located by the teacher
• three video clips (see below)

Lesson Plan

Lesson 1

Lesson 2

Lesson 3

Lesson 4

Lessons created by Y-Press journalists and Indiana teachers for its power-of-the-question project

Copyright 2009 Y-Press