Open Discussion Forum

  • 1.  How do you conduct the Question of the Day?

    Posted 03-18-2021 05:42 PM
    • What type of questions are they (e.g. open-ended, yes or no)?
    • How and when are the answers recorded?
    • How and when are the answers discussed?
    • What materials do you use?


  • 2.  RE: How do you conduct the Question of the Day?

    Posted 03-22-2021 09:46 AM
    I'm not sure what age you are looking for, but I had the older toddlers before they went into preschool. Preschool they would have close-ended questions at the beginning of the year that the children would answer each morning, it would be based off of what they were learning or focusing on that week. So for example, they would explore different types of transportation so a question in the morning would be do you have a bicycle? yes or no, or did you ride in a car or on a bicycle today with pictures of both. The children used popsicle sticks with their names on them with Velcro on the back to place under the corresponding answer. Towards the latter part of the  year, these questions would dive deeper and be open-ended, giving time for children to respond in the morning on a sheet of paper sometimes placing in their folders or other times placing on a large Post-it sheet.

    I started to do a very simple version of this in my toddler class, using their picture with their name underneath and it would relate to either their interests and I would leave the same question for the whole week. 

    The answers were documented on large post it easels for preschool, and would be discussed during their morning circle routine. 
    Asking the right questions throughout the day, whether question of the day or throughout routines was always something I wanted to improve. NAEYC's How to Ask Big Questions resource was helpful in guiding the types of questions I wanted to ask, and being more intentional. I would try to list the questions I wanted to ask each week as a reminder to myself, or would review the resource as a refresher when feeling stuck.

    ------------------------------
    Mary Samour
    Online Community Manager
    National Association for the Education of Young Children
    ------------------------------