Questioning outside the classroom
With many minds looking forward to summer, it can be a good time to bring the joy of questions and curiosity to experiences outside traditional academic settings — to summer programs, camps, and elsewhere. (For all our friends in the Southern Hemisphere and in countries with different academic calendars, this may be relevant later.) Here are a few ideas to inspire engagement beyond the classroom walls:
- Tree stewardship for teens
- Building hydraulic robots
- Music and questions: Georgia College Wind Symphony
- Questioning at the end of the school year
Safe and healthy schools
In partnership with the Brown University School of Public Health and the National Education Association Health and Safety Program, RQI has developed a new training module to support more effective partnerships between educators and families around issues of school health and safety. This is one way to support families as they advocate for better policies for their children and communities — and a way to engage families that have traditionally not had a voice in making schools healthier and safer for all.
Magazines as primary sources
For ideas about using primary sources as a springboard for questioning and learning, check out these new Question Formulation Technique lesson plans from EBSCO, both for high school students. One is an ELA lesson about community, the other is an AP Government lesson about the Miranda v. Arizona Supreme Court decision. If they inspire you, our Teaching with Primary Sources online hub offers planning tools, videos, learning modules, and other resources to get started on your QFT-primary source lesson.
Upcoming events
Here are some upcoming opportunities to learn with us:
July 11-31: Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Questions: Best Practices in the Question Formulation Technique. Registration deadline: June 30
Sept. 12-Oct. 2: Questions at the Core: Extending the Question Formulation Technique to Sustain an Inquiry-based Culture in Schools. Registration deadline: September 1.
What we’re reading (and listening to)
Here are some recent podcasts and stories that got us asking questions:
Matthew Desmond on America’s Addiction to Poverty — The Ezra Klein Show
Slow Looking & Visible Thinking, with Claire Bown — Choose to Be Curious
The 20-Minute Workout: The Lost Art of Asking — The Authentic Professional
We Tested a New ChatGPT-Detector for Teachers. It Flagged an Innocent Student — The Washington Post
What your gifts mean
When you make a gift to the Right Question Institute, you help bring free resources to teachers and schools. Plus, you help equip people in low-income communities with skills and strategies for solving problems, participating in decisions, and making their voices heard — contributing to a more inclusive educational system, society, and democracy. Thank you for your support.