KS3/4 Lesson Plan – Introduce A New Economy To Teach The Value Of Great Questions
Introducing a new economy to your classroom is a powerful way of teaching the value of great questions, suggests Stuart Davis
- by Stuart Davis
The thinking behind this idea is to create a culture of independence in the classroom. Too often our pupils are reliant on a teacher or another adult to eventually give them the answers. This technique rations students’ questions, forcing them to evaluate their own requests before they ask them aloud.
Though this lesson focuses on English Literature, the basic premise is easily transferable to other subjects. The idea came about when, working with a top Year 8 set, I realised how much of each lesson I spent answering – often pointless – questions because the pupils were so terrified of failure or ‘getting it wrong’. Resilience has been a buzzword in education for a while now, and this method forces the kids to be resilient; because there’s only so much clarification that I can give before they run out of chances to ask questions!
This method creates an ‘economy’ in the classroom. Each pupil is issued with two banknotes (or ‘Davis Dollars’, in my case, as everything made by an English teacher should probably contain some sort of alliteration), and these can be exchanged for information or materials. However, once they’re gone, they’re gone.
This therefore increases that subtle skill of evaluation; why am I asking this? Is it worded correctly to get the most information? Is it worth using one of my tokens on this? I encourage their entrepreneurial spirits too; can they sell their own knowledge to the highest bidder? Is some knowledge worth more? Each note that comes back to me is ‘out of the economy’, so it’s in their interest to keep the money circulating.
Starter activity
The lesson itself is fairly straightforward; it’s more about how the teacher can facilitate rather than lead. I used this with a Year 11 class when studying the AQA literature poems from the anthology.
The starter is simple. Each table has a poem (or a numbered section from a poem for clear differentiation), and the students have to read through it. They are not allowed to ask any questions at this point. They have to ‘muddle through’ and attempt to use their interpretation skills to work out what is going on.
Before the second part of the lesson begins, the money situation is explained, and each pupil is issued with two banknotes. A discussion on effective questioning, wording, and eliciting information should take place at this point; we don’t want any misunderstandings. Ensure you also mention a ‘cut-off’ point, so perhaps allow them three questions before the rules come into force.
Main activities
The pupils now return to their section of the poem and attempt to decipher it (this can be done in context with a lower set, or out of context with a higher set), focusing on the usual poetic headings of themes, language and structure. They should do this in their group to begin with.
When you’re confident that they’ve engaged with the initial text, it’s time to introduce the economy. From this point onward, be strong! You’re trying to build resilience so don’t be afraid to refuse to answer a question unless they pay – knowledge is power, after all. You have to be strict, too; a simple ‘can I borrow a pen?’ is a question and therefore must be paid for.
Allow the pupils to move around – this is especially important when teaching poems out of context because some students will begin to make links independently, a higher-level skill, and share their knowledge/findings with others. It is tempting to address any misinterpretations at this point, but again, be strong. Part of the fun of studying poetry is the justification of ideas, which really helps build their skills of argument.
Next, read the whole poem aloud. This could be done group by group if you have some confident readers, or feel free to model some excellent speaking and listening skills to the class. I tend to allow an amnesty period at this point; pupils can ask questions for three minutes free of charge to build confidence for the next task: good, old-fashioned poetry annotation.
The timing for this depends on the length of stanza/section that your groups have. Allow the appropriate number of minutes, again answering questions for ‘cash’ if necessary, and then bring them back, because your teaching in this lesson is now done.
The students must finish with a fully annotated copy of the poem in their book, so it is now their job to purchase the missing information, whilst selling theirs. They may choose only to speak to people one on one, maximising the profitability of their knowledge. They may charge a larger fee as the need for their information grows – it’s up to them.
Do check their work; perhaps offer a banknote back for the quickest group, most detailed annotations etc. You can then count the money earned by each group (or get them to do it themselves for a bit of Numeracy Across the Curriculum!). Keep a record of this – I like a chart behind my desk as it’s visible – and then reissue that number of notes in the next lesson. This can become an ongoing competition, such as for a week, or a half term. You could even use a reward chart from which they can buy. For example, thirty notes earns a bag of sweets each, whereas twenty only gets one for the table. It’s pretty flexible.
In summary, the whole process is designed to:
• Highlight the need to work collaboratively, without constant teacher input.
• Help form relationships.
• Allow for creativity and higher-level thinking.
• Encourage the making of connections.
• Breed curiosity.
• Reward foresight and planning.
• Build resilience.
The fun part of this is that the process is applicable to so many different styles of lessons; it’s certainly not confined just to poetry or indeed English. Pupils love competition… and who doesn’t like thinking they’re rich?
Stuart Davis has been lead practitioner for English at The Toynbee School since 2014. He trained at the University of Southampton, studying English for three years before undertaking a PGCE in 2008.
