Using LbQ for lessons

Flexible for you to use in different ways with different classes, Learning by Questions is the ultimate hack for your lessons.

See LbQ in action with Andy in his school in Bolton...

See a lesson

Using LbQ to teach

First off, let us introduce you to Andy

Andy and his colleagues use LbQ every day with their pupils.

It's Summer 2 now, and Andy wants to check his class fully grasp 'Finding Percentages of Amounts' and make sure they're ready for transition to secondary school.

Andy starts with a review of prior knowledge

Andy picks a Times Tables Question Set as a starter activity because that's the skill his pupils need to be able to do the main task.

Within a few minutes the children have answered hundreds of questions and Andy has:

activated prior knowledge.
engaged pupils by providing an opportunity to be successful.
a clear idea of which gaps need to be filled, and who has them.

Teaching & intervening

Here's the beautiful thing about LbQ - you can teach however you want to.

Andy has chosen to use our questions to model strategies, but you could easily use your own tried-and-trusted ways of introducing new concepts.

When you're ready, start your Question Set and look at your Live Results Matrix to make smart decisions about interventions.

Hold on a second!

What's happening here?

1:1 intervention

Andy notices on his Live Results Matrix that Lily needs some support and dives in to intervene.

Watch as Andy takes her through this stepped problem-solving question. You might decide that Lily needs some concrete resources to help her. Or you might partner her up with Holly - who is doing really well.

The point is Andy, or you, decides. Not a computer, not an algorithm. You.

Hold up.

There are a few students steaming ahead.

Group intervention

It's clear from the matrix that a small group of pupils need some stretch and challenge - they're moving quickly through the questions and getting everything right first time.

Andy gathers the group on the carpet to take them through the first question of a tougher, but related, Question Set.

You could also differentiate for pupils who are struggling.

Hang on a moment,

Andy can see on his matrix that Rhea's answer could provide an opportunity to explore a misconception with the whole class.

Whole-class intervention

Andy sees that Rhea has answered a question with a really common misconception that he covered earlier in the lesson.

He pauses the whole class to run through Rhea's answer and provide a learning moment for everyone.

He brings the question and her answer up on the board, and they explore it together.

The lesson's coming to a close.

How can Andy use LbQ for his plenary?

Plenary

Andy wants to check the progress of the students against the learning objective. So, he uses LbQ (and feedback from the pupils!) to create his own question that he sends to the screens of his class.

Again, he can see who gets it right or wrong using the matrix. Now that we're at the end of the lesson, Andy can use this information to refine and tailor his upcoming lessons. Bish bash bosh!