Make Just One Change- Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions

WICR is becoming common language around Waukesha North High School.
W (Writing), I (Inquiry), C (Collaboration), R (Reading).
So what is Inquiry?

In the book, Make One Change, Dan Rothstein argues that we should be teaching the skill of question formulation to all students. We should do it to promote excellence and we should do it to promote equity. Both are achievable.

Learning how to ask questions leads to improved learning outcomes, greater student engagement, and more ownership of the learning process. This book asks teachers to make one simple change in their regular practice; to deliberately teach students how to ask their own questions.

The rigorous process of learning to develop and ask questions offers students the invaluable opportunity to become independent thinkers and self-directed learners. This also pushes teachers from the proficient category according to Danielson's component 3b: Questioning and Discussion Techniques, to the distinguished category. As the teacher, you are leading a process in which your students will be thinking and working by asking their own questions, rather than responding to the ones that you ask. Students do the formulating of many questions, initiate topics, and make unsolicited contributions.


Teaching students that skill of inquiry empowers students to be responsible for their own learning and also helps them refine a skill that has direct practical function and application in their daily lives. We can take action today to improve education in every classroom by teaching all students how to ask their own questions. Students will improve their discovery, engagement, and achievement!