From Phyllis Hostmeyer, www.phylsquill.com

Stems to create open-ended questions

Agree / Disagree

  • Has anyone else had a similar . . .?
  • Who has a different . . .?

Clarification

  • I’m not sure I understand . . .?
  • Tell me more about . . .?
  • Do you see gaps in my reasoning?
  • Are you taking into account something different from what I have considered?

Support Questions

  • Can you give us an example of . . .?
  • Where in the story . . .?
  • What would be a good reason for . . .?
  • What is some evidence for . . .?

Cause and Effect

  • Why do you think that happened?
  • How could that have been prevented?
  • Do you think that would happen that way again?  Why?
  • What are some reasons people . . .?

Compare / Contrast

  • How are __________ and _______ alike?  Different?
  • What is that similar to?
  • Can you think of why this feels different than . . .?
  • How does this (poem, book, incident, etc.) remind you of . . .?

Benefits / Burdens

  • What are some of the reasons this wouldn’t (would) be a good idea?
  • Would anyone like to speak to the opposite side?
  • Those are some reasons this would work; what reasons might it not work?

Point of View / Perspective

  • How might she/he have felt . . .?
  • What do you think he/she was thinking when . . .?
  • He might not like that, but can you think of someone who would?
  • _____________ has expressed a different opinion.  Are there others?
  • Do you have a different interpretation? 
  • Do you have different conclusions?
  • How did you arrive at your view?

Structure / Function

  • If that was the goal, what do you think about . .  (the action, reaction)?
  • What were her/his choices of how to . . .?
  • Why was she/he doing that?  (Reply gives reason)  What do you think of that approach?
  • What better choices could he/she have made?
  • What rules would we need to make sure . . .?

Counterexample

  • Would that still happen if . . . ?
  • What might have made the difference?

Different Situation

  • Can you describe a situation that would . . .?
  • Suppose ________________.  Would that still be true?  Why or why not?

Solicit Questions      

  • What are some things that you wonder about?
  • What would you like to know about?
  • Are there questions we should remember now?

Personal Experience

  • What would you do in that situation?
  • Has anything like that ever happened to you?
  • In what way are you alike or different from . . .?

DISCUSSION TOOLS AND ACTIVITIES

The following discussion tools will be used to lead lessons on stories. Most of the tools will follow the General Lesson Structure of working individually prior to small group work and large group discussions.  Each tool will have a completed sample from a Bible discussion group who had been working with David and Goliath. The last page will be a blank form to be used by the discussion groups.  Please make one copy of the tool for each participant. Refer to each tool for more specific instructions. 

  1. Concept Definition Map
  2. Feelings vs Character Traits
  3. Fishbowl Discussion
  4. My Verse
  5. Plot Frame
  6. Plot the Story
  7. Question Cards
  8. Select a Challenge
  9. Somebody Wanted But So
  10. Triangle Discussion
  11. Viewpoints Web
  12. Walk and Gawk

TYPES OF QUESTIONS

It is important to understand the four types of questions that will be asked in some of the lessons: Voices in the Room, Quick and Clean, Explore the Text, and Merging Ideas. Once we understand the type of question, participants will also understand where to find the answers to each question.  Some questions can be answered by sharing personal experiences and knowledge; other answers must be found in the Bible text. Finally, the most difficult questions will require that participants merge their personal knowledge with information garnered from the Bible text.  

Voices in the Room (On My Own)

This type of question is asked at the beginning of the lesson. Everyone should be able to offer an answer based on personal experiences.  It isn’t necessary for everyone to contribute, but this is an opportune time to hear from those who are often unwilling to answer text-based questions. These questions build a sense of community in the group and move people’s thoughts toward the focus of the lesson. For example, perhaps the weekly lesson will be based on a story about courage such as David and Goliath. Examples of Voices in the Room questions for courage:  

  • Can you share a story about a time you needed a great deal of courage to face a problem? 
  • Do you think people are born courageous, or do they develop courage through life experiences? 

Notice the questions ask people to share from personal experiences or to share their own beliefs and ideas.  These questions do not require prior reading.

Quick and Clean (Right There) 

The answers to these questions are usually one word or short phrase answers that check for basic comprehension of the story. Every answer can be found in the Bible text. Examples of Quick and Clean Questions: 

  • Who killed Goliath? 
  • Where did the battle take place? 
  • What weapon did David use in the battle against Goliath?  
  • Why was David at the battlegrounds?  

These questions give everyone a chance to participate in the lesson and ease people into the lesson. It also gives the leader a chance to check basic comprehension. 

Explore the Text  (Think and Search)

These questions require that people skim and scan the text to locate the complete answer. Sometimes participants will need to explore more than one text or one story. But the complete answer can be found in the Bible text. The answers to Explore the Text can be used to support Merge Ideas questions. These types of questions are also useful when trying to look at one concept in several stories. For example, if the focus of the Bible study is courage, participants will read several stories of characters with courage. Explore the Text questions encourage everyone to compare characters from different stories. Examples of Explore the Text questions: 

  • Share two things that David did that demonstrate courage during the story of Goliath.
  • Return to story 75, Ruth and Naomi.  How did Ruth demonstrate great courage?
  • Return to story 63, Deborah and Barak.  How did Jael demonstrate great courage?
  • Look at the actions of David, Ruth, and Jael.  How are they alike? How are they different?

Merge Ideas  (Text and Me) 

These types of questions require the participants to merge their own ideas and insights with information garnered from the text.  These questions often ask participants to apply knowledge from the stories to their own life. Examples of Merge Ideas questions:

  • David had great faith in God because of his own experiences of God’s grace and mercy. He trusts God because he knows God. We can’t trust someone we don’t know, so knowing God will build our faith in Him. How can we come to know God?
  • How can battling giants in our own life be a good thing?
  • Did David trust God or test God?  How do we know the difference between testing and trusting God in our own lives?

Questions

Analytical questions require that everyone has a Bible and note-taking materials. These questions tend to be more difficult and often require some strong background knowledge. The open-ended questions focus solely on the story that has been told. This method works well for a widely diverse audience, having a mixture of oral and analytical learners, with different degrees of background knowledge. 

You can use the questions as given or use a mixture of the two types of questions depending upon the interests and abilities of the group.  The questions work well in both small and large groups. Everyone has an opportunity to contribute in a group of three to five people. But the questions can also work well in large group discussions. 

With a large group discussion, it helps to have a method of jotting down interesting insights or ideas during the lesson. Here are a couple suggested methods of group note taking: 

1) Appoint someone to jot down ideas after each discussion question. Use a marker board or a large sheet of poster paper. 

2) Set up a projection system so that one person can enter ideas into a word-processing document that is projected for everyone to see. This method enables you to print out a summary of the discussion or to email the notes to every person at the end of the lesson.