Teaching with Questions

General Guidelines for Preparing Questions

“Church-produced lesson manuals suggest many questions that you can use in lessons. You may also prepare your own questions.”

Questions That Can Be Answered Yes or No

Questions that can be answered yes or no have limited use in gospel instruction.

Factual Questions

Factual questions are used to establish the basic facts of a scripture passage, event, or gospel principle. They have specific answers. They can help learners begin to study scripture passages, understand major points, review ideas, and overcome misconceptions.

Make sure that you do not ask only factual questions. They do not require much thought, and they may discourage those who do not know the answers.

Questions That Prompt Deeper Thinking

These questions often begin with the words what, how, or why. Do not try to get learners to give specific answers to questions; they will quickly become aware of what you are doing and either stop participating or start guessing instead of thinking.

Questions That Help Learners Apply Gospel Principles

It is important to ask questions that help learners apply gospel principles in their lives. For example: ‘How do we sometimes make the same error as the people in this story?’ ‘What are some circumstances today that are similar to the events in this scripture account?’ Ask learners to share examples of how they or others have applied the gospel principles being discussed.

General Guidelines for Asking Questions

Respond to Incorrect Answers with Respect and Courtesy

Respond to incorrect answers with respect and courtesy. You may choose to take responsibility yourself by saying something like, ‘I’m sorry. I don’t think I asked that question very clearly. Let me try again.’ Or you could rescue the individual by saying, ‘Perhaps you were thinking of something else’ or ‘Thank you for bringing that up, but I’m not sure my question was clear.’

Wait for Responses

Do not be concerned if learners are silent for a few seconds after you have asked a question. Do not answer your own question. Prolonged silence may indicate that they do not understand the question and that you need to rephrase it.

Use Follow-Up Questions

Follow-up questions can help learners think more deeply about a principle they are discussing…you might ask, ‘What else can we learn from this story?’

Give Everyone Opportunity to Speak

You may want to direct some follow-up questions to those who have not yet made comments during the lesson.

Help Learners Prepare to Answer Questions

Be careful not to ask questions that promote argument or highlight sensational issues. Do not ask questions that create doubt or that lead to discussions that fail to edify. Make sure that your questions move learners toward a unity of faith and love (see Mosiah 18:21). When there is disagreement, strive to emphasize points of agreement and correct doctrine.

Creative Uses of Questions

Ask each learner to write one question based on a gospel principle or verse of scripture. Gather the questions and discuss them. During the week before the lesson, give questions to a few learners. Ask them to prepare to respond to those questions as part of the coming lesson. Use the following questions to discuss a gospel principle: ‘What do we already know about this principle?’ ‘What do we want to know?’ ‘What have we learned today?’ You can form the basis of the lesson by having learners answer these questions and then writing the answers in three columns on the chalkboard. Write a question on the chalkboard before class begins so that learners can begin pondering it as soon as they arrive.”