Posing Open Questions

Below are examples of open questions that I posed to my students during our Addition and Subtraction Unit. While some worked well, some bombed. I would like to blame the students, but like always, it was because the questions or tasks didn't reflected the students needs, I used the wrong numbers or I didn't word the problem correctly. Regardless, writing open questions is a learning process. They are not easy to write, but when they work maths lessons come alive and so too student learning. The important thing is that I reflected on why they worked or why they did not. I can then make changes for next year and makes maths lessons even better.

Here are some of them


Students really struggled with this as there was a lot of information missing. What I learnt was that some students would take risks and trial different numbers. Others waited for me to give them temperatures and had a hard time thinking about how to start. Maths to me is about making mistakes and having a go. This ended up being a good lesson as it told me that I needed to teach my kids to be risk takers. After observing their maths journals, I also found out that I we need to work on what 'difference' means and how we can use subtraction to find the differences between numbers.


This worked well, but I forget to tell them they can only use the numbers in the box... next time!



These questions are always good. It is important though that you ask students to show their thinking.


These kinds of questions will tell you if students understand the concept of 'equals'.


I have a pair of dotty socks, hence the question. This was ok. My students struggled with the meaning of 'pair of' so we had to talk about that first. Always, good to remember that don't assume students always know what your talking about... especially in an ESL setting.



This worked well. You can make these receipts online. It was close to Xmas time so kids enjoyed this. They then told my kids what I bought them. Again, lots to comprehend here. I enjoyed this as it made them think in context and what could possible answers be.


This was linked to our weather and data handling unit. It worked really well. Students liked having the choice of country to choose from. Reflecting on their answers, studdents learnt and gained a better understanding about how can use subtraction to find the difference between two numbers.

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This again was a problem that students found difficult. I think the wording was not great and maybe too complex for ESL students. We did talk about it first. Most struggled with thinking about what prices to use.



These work well and students love to have choice and to work with others.



Another problem linked to our unit.



I really liked this problem. I love finding maths problems when I am out and about.



Given choice is always good.


These questions or task above are a few examples of things I have posed to my students. I hope you find them useful. If you have any advice please comment below. Always great to share planning.