A good question is the cheapest SEL tool there is. Sharing questions help students learn about each other and practise speaking to a group. Reflection questions help them look back at what they learned and how they treated others.
Routines that include everyone
- Whip around: every student answers in a word or a sentence, fast.
- Turn and talk: partners answer, then two or three pairs share with the class.
- Inside-outside circle: two circles face each other, answer, then rotate.
- Thumbs up if...: a quick non-verbal version for shy groups.
- Always allow "pass". A student can pass and you come back to them at the end.
Light sharing questions (morning)
- What is your favourite breakfast?
- If you could have any pet, what would it be?
- What is the best sound in the world?
- What would you do on a snow day?
- Which animal would you like to be for a day?
- What is your favourite thing to do outside?
- What is a food you used to hate but now like?
- If you could visit any place, where would you go?
- What makes you laugh?
- What is a game you love to play?
- What would you name a new planet?
- Would you rather fly or be invisible?
- What is the best book you have read this year?
- What superpower would help you at school?
- What is your favourite season and why?
- What is something you are really good at?
- If you could invent a holiday, what would it celebrate?
- What is your favourite smell?
- Who is someone who makes you feel happy?
- What would you put in a time capsule?
Deeper sharing questions
- What is something hard you learned to do?
- When did someone help you this week?
- What is a time you felt proud of yourself?
- What is something you are worried about, and what could help?
- What does a good friend do?
- When do you feel calm?
- What is something you would like to get better at?
- What is a family tradition you love?
- What is one thing people don't know about you?
- What would make our classroom even better?
Reflection questions (end of the day)
The last five minutes of the day, often after specials and before the bell, are perfect for a closing reflection. Students leave with a sense of what they achieved.
- What is one thing you learned today?
- What was the hardest part of today?
- What did you do that you are proud of?
- Who was kind to you today?
- How did you help someone?
- What would you do differently tomorrow?
- What made you smile today?
- What question do you still have?
- Which colour were you most of today, and why?
- What is one goal for tomorrow?
Listening counts too: after a sharing round, ask a volunteer to remember what two classmates said. It turns a speaking activity into a listening one.
Sharing questions are one of the four parts of a morning meeting, and reflection questions pair naturally with goal setting.