Examples of questions at Blank Levels 1-4 – specific subjects

What are Blank Levels?

Below are examples of questions at Blank Levels 1-4 for specific subjects. Try to match your questions to the learning task or activity.

Literacy / English Literature

Level 1

• Name items, real or pictures, for example, ‘What’s this?’
• Find named items, for example, ‘Show me the…’
• Find matching items, for example, ‘Find another…like this’

Level 2

• Answer ‘Who?’ ‘What?’, ‘Where?’ questions about information that has just been given, shown or read. This requires recall.
• Identify properties or attributes, for example, ‘Who is kind, mean, generous, ugly, beautiful?’, or a plot that is exciting, boring etc.
• Categorise examples, for example, ‘Name another character in the story or scene’, or show a picture of groceries, ‘What fruits can you see?’, or ask what settings are used
• Give another example, for example, ‘Yes, X is a character. What other characters are in the film or book?’

Level 3

• Summarise information for example, ‘What happened to X?’
• Choose a suitable title or name for a story, for example, ‘What can you call your story?’
• Retell a short sequence of events or a story, for example, ‘Tell me what happened’ – it is much easier for the young person to give a recount immediately after hearing it. Gradually increase the time lag between hearing and recounting the events.
• Identify what a character might think or say about a situation in the story, for example, ‘What was the boy thinking?’ and ‘What did his Mum say?’
• Identify how a character might feel in a situation, for example, ‘How was the boy feeling?’
• Make a simple prediction about what might happen next. For some young people this will be extremely hard so support them by:

o Retelling the sequence of events so far for them
o Highlighting the critical elements of the events
o Linking the event in the story to the young person’s personal experience

• Define words, for example, ‘What does suspicious mean?’

Level 4

• Inference – ‘How can we tell…?’, ‘How can we tell that this character is feeling angry or happy, is poor, has committed this crime etc?’ Again the young person may need support in identifying critical information in order for an inference to be made.
• Justify a prediction made at Level 3, for example, ‘Why do you think that X will happen?’
• Justify the action of a character, for example, ‘Why did a character behave in that way?’
• Solve a problem. ‘If X happens or doesn’t happen, what should the character do? For example, ‘If the dog doesn’t come home before bedtime, what should the boy do?’ Apply the situation to the young person’s own personal experience.

Maths

Level 1

Level 1

• Name equipment
• Find equipment by name
• Match pieces of equipment with others that have the same function

Level 2

• Identify by properties or attributes, for example, ‘Which material is flexible or rigid?’, ‘which is acid or alkali?’, or ‘which is a conductor or insulator?’
• Categorise items, for example, ‘Yes, a whale is a mammal, what other mammal can you think of?’ (or reptiles, combustible materials etc)
• Identify items by a description of their function, for example, ‘What pumps blood in the body?’, ‘Which could you use to make clothes?’, ‘what is used to heat up the contents of a test tube?’. Try this first where the items or pictures of the items are in front of the child; in later lessons, try this where the items are not visible.
• Describe what is happening, for example, ‘What happens to the shadow?’

Level 3

• Recount, in sequence, the steps taken in an investigation or experiment. The task will be easier if the young person has the materials in front of them to give a visual reminder. Initially support the young person either by:

• • supplying the information (sequence strips of photos) for the young person to correctly organise or
  • giving alternatives, for example, ‘Did you do X or Y next’ or
  • giving a prompt, for example, ‘ What happened after you did X?’ for each step.

• Name something that’s in the category but has an exception, for example, ‘Which bird can’t fly?’, or an organ of the body that is not internal, a gas that is not toxic on inhalation etc
• Name something that does not fit the category, for example, ‘Which of these materials is rigid but not transparent?’
• Predict the outcome of the investigation. This prediction must be obvious, for example, ‘This slope has a rough surface. How fast will the car go?’
• Define words and technical terms, for example, ‘What does transparent mean?’

Level 4

• Justify a prediction made at Level 3, for example, ‘Why will X happen?’ or ‘Why did Y happen?’, and what is the evidence
• Present a solution to a possible problem, for example, ‘The soil is really dry, what should we do?’ or what could be done if the experiment is unsuccessful or doesn’t bring the expected result?
• Justify why a certain course of action has been taken, for example, ‘Why did we use equipment X rather than equipment Y?’
• Make a judgement, for example, ‘How do you know X happened?’, ‘how do you know that a chemical reaction has taken place, that no further reaction will take place etc

Design and Technology

Level 1

• Name equipment
• Find the ruler
• Match one tool with another that has the same function

Level 2

• Identify items by a description of their function – try this where the equipment is in front of the child, in later lessons try this where the things are not visible
• Categorise items of equipment, for example, that cut, stick, clamp, or secure materials
• Give another example within the category, for example, other things that could be used to cut a particular kind of material

Level 3

• Recount the steps taken to make something. The task will be easier if the young person has the materials in front of them to give a visual reminder. Initially support the young person, either by:
  • supplying photos for the young person to correctly organise, or
  • giving alternatives, for example, ‘did you do X or Y next?’ or a prompt ‘what happened after you did X?’ for each step
• Name something that is in the category, but has an exception, for example, ‘a tool that cuts but doesn’t have two blades’
• Name something that is not in the category
• Predict the outcome
• Define words and technical terms

Level 4

• Present a solution to a possible problem – perhaps a difficulty in construction, or how could X be improved?
• Justify why a certain course of action has been taken, for example, ‘why should we join these materials with X rather than Y?’

Geography

Level 1

• Name items, real or pictures etc
• Find named items
• Find matching items, for example, ‘find another sign-post or contour line like this one’

Level 2

• Identify by properties or attributes, for example, ‘look at the map and show me a red/ or yellow road’, ‘how is a church drawn on a map?’ or hilly vs flat, high vs low rainfall or temperatures
• Categorise items, for example, ‘find all the rivers, write down their names’, ‘what do you think these brown shapes are?’, list rivers or countries that are part of Europe
• Explain what is happening, for example, ‘what is happening?’, or ‘what can you see in the picture?’
• Identify what other items might fit the same category, for example, ‘what other colours are used to show a road?’, other mountainous regions or areas with similar rainfall level

Level 3

• Name something that’s in the category, but has an exception, for example, ‘which church is not in a village?’, mountain ranges not in Europe or not above 15,000ft
• Name something that does not fit the category, e.g. ‘which of these coloured lines does not represent a road?’
• Recount, in sequence, anything that is a step-by-step event, for example, ‘which roads would you walk along to get from the post-office to the school?’, cloud formation or rainfall, rock formation etc. The task will be easier if the young person has the materials or pictures in front of them to give a visual reminder and support the organisation of thought. Initially support the young person either by:

• • supplying the information (sentence strips or photos) for them to correctly organise, or
  • giving alternatives (for example, ‘does X or Y happen next?’) or a prompt (e.g. ‘what happens after X?’) for each step
• Predict the outcome of a course of action, for example, ‘if the river floods which house will get wet?’, deforestation etc
• Define words and technical terms, for example, ‘what are flood defences?’

Level 4

• Justify the prediction made at Level 3, for example, ‘why do you think X will happen?’, and what is the evidence?
• Present a solution to a possible problem, for example, ‘what could they do to stop the flooding?’, what could they do to prevent the problems caused by deforestation or water pollution
• Justify why a certain course of action has been taken or is best, for example, ‘why is it a good idea not to build houses on the flat areas by the river?’
• Make a judgement – how does the young person know something, for example, ‘how do you know that this house on the map is on a hill?’, ‘how do you find the age of a rock formation or climate of a region or prosperity of a region’

History

Level 1