Next: Part 2 – What If Students Asked the Questions? How to Build Anticipation Through Inquiry

🔥Inquiry Circles with Student-Generated Questions

This strategy isn’t just about discussion.
It’s about activating curiosity, building autonomy, and giving your students a front-row seat to their own thinking.

What it looks like:

1. Present a compelling scenario or problem
    (e.g., “You’re a city planner trying to reduce traffic deaths—but you can’t spend more than $100,000.”)
   

2. Let students generate questions
    What do they need to know? What’s confusing? What assumptions are they making?
   

3. Form Inquiry Circles
    Small groups sort through their questions, identify 2–3 they want to explore, and assign roles: researcher, connector, question-keeper, etc.
   

4. Investigate & share
   Students explore, gather info, connect ideas, and present their thinking to peers—emphasizing the process, not just a finished answer.
   
   

Why It Works:

💡 Autonomy
Students aren’t just absorbing information—they’re directing the flow of it.

🤝 Belonging
Working in small, safe circles builds trust and shared purpose.

🧠 Competence
Students learn they’re capable of generating meaningful questions and pursuing answers.

And here’s the bonus:
 This format is neurodivergent-friendly by design.

👀 Why This Is a Win for Neurodivergent Students

Let’s be real—traditional class discussions often reward:

• Fast processors
  

• Verbal dominance
  

• One “right” answer thinking
  
  

But inquiry circles shift that. They make space for:

• Processing time (visual or written questions first)
  

• Diverse roles that fit different strengths
  

• Flexible paths to explore the topic
  

• Real collaboration without forced spotlight moments
  
  

Example:
A student with ADHD who struggles to sit still might thrive as the group’s connector—walking to post-it boards, linking ideas between groups.
 A student with autism might shine as the question-keeper—tracking logic, refining thinking, and spotting assumptions others miss.

🛠 Tips for Easy Implementation

🔹 Use sentence stems to launch inquiry

• “I wonder why…”
  

• “What would happen if…”
  

• “How might ___ affect ___?”
  

🔹 Give question starters, not answers
Start with a brief text, image, or scenario. Then ask:
“What questions does this raise for you?”
“Which of these questions would be worth investigating?”

🔹 Model the process first
Show how to move from curiosity → research → connections.
Think aloud. Be messy. Let students see how you think.

🔹 Celebrate the questions, not just the answers
Put sticky notes on a “Wall of Wonder”
 Give weekly shoutouts for the most creative, complex, or brave questions.

💬 Real Teacher Reflection

“I used to feel like I had to be the ‘keeper of all the questions.’ Inquiry Circles helped me let go—and students stepped up in ways I never expected. Even my quietest kid was the one helping the group rephrase their main question into something deeper.”
 — 6th grade ELA teacher, Neighborhood member.

✅ TL;DR: Inquiry Circles Fuel Motivation Because…

• They’re real: Students care about what they’re investigating.
  

• They’re flexible: Every student can enter the task in a way that works for their brain.
  

• They’re affirming: Questions aren’t mistakes. They’re evidence of thinking.
  

And most of all—they give students what they often crave but rarely get:
The chance for their opinion to matter in how learning unfolds.

🚪 Next Steps: Try It Tomorrow

Start small. Try this:

1. Take your next “introduction to a new topic.”
   

2. Replace your direct instruction with a provocative question, image, or dilemma.
   

3. Give students 5 minutes to generate their own questions in pairs.
   

4. Build your next lesson using their curiosity as the entry point.
   
   

💬 Want More Strategies Like This?

We do this all year inside The Neighborhood—our online community for teachers who want student-centered, brain-aligned, neuroaffirming classrooms (without burning themselves out in the process).

Inside, you’ll get: ✨ Weekly live calls with Britt
📚 A full library of printables + replay lessons
🧠 Real strategies for real brains
💬 A private community of teachers who get it

👉 [Click here to join or learn more about The Neighborhood]

Because you don’t need more pressure.
You need a place that helps you teach in a way that actually works.