The Parking Lot- Our Lingering Questions...

I enjoy that my students like to ask questions. Although I want to foster the love of questioning, I also want to teach the childern how to stay on topic. Sometimes a question comes up that I really don't know the exact answer to. I went to a professional development day and the presenter used a Parking Lot. Any question that couldn't be answered at the time or she didn't know the answer to, went on a sticky note and was Parked in the Parking Lot! I loved the idea and created my own. Sometimes the questions are answered in another lesson and sometimes we "research" the questions when we have a few extra minutes or as a transition between activities. I also started using them as a way to challenge some of my students.  When I was in an intervention group, I would let other students pick a question to research. If they found the correct answer they would share it with the class and explain how they found the answer.  We called it "Our Lingering Questions". (Another rich word I was able to introduce. :-)