Which Question Are You Asking?
A 55-minute Grade 5 lesson on identifying which discipline a question about a real public problem belongs to.
Which Question Are You Asking? is a free 55-minute Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies lesson plan for Common Core standard D4.6.3-5 — use what you have learned to explain the problems people face and the chances they make. It is timed across 5 sections, gives the exact wording to use where the wording carries the mathematics, names 3 misconceptions with the teaching move that addresses each, and ends with an exit ticket and a printable worksheet with its answer key.
- Grade:
- Grade 3 to Grade 5
- Length:
- 55 minutes
- Standard:
- D4.6.3-5
Grade 3 to Grade 5 · Communicating Conclusions and Taking Informed Action
D4.6.3-5
Draw on disciplinary concepts to explain the challenges people have faced and opportunities they have created, in addressing local, regional, and global problems at various times and places.
Objective
Students will be able to identify the discipline a question belongs to and say what it would ask next.
Students are successful when they can
- Matches a question to a discipline.
- Says what that discipline would ask next.
- Finds a question needing two disciplines.
What you need
- Four discipline headings
- Ten question cards about the programme
- The printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan
The lesson
Warm-up — one programme, four questions
5 min- Ask four different questions about the housing programme.
- Ask what makes them different kinds of question.
Teach — what each discipline asks next
18 min- Civics asks about authority and consent: who decided, and who agreed?
- Economics asks about costs, funding and who bears them.
- Geography asks about land, materials and routes: why here and not there?
- History asks about change over time and about whose account survives.
- Sort four cards, saying what each discipline would ask next.
- Take a question needing two and show what each supplies.
- Say why it matters: naming a discipline is useful only if it tells you what to ask.
“What would this discipline want to know next?”
Guided practice — sort and continue
17 min- Pairs sort ten questions under the four headings.
- For five they write the next question that discipline would ask.
- Groups present a question needing two disciplines.
Independent practice
12 min- Students complete the 'Which Question Are You Asking?' page.
- Check the reason names the kind of question, not the topic.
Close
3 min- Ask which discipline the class has used most this year.
What goes wrong, and why
Each of these is a reasoning error rather than carelessness. The fix addresses the reasoning.
Sorts by topic rather than by question.
Why: The topic is the visible word.
Fix: 'Housing' is not one discipline. Who decides is civics; who pays is economics.
Thinks a question has only one discipline.
Why: Sorting implies exclusivity.
Fix: Where materials go is geography and civics at once.
Cannot say what comes next.
Why: Naming the discipline feels like the answer.
Fix: Write the next question. That is what naming it is for.
If they are not there yet
- Five questions and two disciplines.
- Give the next question and ask which discipline asked it.
If they finish early
- Write one question in each discipline about the same event.
- Say which discipline the sources serve best.
- Find a problem no single discipline can handle.
Exit ticket
'Was fixing prices for five years a good bargain?' Which discipline is that, and what would it ask next?
What to look for: Economics, followed by a question about what prices did over those years. A discipline with no next question means the second half is missing.
Printable practice for D4.6.3-5
Free to print and copy, answer key included. Each sheet can generate a fresh set of problems for a retake.
- Which Question Are You Asking?Draw a line from each question to the discipline it belongs to.
Questions about Which Question Are You Asking?
How long does the Which Question Are You Asking? lesson take?
55 minutes, split across 5 timed sections: warm-up 5 min, teach 18 min, guided practice 17 min, independent practice 12 min, close 3 min. The minutes are stated per section and add up to the stated length, so the plan can be cut or extended at a section boundary rather than abandoned halfway.
Which standard does Which Question Are You Asking? teach?
D4.6.3-5 — D4.6.3-5, Communicating Conclusions and Taking Informed Action for Grade 3 to Grade 5: “Draw on disciplinary concepts to explain the challenges people have faced and opportunities they have created, in addressing local, regional, and global problems at various times and places.” In plain terms, use what you have learned to explain the problems people face and the chances they make.
What do I need to teach this lesson?
Four discipline headings, ten question cards about the programme and the printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan. Everything listed is either ordinary classroom equipment or a free printable from this site — there is nothing to buy and nothing to prepare beyond photocopying.
What mistakes should I expect in this lesson?
Three, each a reasoning error rather than carelessness: sorts by topic rather than by question; thinks a question has only one discipline and cannot say what comes next. The plan gives the thinking behind each one and the teaching move that addresses the thinking rather than the symptom.
How do I know whether the lesson worked?
The exit ticket asks: “'Was fixing prices for five years a good bargain?' Which discipline is that, and what would it ask next?.” Economics, followed by a question about what prices did over those years. A discipline with no next question means the second half is missing. That tells you whether the class needs a reteach or a thirty-second conversation before you plan tomorrow.
Is there a worksheet to go with Which Question Are You Asking??
Yes — 1 printable D4.6.3-5 worksheet, linked at the end of the plan and free like the rest of the site. Each one comes with an answer key and 25 versions, so the practice after the lesson can be a different paper on every desk.
Is Which Question Are You Asking? free to use?
Yes. The plan, its printables and their answer keys are free to read, print and photocopy for your own class, with no account and no email capture. It was last reviewed on 7 September 2026. Please do not resell it or republish it as your own.
Last reviewed 2026-09-07. Aligned to D4.6.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.