Whole Earth Curriculum WEC

Lesson 03 — Unsupported Claims and Probing Questions

Learners identify unsupported claims in everyday speech and ask probing questions — questions that press for the missing support or test an assumption — without attacking the speaker. They practice kind, curious questioning on claims from many regions and language traditions.

D04 P3: Intellectual & Cognitive Awareness D04.S1 50 minutes Draft

Objectives

Essential question

How do I spot an unsupported claim and ask a question that probes for the missing support?

unsupported claimprobing questionassumptionchallengeclarify

Materials

Standard materials

Low-tech / no-cost

Enriched / lab & device

Works in different contexts

Three speech bubbles with question marks, each labeled with a probing question stem: 'How do you know?', 'What is the evidence?', and 'Could it also be…?'. A caption reads 'Questions that probe for missing support.'
Three speech bubbles with question marks, each labeled with a probing question stem: 'How do you know?', 'What is the evidence?', and 'Could it also be…?'. A caption reads 'Questions that probe for missing support.'

Lesson 3 — Unsupported Claims and Probing Questions

Summary

Learners move from finding weak links to asking about them. They name an unsupported claim, then ask a probing question — a question that presses for missing support or tests a hidden assumption — in a way that is curious rather than hostile. They practice on everyday claims from many regions.

Objectives

  • Identify an unsupported claim in everyday speech and ask a probing question that presses for missing support or tests an assumption. (D04.S1.07.01)

Connection

When a claim has no support, you have two choices: accept it silently, or ask. The question “How do you know?” is one of the most powerful tools a person owns. It is how you protect yourself and others from a false cure, a bad deal, or a rumor — and it works the same in a pharmacy in Nairobi, a repair shop in Hanoi, or a family kitchen anywhere. A probing question is not an attack; it is a door you open together.

Materials

  • Question-stem cards
  • Claim cards
  • Probing page

Preparation

  • Make question-stem cards: “How do you know…?”, “What is the evidence…?”, “Could it also be…?”, “Who says so, and why should we trust them…?”, “What would change your mind…?”
  • Prepare six short claims, some unsupported. Adaptable set: a health cure with no evidence, a “this brand is best” claim, a school rumor, a weather prediction, a money tip, a claim about a device.
  • Copy a probing page for each learner.

Facilitator note

This lesson is written to the learner (“you”). The idea to land is that a probing question asks for the missing support or tests an assumption — and it can be asked kindly. Model the tone as much as the words: “I wonder how we know that,” not “prove it!” Use worked examples before practice (Kirschner, Sweller & Clark, 2006). Where questioning adults is culturally risky, frame questions as wondering together, and offer an anonymous “wonder box” for written questions (see docs/contexts.md). The four lenses: ethics (questioning to protect, not to wound); egalitarianism (anyone can ask; questioning power, gently, is a shared right); global (question-stems travel across languages); social-emotional (curiosity feels different from attack — practice the warm tone). Keep claims small and safe.

Procedure

  1. Gather (5 min). Recall last lesson’s broken chains. Today you do something about them: you ask. What question would you ask when a chain has no evidence?
  2. Meet the probing question (10 min). A probing question asks for missing support or tests an assumption. Read the stems on the cards. Worked example: someone says “This phone is the best.” Probing questions: “How do you know?” “What evidence do you have?” “Could another phone also be good for a different reason?” Say them with a warm voice.
  3. Probe six claims (15 min). With a partner, take the claim cards. For each, first say whether the claim is supported or unsupported, then ask two probing questions using the stems. Write your best two on your page.
  4. Wonder together (10 min). Choose one claim and role-play: one partner states the claim, the other asks a probing question, then they switch. Notice the tone — how does a question feel when it is curious rather than accusing?
  5. Close (5 min). You now have a habit, not just a skill: when a claim has no support, you ask — kindly, and you keep asking until you see the reasoning.

Differentiation

  • Support: Provide the stem cards plus a sentence starter (“I wonder how we know…”) and let learners ask just one question per claim.
  • Extension: For one claim, ask a question that tests a hidden assumption (“You assume… — is that always true?”) and write it down.

Assessment

  • Formative (observation): Can the learner name a claim as unsupported and ask a question that genuinely probes for support or tests an assumption?
  • Peer-check: Partners rate each other’s questions with three checks: does it ask for support? is it kind? is it on the real claim?

Home connection

Practice one “How do you know?” this week — asked gently to a friend, a sibling, or yourself — and notice what the answer reveals about the support behind a claim.

Resources