Quest for Questions

Today we discussed a song from Scotland called "Farewell to Tarwathie."  This is a song about the whaling industry from the nineteenth century.  Last year I wrote a blog about my discussion with the class about the difference between the original version of the song and the version recorded by Judy Collins in the 1970's.  Today I would simply like to post some of their questions that they thought of when I played the song for them.  We discussed many of these questions as well, and I was not always the one answering the questions that they asked.  It is the beginning of student centered learning while creating a safe place for questions to be asked by all members of the class.

What is the meaning of the song?
Where or what is Crimond, Mormond Hill, or Tarwathie?
Why does the singer keep mentioning the whale?
Is this song meant to be happy or sad?
What does "Signs of Time" mean?
Is this a pirate song?
Is it about love?
Is it about whales?
Are they going to Greenland?
What does Adieu mean?
Why do they want to hunt the whales?
Where was this song written?
What is the time period this song is from?
Where was this song written?
Why are they saying "Farewell to Tarwathie?
How old are they?
Do they have families?
Do they all die in the end?
Do they plan to fight each other?
Is Tarwathie a real place?
What is a comrade?
What is mountain and vale?
What is seedling?
What is whale hunting?
How old is this song?
How long of a sail will it be?
When is this in time?
Is the crew all men?
Are they Dads and Moms?

What I notice is that these are still all factual questions with one correct answer, or maybe two.  But the questions did generate some real discussion, where we talked about whaling and it was directed about their knowledge and adding to their knowledge instead of lecturing.  I have never been one to lecture anyway, but I have spent a lot of time manipulating the discussion to go the way I want it to go, so I am going to continue to experiment with this technique and see if it doesn't continue to generate more student centered discussions rather than teacher directed discussions.  I will be back with more soon.
Corries Farewell to Tarwathie