ABSTRACT
Studies done years ago by Mary Budd Rowe (1987) showed conclusively that the "wait time," that is, the time between a question asked by the teacher and the first student response, is typically about 1.5 seconds. She demonstrated that when teachers extend wait time following a question to even three seconds, students give more thoughtful responses. The Letting Questions Percolate (Percolating) strategy helps through the problem by giving a concrete means of asking reflective questions that require reflective answers. Questions that incorporate a moral dimension or that affect students' lives are more likely to interest them and receive due attention. Giving students time to think about the question, research an answer, and form an explanation produces a higher level of response. Questions or problems that require some percolating should generally relate to the context of the ideas, skills, knowledge, and values being studied by the class.
