Yes/No, Why?

Guidelines for Developing Questions

Here’s another prompt to consider. Is it good?

Did you ever buy something spontaneously that wasn’t in your budget?

No. It's not a bad question to use in a different activity, but it's not right for Yes/No, Why? because it only has one vocabulary word in it, so students aren’t being challenged to examine the relationships among the meanings of the vocabulary words they are learning. 

What about this one?

Did you ever do something spontaneous that was detrimental to your budget?

No, this one won't work, either. It’s written as a real question, not a hypothetical query, so the students’ answers will be based on their personal experiences, with no possibility for debate or discussion. Again, it could be used for another kind of activity, but not for Yes/No, Why?. 

Would this one work?

When you spontaneously bought a new camper, was it detrimental to your budget?

No. The context is too personal and is limiting. What if your students haven't spontaneously bought new campers?

Here’s one last prompt to look at. 

Is spending money spontaneously always detrimental to a budget?

This one is a keeper. It's general and hypothetical, so it can be answered either way and argued.