Asking questions

Good readers generate questions before, during, and after reading to lead them deeper into a text. This is different than answering the teacher's questions about a text -  good readers are always wondering and questioning in order to be active thinkers.

Proficient readers:

  • use questions to focus their attention on particular aspects of a text
  • ask questions for different purposes, including to clarify meaning, make predictions, determine an author's style, or locate a specific answer in text

Sample Lessons:

Anchor Charts:

asking_questions

This chart helps focus students on why questioning is important.

thinking_about_q

Asking students to participate by jotting on
sticky notes requires that they be more active thinkers

fqr

FQR charts are often good to use with nonfiction text.

 

thick_thin

"Thick" questions require more thinking than "thin" questions.

bda-1

Questioning before, during, and after reading.

bda-2

Before, during, and after chart that records student thinking
about the class read aloud.

question_wheel

Forms and Resources:

Texts for Teaching Questioning:

  • All I See by Cynthia Rylant
  • Amelia's Road by Linda Jacobs Altman
  • An Angel for Solomon Singer by Cynthia Rylant
  • Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting
  • Grandfather Twilight by Barbara Berger
  • The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland
  • Monarch Butterfly by Gail Gibbons
  • The Stranger by Chris Van Allsburg
  • The Wise Woman and Her Secret by Eve Merriam
  • Yanni Rubbish by Shulamith Levey Oppenheim

Comprehension Resources:

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