Question
Students will learn to ask questions before, during and after reading and to seek answers to deepen their understanding of the text. By bringing their own questions to small groups, students will examine what they don't know and get help in comprehending. This lesson plan will get you started on a 6-week study of how asking questions helps students comprehend. I usually study questions in depth with my students the fourth and fifth months of school and then continue to add to our understanding throughout the year.
Asking comprehension questions following reading has limited value in helping teachers learn about children's understanding or in developing children's ability to comprehend.
Fountas and Pinnell, Guided Reading
Getting Started: Who Asks the Questions in Your Classroom?
"Teachers dominate 76% of classroom talk...60% of teacher talk is questions... the number of questions asked by the teacher in the study was almost 100 per hour (Kathleen Mohr, Reading Teacher, Feb. 2007)." Sadly, most questions were worded in such a way that students were to guess the response the teacher was looking for.
I saw myself in those numbers. What made me change was my teacher research. I got the chance to work with Dixie Goswami at a Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C. school, First Ward. As a result of my experience, I now select one inquiry to study in depth each year; MY teacher-research project keeps teaching fresh and meaningful.
One year I studied questions.
I taught students how to ask questions about what they read. I showed them how by asking questions of my own with texts that were difficult for me to read. It was expected that students, too, would bring questions to reading groups. I gave them time in class to read and prepare what they would say or ask by writing it in personal reader-response daybooks. There, in the safety of a small group, we admitted what we didn't know and sought help from one another. We struggled at first because students had been conditioned by school to believe that if they read the text, they shouldn't have any questions. So, if students claimed to have read but didn't have questions, I was prepared to ask mine.
At the end of the year, I interviewed dozens of students.
I asked them whether they comprehended texts better when teachers asked comprehension questions or when they got the chance to ask their own questions. My most able students told me that asking their own questions helped them look at deeper levels of meaning than they ever had before. One girl said, "I used to just put the book down and read another. I didn't know you could talk about books with other people."
Of course, I'm generalizing here, but most of my average students thanked me for letting them ask questions. They told me that before this year they could answer the teachers' questions, usually getting As or Bs on quizzes, but they left the book not knowing the answers to their own questions.
And finally, my biggest strugglers said they liked when the teachers asked the questions. I'm guessing, but I think that's because it's uncomfortable to come to reading group prepared with questions, especially if one's understanding of text is limited and asking questions reveals what one doesn't know. Or, sometimes comprehension was so faulty, they didn't know what to ask.
Changing from a question-asking teacher to a let-them-ask-the question teacher is the hardest change to make for those implementing the proficient reader research.
Maybe that's because we feel we have to test comprehension of a text instead how a reader comprehended. Maybe it's because we haven't read all the books ourselves and we feel the students might fool us. Maybe we worry they might spend time on "thin" questions or won't prepare for book discussion groups at all.
Let me reassure you:
(1) Students have to use (and make sense of) literal details in order to discuss deeper questions. When asking their own questions, they practice literal and inferential thinking.
(2) With modeling, kids will learn how to ask question so that they improve their comprehension. By handing over the work of making sense of the text to our students, teachers can put quiz-making time to better use.
(3) Students ask questions about things teachers never dream need be discussed! Without clearing up misconceptions, comprehension is compromised.
(4) Any student, regardless of reading level, benefits from asking questions about confusing parts or literary elements.
(5) Teachers can grade whether reading skills, strategies, and comprehension are improving.
(6) The student who doesn't answer comprehension questions well might also have difficulty asking her own questions. Don't focus on the exceptions. Believe me, the majority benefits from the learning the questioning proficient reader strategy.
Sooo...What have you got to lose? You can always go back to doing all the work, but I bet you won't! You will find helpful hints on this page to keep you moving forward.
Checklist for Teaching Students to Ask Discussion Questions
- Model what good listening looks like. Make an anchor chart from the discussion.
- Create a culture that values questions: put up questions walls, implement class meetings, bring in funny questions, ask dismissal-time questions (like, "How does hot water get to your bathtub?").
- Teach children how to ask questions. Start with words they don't know. Ask plot questions. Move to main idea, author's purpose, theme questions. Teach, "If You're Stuck, Ask These Questions." (See photo, right.)
- Teach children to mark their questions in a variety of ways: mark confusing parts with sticky notes, write in their daybooks, write on bookmarks designed for such, code papers that can be written on, etc.
- Practice Stop, Ask, & Answer at the end of each page in pairs or triads. If necessary, mark books with LIGHT pencil dots. Direct children to stop at the dot and ask a question.
- Arrange for your students to observe a group of adults or students talking about a book. Notice what works. Talk about what needs work. Brainstorm problems and possible solutions for challenges students will face. Read Knee to Knee, Eye to Eye for more suggestions.
- Bring groups together with the teacher. Coach student leaders to move their groups along. Give everyone a chance to be a leader.
- Try Star Charts to get everyone talking.
- Try Book Club Response Sheet to deepen comprehension and improve group dynamics.
- Study types of questions to ask during minilesson time: question stems, Keene and Zimmermann's categories, Marzano's categories, the classes' categories, which questions sustain the best discussion and why, and test-language questions.
- Teach children how to assess their individual progress.
- Assess how children use the strategies in order to know what to teach.
Sample Lesson: 4-Day Questioning-Strategy Lesson
Day One: Teacher Models How to Read a Book Using Sticky Notes to Record Questions
Materials
- A read-aloud book that you checked out ahead of time. Select a book that integrates with your social studies or science curriculum, or your genre, series or author study. Read through it ahead of time to be sure it's a good modeling book. One excellent book is The Three Questions based on a story by Leo Tolstoy. The author is Jon J Muth.
- Children need a surface on which to write - daybook, clipboard or large book.
- Six sticky notes per child.
Review the strategy chart. What strategies do we already know? What fix-up strategies do we know? What good reading habits do we know? Make sure children have recorded this chart somewhere in their reader-response daybook. Keep referring them back to this chart as you continue to add strategies.
The teacher adds a new "good reader strategy" to the chart today - Good readers ask questions before, during and after reading. Ask students to add it to their chart also.
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Fix-Up Word Strategies
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Reading Strategies
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Reading Habits
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Model
Gather the children around you on the floor. Ask them to bring their daybooks and their pencils with them. Re-create the warmth of feeling when reading a book at night with mom or dad. Some children sit on chairs and some on the floor but everyone should be able to see what the teacher is doing.
Tell the children that they are to watch you "read and think aloud." Observe what you do. Observe what you say. And above all, do not call out. Tell them, you will be thinking aloud what your questions are and you don't want any answers! You want them to hear your answers at first. Thinking time is important to good readers.
Say something like, Today I am going to model using a new strategy. I have a new book I've never read before, some sticky notes, and my pencil. I want you to watch how I use the strategy called questioning. Pay very close attention to what I do and say. The reason I am modeling for you is so that you know what to do before I ask you to give it a try.
Model reading the cover, looking at the picture and noticing the author/illustrator. Stick questions on the front of the book that you have before you even start reading. (The "experts" suggest one question per sticky note. The advantage is that you can do charts with the whole class or small groups later where you can sort the sticky notes into the kinds of questions you are asking - great research! The disadvantage is the cost. The first time through, I post one sticky note per page and I write one question on one sticky note.)
The teacher reads the first few pages, stopping wherever she has a question. The teacher talks out loud about what she's wondering. Additionally, if the group is familiar with the questioning strategy, she models recording page numbers, possible answers, and evidence that answers the questions on the sticky notes as well. Flip the pages back and forth to model rereading. (Read to the middle of the book for this modeling part and then invite the students to join in.)
Sample questions for The Three Questions:
- Setting Purpose Before Reading Question - What are the three questions for which the book is named?
- Accessing Background Knowledge Question - This story is based on a true story by Leo Tolstoy. I know he was a GREAT writer. I bet this will be a GREAT story. Leo Tolstoy wrote in Russia. Will this story take place in Russia?
- Author's Craft Question. The story is dedicated to Nikolai? I wonder if he will be the main character in the story? And, if he is, is he related to Leo Tolstoy, the original writer, or to Jon Muhr, the author of this book?
- Illustration Question - The boy is flying a red kite on the first page. Why red? Why is he flying a kite?
- Setting Question - The boy is at the water's edge and there are mountains in this picture. There are 3 animals - a monkey, a dog, and a bird. Where does the story take place? Is it Russia? Do monkeys live in Russia?
- Refer-Back Question - The story begins, "There once was a boy name Nikolai..." Is the boy the same as the boy the book is dedicated to? Was I right?
- Plot Question - The three questions are revealed on this page. Now I want to know the answers!
- Vocabulary Question - What's a heron?
- Genre Question - Is this a fable? The animals talk!
- Characterization Question - Each of the animals has a distinct personality. Is each animal a symbol? The kite is on every page so far. Is the kite a symbol or a character?
- Prediction Question - The boy is going to meet someone named Leo. Who is Leo? Will he know the answers to the three questions?
- Big Idea Question - If this is a fable, then what clues will tell me what lesson the boy will learn?
- Author's Purpose Question - Is the author trying to convince us that we should appreciate what we have?
Ask children what they observed. Make sure they understand that they should:
- Use one sticky note per page. Write one question per sticky note. Get a new sticky note when you turn the page if you need it. There is no rule about how many sticky notes to ask, but it is not a contest. Ask thoughtful questions.
- Ask a variety of questions. Sometimes readers wonder about settings, characters, plot, themes, and sometimes they just wonder. No question is right. None are wrong.
- Reread when the story isn't making sense or when they want to check a detail.
- Write his/her own questions no matter what they are. Stop whenever they have a question and record it.
- Record answers as well if students think they've found them. Move the sticky note near or under the evidence.
Reading Time - Releasing Responsibility to the Students
Invite the children to record questions along with you until the end of the book. Give them 6 sticky notes apiece. (Six fit nicely on the front of a writing notebook so that they have a hard surface on which to write. You can also stick sticky notes onto a clipboard ahead of time if you have enough clipboards. Colored sticky notes are appealing but optional!)
For the purpose of modeling today, students will fill just 6 sticky notes. They can write at any time. The teacher will stop to write her questions also and during that time students should...
- Write a question.
- Take notes on evidence for answers.
- Think about the story.
- Cross out a question and add a more important one - if the student fills the 6 sticky notes. Each child defines what's most important for herself.
Kids begin to burst with questions and they are dying to talk to someone. To relieve the pressure, stop a couple times during the reading to let students turn to a partner and share questions. Give them time to talk about the questions they've noticed as they watch their minds at work. Turning to a partner will also give children a chance to check to see if they're on track with the assignment.
After reading, the teacher gives the students time to read over their questions and find some that never got answered during the reading. Also, find new questions readers have after reading the story. If time, talk about initial reactions to some of the questions that didn't get answered. (There will probably be too many to discuss.)
Collect the notes to record later on a chart for tomorrow's lesson.
Closure Options: Announce that you will put the book out for people to read during sustained reading time if they choose.
- Ask students if they noticed what effect self-questioning had on their reading today.
- Briefly discuss what they noticed about using this questioning strategy. What decisions did they make? How did they come up with questions? Were their questions real or did they write something because they were told to?
- Ask how students could apply self-questioning to other kinds of reading that they are doing.
- If time, discuss what the children thought the author's purpose for writing this book is and what they think the main idea - the big idea - is.
- Share your own reactions. Personally, I found that this strategy slowed down my reading. It made me much more reflective. I realized I loved sharing with a partner to see where our questions connected and where they were different. I was interested to see which questions got answered and which questions didn't. I think I can use this strategy when I am reading really hard books which require deep understanding. I would not use this on a comic book or John Grisham novel!
- Reassure students that while this strategy slows readers down at first, the students will eventually be thinking of questions in their heads, not recording them.
Day Two: Rereading The Three Questions
Materials
- Write the questions from the sticky notes onto chart paper before reading time. (Sort the questions as you write them and put similar questions together.)
- A copy of The Three Questions for re-reading.
Discussion: Wherever possible, ask students to talk to a partner or small group before reporting their thinking to the whole group.
- Review questions with the students that the teacher transferred from the sticky notes to the chart paper. Ask them what they notice by reading the chart. (With younger children, read the questions to them and ask them to discuss what they noticed.)
- Tell the students that today the teacher will re-read the book. Ask them to pay close attention to whether their questions get answered OR whether they have NEW questions.
- Re-read The Three Questions and the teachers thinks aloud her answers to the questions. Encourage the children to think along with you by adding their observations and even new questions.
- At the end of the reading, re-think the main idea and theme of this book. What do the children think now that they have re-read the book? (The main idea is a short summary of who + did what. It is a reading question. Students should not disagree on the main idea. The theme is a literary analysis question. What message, if you will, is conveyed by the author to each reader? As children get older, the teacher can ask what unifying idea underlies the story? What each child believes in personal. Readers love to debate themes.)
Closure
Discuss what they children learned by re-reading the book.
- They will probably be surprised at how much more they noticed and how many more questions they were able to answer.
- Their understanding of the theme usually changes.
- They use more evidence to answer questions and to determine main idea and theme because they pay attention to details they didn't hear the first time.
Lead your students to an understanding that...
- Re-reading is a strategy good readers use when they read texts.
- Questions that students struggle with after the first reading might get answered after re-reading.
- Students who question as they read understand texts better.
- Paying attention to the questions reader's brains are raising is a skill that needs to be practiced. Often readers don't give themselves enough time to stop and think in this way.
- Sometimes after re-reading, a reader has new questions or she realizes she has questions that can't be answered by reading the book.
Day Three: Students Read Independently + Try Self-Questioning + Sticky Notes
Materials
- Divide your class into 3 or 4 instructional reading groups.
- Select a book for each group that can be read in one sitting. Each child needs his/her own copy.
- Provide sticky notes for each child - 6 per student.
- Differentiation: For children who are 2 years or below grade level - record one of the selected books on tape.
Review
- The reading strategy - ask questions before, during and after reading.
- Writing questions for each page. Get a new sticky note for a new page.
- Write questions before, during and after reading.
- If possible, note evidence that answers questions on the same sticky note for that page.
Reading Time: Give children time to read and record questions independently. Depending on your students, they can read 30-40 minutes. During this time, the teacher confers with individuals, teaching as needed or taking anecdotal notes to determine future lessons. Make sure the students save their sticky notes by leaving them in place in the book for tomorrow. (Children who finish early can work in centers or do independent reading. Some task will need to be available because children will finish at different times.)
Differentiation - Children reading book on tape need to decide who will stop the tape so that they can write questions. They may need to agree on a signal so that they can let the "tape-recorder operator" know they need time to write.
Closure: Gather children on the rug. Ask them to talk about their Stop-and-Question experience as partners and then as a class. Teacher records what students say in her daybook.
Day Four: Children Discuss Questions In Groups
Materials
- Discussion Group Rules written on a chart. (My group rules are listed at the bottom of the Strategy Circle page on this site.)
- Purpose for the day written on a sentence strip.
- Books still available.
- Sit groups together for discussion.
Review the reading strategy - ask questions before, during and after reading.
Input
Tell students that groups get together all over the country to discuss books. They like to ask their own questions and get their peers' responses. Also, good readers love to figure out the author's purpose and the big idea of the book.
Write this on the board: Writers write for many reasons. Among them are . . .
- to inform - articles about extinct animals
- to persuade - editorial page
- to explain - a book explaining how an airplane flies
- to entertain - Shrek
Make sure the students understand each reason. An example might help. Also, make sure they understand that sometimes the purpose is a combination of reasons.
The big idea is the main idea that the author hopes the reader will understand.
- Article about extinct animals - Gorillas are in danger of extinction.
- Editorial - We need money to pay for sidewalks.
- To explain - A plane creates different air densities above and below the wing to lift off.
- Entertain - It doesn't matter what you look like on the outside. It's the inside that counts! (Shrek)
Model discussion groups and be very particular about how you want it done!
- Gather chairs together in a circle.
- Pull together so that if it gets loud, the group can lean in and still hear one another.
- Have materials ready. (Bring books and sticky notes.)
Pull a small group together who will model how to have a group conversation about books. Go through ALL the steps as listed on the chart in a mini-version. Usually, allow time for only one or 2 questions to be modeled so that the groups can see how to ask questions and give possible responses. However, if you see problems this may take more time.
Talk through potential problems and solutions with the whole class. Examples:
- not hearing - ask politely to speak up
- difficulty selecting a leader - tell the teacher and the teacher will select this first time
- leader must keep the group moving, remind people to listen to one another, make sure everyone is contributing - not equally! - but at least that everyone gets a chance
- polite language that helps the group
Independent Practice
Independent Groups follow the Group Discussion Rules to ask their questions and talk through possible answers. Also, talk about the author's purpose and the big idea of the reading.
Stop the group about 5 minutes before closure time. Remind the leaders to compliment each person for their contribution today and be specific. Ask the groups to summarize what they want to share with the whole class.
OPTIONAL: At this point you may want to focus the discussion. You may want to pose a specific question or combination of questions. You may ask them to record their summary in some way as a group, depending on how much time you have.
- What came out in discussion that they think is interesting for the whole class to hear.
- What they think the big idea and/or author's purpose of their book is.
- How the strategy helped the reading group discuss better.
- How they think this strategy can be applied to other readings that they are doing.
Assessment (Just choose one.)
Finally, assess using a strategy that matches the focus of the group discussion.
- Ask children to write on an index card. Write the main idea of today's lesson.
- Ask them to write in their daybooks and collect them. Write (1) what you learned about self-questioning and (2) how you plan to use it.
- Ask them to complete an assessment you made out in advance like...
The big idea of a story is _______________ .
The big idea of my story was _______________ .
An author usually writes a story for one of four reasons. The reasons are
1.
2.
3.
4.
The author wrote the story I read because _____________________ .
Explain how you use self-questioning to understand a story better.
Explain how you plan to use self-questioning
Developing Group-Discussion Skills
Some groups may need you (or your assistant if you are lucky to have one) acting as the leader in each group for quite a long time. While working with the discussion groups, you can model the language students might use to deal with problems. Gradually scaffold that responsibility to the individuals. Sometimes the adult(s) have to go from group to group. Bring a clipboard and a score sheet or note paper with you. In your Reading Workshop Exit Circles compliment 1-3 things that worked and 1-2 goals the students need to improve.
Listening Minilesson
Refer to the how-to-argue-safely tips if a group is arguing a lot. Now may be the time to re-teach how to listen. Select one student to tell you a story and model "non-listening" strategies. (Let your volunteer know ahead of time what is going to happen.) The first time, interrupt the student while he is telling the story. Stop in the middle. Turn to the students and ask them whether you were listening well. Make a list on the board of behaviors that show that you aren't listening. Have them help you start a list of listening behaviors as well. Have your volunteer try to tell you the story a second time. This time, use your body language to show you are not listening. Add to the chart. The third time, model how to listen. Add to the chart and keep it visible the rest of the year.
Start Small
You may want your class to discuss something easier before they try talking about books. Let them independently brainstorm suggestions for improving recess, for instance. Form small groups and practice the same discussion-group format they will use for discussing books eventually: the group leader welcomes each person, states the purpose for the day's discussion, leads the discussion, summarizes the discussion, and shares the group's best suggestion. I had lots of luck with struggling high school students by starting with a topic that was not academic.
Question Research
If everything is going well, groups can research the kinds of questions that produce the best discussion in a book club. As a summary, students can discuss why one question produced such great conversation. They could share that question and the reasons why it worked with the whole class. As their teacher, tease out about what makes a discussion-question a good discussion question.
When I first taught asking questions, I thought students could only read as readers, asking questions about confusing parts. One day I realized that they could also read as authors, too, asking questions as if they were writers. The questions they bring are in the form of theories: Do you think the mother was coughing because the author was foreshadowing her illness? Post the "If You're Stuck, Ask These Questions" chart in your room so students remember to talk about literary elements as well as main idea, theme, author's purpose, and their personal interpretations after they get their readers' questions answered.
Measuring Response
Use Star Charts to evaluate group behaviors. You may want to invite some more adults to your group that day to record the conversation on charts. Or, I usually end up recording each group for about 5 minutes and that is really enough time to give me the data I need.
When your groups have mastered involving everyone in discussion, move on to deepening the response by using the Book Club Response Sheet. This way of recording points for contributions helps students think beyond just asking a question, any question. I give points for deepening the conversation by asking follow-up questions, encouraging one another, and referring to the text. Put Star Charts and/or Response Sheets on the overhead without names. See what students can tell about groups just from the record sheets. As a class, set goals for the next time.
Personal Goals
Setting goals is important. Students can set personal goals in their daybooks before they enter a discussion group. If you have modeled group goal-setting, you can bridge easily to personal goal-setting. Personal goals range from the shy child - I will ask one question today - to the exuberant child - I will ask someone to share before I do. Ask children to set goals before they go into groups and then write an evaluation after the discussion, also. Behaviors will improve if you collect their written thoughts and respond to them in some way.
Further research may involve gathering questions.
Sort sticky notes into question categories. Take a look again at the questions I modeled when reading The Three Questions in my day-one lesson. You and your class may discover categories of your own like I did. Or, you might introduce your students to the question types listed below from authors Ellin Keene and Susan Zimmermann writing in Mosaic of Thought. Children need examples of what kinds of questions people ask about books. This concept may be new, even among your avid readers so model, model, model!
Question types from Keene and Zimmermann...
- with answers in text
- with answers I must find by thinking about the book and my own personal experience
- with no certain answers
- to clarify meaning
- about what's coming next in the book
- about the author's intent
- about the author's style
- about the author's format
After we figure out our categories, I challenge students to read a text and think of a question for each category. It's contrived, but students broaden their ability to ask different kinds of questions. And, we only do that one time just to make them aware.
Don't forget mixed-ability reading groups.
This is a great time to put one book on tape and let students reading below grade level participate in the discussion with their higher-functioning, reading peers. Some kids often struggle with reading but not with talking! In this way, they contribute their ideas also.
Finally, another idea is to introduce Socratic Seminars. Conducting these discussion groups helps strengthen small groups because you are in the group facilitating the discussion and commenting on behaviors. Participating involves personal goal setting and reflection practice as well.
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