Strategies That Work Ch. 8 - Questioning

Asking questions while reading is important because questions stimulate our minds and give us a reason to read more deeply.  Harvey and Goudvis (2007) explain, “Human beings are driven to find answers and make sense of the world” (p. 109).  Students need to be told that all good readers ask questions.  When we ask questions and look for the answers, we are monitoring our comprehension.  It is important for developing readers to interact with the text to construct meaning.  Chapter 8 of Strategies that Work offered a variety of methods for enhancing the questioning process during reading.

Share Questions – The first suggestion was simply to show students that teachers ask questions while they read.  This helps show them that all readers can use this strategy to enhance their comprehension, not just struggling readers

The More We Learn – Keep an “I learned / I wonder” chart as students read nonfiction to learn more about a subject.  This prepares students for more independent research later on.

Some Questions Are Answered, Others Are Not – Record questions on a chart during reading.  After reading, code those that were answered explicitly in the text with an “A”.  The unanswered questions are often the most intriguing and will spark the most interesting conversations.  The next step is to categorize the unanswered questions.  Categories might include:

• Questions that are answered in the text – A
• Questions that are answered from someone’s background knowledge - BK
• Questions whose answers can be inferred from the text – I
• Questions that can be answered by further discussion – D
• Questions that require further research to be answered – RS
• Questions that signaled confusion – Huh? Or C

(p. 113)

Gathering Information Through Questioning – Refer to students’ nonfiction notebooks as “wonder books”, and have students use these notebooks to list questions that occur to them as they read.  These questions can then be used as the basis for further investigation.  Students can organize their notebooks in different ways and share them with their classmates to explore different options.

Thick and Thin Questions – Thick questions address large, universal concepts and often begin with “why” or “how” or address major concepts such as “What is photosynthesis?”.  These types of questions often require further research and discussion.  Thin questions clarify confusion or point out specific details.  Students use larger, 3 x 3 sticky notes to record “thick” questions, while thinner, flag notecards can be used for “thin” questions.  These visual reminders make it easier for students to identify questions that may require further research and help them organize their thinking.

Reading to Answer a Question – After studying a topic for some time, ask students if they have any lingering questions (often the more students learn, the more questions they have).  Use those questions to generate even more questions and record students’ questions on a chart.  Search for sources that might lead to answers, then demonstrate how to read and paraphrase information to add to the chart next to the original questions.  After that students should be able to locate answers to the other questions and add these to their charts themselves.  Lastly students can share answers and summarize what they have learned.

Reading with a Question in Mind – Skim an article before reading and have the class discuss what it is probably about.  Using two-column notes labeled “Notes / Thinking”, jot down a question that is obvious after previewing the text.  Since simply writing down facts is not enough to build deeper understanding, it is important to merge new information with students’ thinking.  Record facts from reading in the notes column and record new ideas based on those facts in the “thinking” column (underneath the original question).  Students can jot down confusions and new questions that arise in the “thinking” column.  Teachers may want to begin by modeling this strategy whole group, then have them practice it with a partner – taking turns reading and recording.

Questions that Lead to Inferential Thinking – Since poetry often requires inferential thinking, this is a good strategy to use when reading poetry in class.  Begin by posting a poem on the SMART Board or overhead.  Read the poem aloud and record questions on board right next to it as you read.  Afterwards, review the questions and discuss possible answers.  This will prompt interpretation and analysis of the poem.  Students may ask more questions than they can answer, but the questions will lead to engaged discussions and deeper thinking.

Responding to “Beyond the Line” Questions in Literature –Open-ended questions that require students to “read between the lines” and make inferences can lead to multiple interpretations and drive thinking and discussio .  These types of questions may require students to pull ideas from several parts of the text to draw conclusions.  In order to teach students to ask these sorts of questions, teachers must begin by modeling and asking these types of questions to students.  Introduce this strategy with a text that students can relate to, yet one that is significant and meaningful.  Do think alouds and share model written responses.  Over time students will become more comfortable answering and asking these types of questions.

Using Question Webs to Expand Thinking – Teachers can emphasize important questions by constructing a question web like the one below.  This can be done on chart paper that all students can write on.  As they read and learn information that will help them answer the question, students can add the details that they find to the chart.  After reading, all students can use the chart to construct a well-informed response to the question.

Implementation

This week I was asked to develop a model lesson for a 10th grade regular level English class who was reading Edgar Allen Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum".  The teacher told me that she had read the first few pages of the story to her class already, but they were really struggling to comprehend the text.  Honestly, I had never read this story myself, although I am familiar with some of Poe's other short stories and how challenging they can be.  I brought a textbook home over the weekend and found myself littering the pages with sticky notes filled with questions and clarifications.  This is when I realized that this would be the perfect opportunity to implement the questioning strategies from this chapter.  

When I arrived to class I explained to the students that I had found this text challenging myself and the strategy that helped me to get through it was generating questions and looking for answers as I read.  As Harvey and Goudvis suggested, I showed students my book filled with sticky notes and questions.

I explained to students that asking questions while reading helps you monitor your own comprehension and stay focused on the reading.  It also gives you a purpose to continue reading - looking for the answer to the questions you generated.  I distributed the sticky notes, then I showed the students the questions that I had asked as I read the first few pages of the story (since they had already read those pages in class, but these were questions that had not yet been answered in the text).  I had them record the questions and reminded them to look for answers as we read.  Students were eager to identify answers to those questions, then we labeled those sticky notes with an "A" and recorded the answers.  We continued reading and I encouraged them to share new questions as they occurred to them.  We continued this process until we finished the story.  At that point I asked students to bring any sticky notes with unanswered questions up to the front.  I placed these questions under the document camera and we discussed the types of questions they were (as Harvey and Goudvis suggested in the "Some Questions Are Answered and Others Are Not" section).  We found that these were either questions that required additional research or those that needed more discussion.  We also discussed how not all questions will be answered, and that is okay.  Afterwards I asked students to turn in brief reflections of how the questioning strategy helped them comprehend the story.  Most students recognized that the strategy helped them stay focused on the text and better understand the strategy.  I have included a few student reflections below.