The questions we ask determine how much students have to think. The questions THEY ask drive their learning even more. As you can see from the Comprehension Process Staircase (explained in more detail on the TLC Comprehension 101 page and in The Literacy Cookbook), good readers ask questions RELENTLESSLY. This section features information on how to ask critical thinking questions, plus handouts you can use with readings to engage students in higher-level thinking.
How much attention do YOU actually pay to questions? Check out this BRIEF QUIZ from Teaching as a Subversive Activity by Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner (New York: Dell, 1969). It's a great tool to use with students, too.
Some say questioning is a science. Dennis Palmer Wolf says it's an art. Check out her piece, "The Art of Questioning." Here's another helpful article: "Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Questions" by Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana.
For a sample lesson plan on "thick vs. thin" questions, check out 6th Reading Lesson Plan-Thick vs. Thin Questions (Thanks to Justin Pigeon of TeacherU!).
***SOCRATIC QUESTIONS: The Changing Minds Website provides examples of the six types of questions that Socrates was known to ask. For info on how to run Socratic Seminars, go to the TLC "Socratic Seminars" page.
What does a rigorous/higher-order thinking question look like? Check these out:
- Elements of Bloom’s Taxonomy (in the Download Zone)
OTHER RECOMMENDED READING: |
Lemov, Doug. Teach Like a Champion: 62 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2015. |
Zwiers, Jeff. Building Academic Language: Essential Practices for Content Classrooms. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2008. PS--He also has a very handy Website! |
When READING, use these handouts (in the Download Zone) to engage students in higher-level thinking....
For annotation:
- Generic Annotation Rubrics for Fiction/Narratives and Nonfiction
- HS Annotation Symbols (Thanks to Gillian Cartwright of TeacherU!)
- 5th Math Annotation Symbols (Thanks to Thomas Garza of TeacherU!)
- Paraphrase, Question, Infer, Summarize ANNOTATED MODEL
- Paraphrase, Question, Infer, Summarize ORGANIZER
Focusing on characters?
Reading short stories?
Drama?
Trying to teach MAIN IDEA through a novel?
Looking for an alternative to “questions about the chapter”?
- Paragraph Responses-Sample, When I Was Puerto Rican
- Chapter Notes ORGANIZER
- Journal Writing Rubric
- Question-Inference-Evidence & Explanation ORGANIZER
- Question-Inference-Evidence & Explanation ORGANIZER MODEL
- Question-Inference-Evidence & Explanation ORGANIZER MODEL LESSON PLAN
- 5Ws and H MODEL
- 5Ws and H BLANK ORGANIZER
Trying to prepare students for standardized TESTS?
- How to Create Critical Reading Questions
- Want to review the FOUR CRITICAL READING SKILLS (paraphrasing, inference, vocabulary in context, and summarizing/inferring main idea) and teach your students how to identify test questions that deal with these skills? Check out this Sample LESSON PLAN TO LABEL CRITICAL READING QUESTIONS and HANDOUTS for the lesson.
Are you a HISTORY teacher looking for ideas?
- Historical Figure Analysis ORGANIZER
- This MiddleWeb post by Frank Baker shares info about how to teach students to analyze propaganda, and MindOverMedia is a great resource!
IN THE DOWNLOAD ZONE for Questioning:
- Elements of Bloom’s Taxonomy
- A Closer Look at Evaluation Questions
- Generic Annotation Rubrics for Fiction/Narratives and Nonfiction
- Characterization Methods: DDAT
- Character Analysis ORGANIZER
- Thinking About Short Stories QUESTIONS
- Quotations Chart-Sample, Julius Caesar
- What’s Important? ORGANIZER-Kite Runner MODEL
- What’s Important? ORGANIZER
- Paragraph Responses-Sample, When I Was Puerto Rican
- Chapter Notes ORGANIZER
- Journal Writing Rubric
- How to Create Critical Reading Questions
- Historical Figure Analysis ORGANIZER
- Paraphrase, Question, Infer, Summarize ANNOTATED MODEL
- Paraphrase, Question, Infer, Summarize ORGANIZER
- 6th Reading Lesson Plan-Thick vs. Thin Questions
- HS Annotation Symbols
- 5th Math Annotation Symbols
- Question-Inference-Evidence & Explanation ORGANIZER
- Question-Inference-Evidence & Explanation ORGANIZER MODEL
- Question-Inference-Evidence & Explanation ORGANIZER MODEL LESSON PLAN
- 5Ws and H MODEL
- 5Ws and H BLANK ORGANIZER
- Sample LESSON PLAN TO LABEL CRITICAL READING QUESTIONS
- Sample LESSON PLAN TO LABEL CRITICAL READING QUESTIONS HANDOUT