Intentional Strategy InstructionAsking Questions

Proficient Readers Ask Questions

• Before Reading • Activate prior knowledge• Make predictions• Set a purpose for reading

• During Reading• Monitor understanding• Clarify concepts and/or vocabulary

• After Reading• Make connections• Extend comprehension• Analyze and evaluate ideas

Before Reading Questions

Questions you ask before reading are quite different than those you ask during or after reading

because they are based on the topic, title, and/or text features rather than information from the text.

During & After Reading Questions

Questions asked during and after reading are based on information from the text and the author’s message.

Let’s take a closer look at these types of questions and

how they help you as a reader.

Asking Questions

When you ask questions, you pause to make sure you understand the key ideas, events, and details in a text. Asking questions using who, what, where, when, why,

and how will help you better understand the text.

When you cannot answer your questions, you may need to reread the text.

How Does Asking Questions Help Me as a Reader?

When you ask yourself questions about incoming information, you are paying attention, self-monitoring, and actively

constructing knowledge.

Thick and Thin Questions

Questions come in different levels of complexity and

difficulty, and different kinds of questions are useful for

different purposes.

Thin Questions

• Factual, explicit, or “right there” questions

• Answers can be found in the text • Can be answered with a few words or

short sentences

Thick Questions

• Inferential or “author and me” questions• Require the reader to think more deeply since

the answers do not come solely from the text - the text should support the answer

• Often begin with:• Why?• How come?• I wonder?• What would happen If?• What does he/she means by?

Thick or Thin?

• Thick Questions require the reader to form an opinion or offer support in order to answer it.

• They go far beyond identifying information and details explicitly stated by an author.

Proficient Readers:

• ask themselves questions to clarify information and ideas in a text

• recognize that thoughtful reading goes far beyond identifying information and details explicitly stated by an author

• gain essential practice with and feedback on becoming question-posers rather than merely question-responders

Teachers shouldn’t be the only ones asking thick questions!

Asking ?’s - Like 5 Hour Energy for Your Brain!

The ability to routinely generate mental questions

while reading, listening, or viewing something not

only boosts attention and alertness, but also

strengthens comprehension (Duke & Pearson, 2002).

ResourcesBuehl, Doug. "Reading Room." Wisconsin Education Association Council. N.p., 18 Nov.

2005. Web. 04 Nov. 2013.

Harvey, Stephanie, and Anne Goudvis. Strategies That Work: Teaching Comprehension to

Enhance Understanding. York, Me.: Stenhouse, 2000. Print.

Young, John. "Questioning: A Comprehension Strategy for Small-Group Guided Reading."

Readwritethink.org. International Reading Association, n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2013.

Compiled by: P. Muehlenkamp, 2013