Using Questioning Strategies Using Questioning Strategies

to Meet Common Core to Meet Common Core ELA Standards for ELA Standards for

Reading Informational TextsReading Informational Texts

Vivian BernsteinVivian BernsteinAuthor, Consultant

bernsteinviv@gmail.com

www.AbramsLearningTrends.com

Reading Research on Comprehension

1. “Less than half of all fourth graders are proficient or advanced readers.” (National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2011)

2. “Applying a variety of questioning strategies promotes comprehension.” (National Reading Panel, 2000)

3. “Good readers ask questions, predict, self monitor, and summarize.” (National Reading Panel, 2000)

4. “Self-questioning strategies improve comprehension.” (Carlisle, J. and Rice, M., 2002)

5. “Explicit vocabulary instruction improves comprehension with all students.” (Carlo, M.S., August, D., McLaughlin, B. etc. 2004)

6. “Lessons that include more questions by teachers produce greater achievement gains.” (Dillon, J.T., 1984)

7. “Summarizing improves recall and comprehension.” (Carlisle, J. and Rice, M., 2002)

8. “Most readers in the 75th percentile read ‘for fun’ almost daily.” (N.A.E.P., 2011)

Reading Comprehension Research (cont.)

Common Core State Standards:

Changing Reading InstructionGreater Emphasis on Informational Texts

Build an information base

Informational texts promote success in college and careers

Read complex texts

Amount of Informational ReadingGrade 4: 50%

Grade 8: 55%

Grade 12: 70%

1. Build background knowledge

2. Build academic and domain specific vocabulary

3. Understand author’s point of view

4. Apply evidence and examples to support points of view

5. Integrate research from several sources

6. Comprehend complex texts

CCSS for Reading Informational Texts

Strategy 1. Start with Essential Questions

1. Focus on big ideas of a unit

2. More than one correct answer

3. Set a purpose for learning

4. Contain easy to understand phrasing

5. Promote critical thinking

6. Apply prior knowledge

7. Create a final project

Examples of Essential Questions

1. How did the California Gold Rush change the United States?

2. Which was the best way to travel to California in 1849?

3. Why do people make dangerous journeys?

4. How does the Sun affect life on Earth?

5. How do living things survive?

Strategy 2: Apply Self-Questioning Strategies

Self-Questioning: What Do I Know?Self-Questioning: What Do I Know?

Main Topic: California Gold RushTopics

San Francisco

Forty-Niners

California

James Marshall

John Sutter

I know this topic and I can talk

about it.

I know something about this topic but I

cannot explain it.

I do not know anything about

the topic.

Applying CCSS:Self-Questioning the Text

StructureWhat kind of informational text am I reading?

NarrativeCause and effectProblem-solutionChronologyComparisonsAuthor’s point of view

Self-QuestioningPrepare to Read

a Textbook Chapter

1. Survey entire chapter

2. Vocabulary

3. Subheading questions

4. Read and answer questions

5. End-of-Chapter questions

Self-QuestioningStrategies for Before, During, and After

ReadingBefore Reading

What do I know about ______?What do I predict?What do I expect to learn?

During Reading

Do I understand what I’m reading?What do I predict will happen next?What was the main idea of the section?

After Reading

What did I learn?What else do I want to know?What if ____?Summarize the lesson.

Self-Questioning as You ReadWhat is the Main Idea?

Main Idea

Thousands of people rushed to

California in 1849.

Detail:

Detail:

Detail:

Detail:

Main Idea: Thousands of people rushed to California in 1849.

Self-Questioning to Make Inferences

What did I learn from the book?There were no railroads across the United States.

There were no paved roads west of the Mississippi.

What do I already know?California was thousands of miles from the eastern coast.

What can I infer?Traveling to California would take a long time.

The trip would be difficult.

Strategy 3. Use Questioning Techniques to Build

VocabularySelect 10 Tier 2 Vocabulary Words

for a Unit

Topic: The California Gold Rush New Vocabulary

Vocabulary Study Aid

inflationdefinition 1. What is inflation?2. What causes inflation?

3. Why did it happen in 1849?

Applying CCSS: Questioning Activities

to Build Vocabulary1. Why did people become Forty-

Niners?

2. Would you rather have a cholera shot or get sick during an epidemic?

3. Why did people become emigrants?

4. What is an example of a culture?

5. True or False: Pollution can cause a scarcity of fresh water.

Strategy 4. Use Questioning Techniques

to Summarize InformationWhy is Summarizing Important?

Promotes long-term recall

Helps students focus on main ideas and important details

Helps students distinguish relevant and irrelevant information

Self-Questioning to Summarize a Section

1. What are one or two main ideas?

2. What are important supporting facts?

3. What information is irrelevant?

Remember!Students cannot summarize

if they cannot identify main ideas.

Writing the SummaryStep 2: Find the main idea, supporting facts, and irrelevant facts.

Step 3: Write a one paragraph summary using the graphic organizer.

Important FactsProspectors needed

stronger pants

Levi used rivets and denim to make strong pants

Irrelevant FactsBorn in GermanyFamily had 7 children

Main IdeaLevi Strauss became rich by making jeans for miners.

Strategy 5. Teach Students to Work

with Many Kinds of Questions:

Who discovered gold? What jobs did women do? When did California become a state? Where was gold discovered? How did people travel? Why was life difficult for miners?

Apply CCSS: Build Recall

CCSS: Ask Questions to Understand Text

FeaturesTypes of text features:

Maps Charts Graphs Diagrams Primary

Sources Time lines

Applying CCSS: Questions for Higher-Level Thinking

Use questions to help students think beyond the content of the text.

What were some other ways people might get rich during the Gold Rush?

I wonder why it was so difficult to travel to California?

Interpret the facts. What conclusions can be drawn?

What evidence supports your point of view?

Applying Bloom’s TaxonomyCalifornia Gold Rush

1. Knowledge: What are three facts about the California before

the Gold Rush?

2. Comprehension: How did emigrants travel to California?

3. Application: Sequence five events that happened after gold was discovered.

4. Analysis: Compare and contrast the overland journey with the voyages by sea.

5. Synthesis: Plan a trip to California in 1849. What supplies would you pack in your covered wagon?

6. Evaluation: How did the 1849 Gold Rush change the United States?

“Wait Time” Promotes Success

• Students need time to think!

• Average wait time is only one second.

• Research: Increasing wait time beyond three seconds increases achievement.

• Struggling students greatly benefit from more wait time.

Learn More About the Gold Rush http://pbskids.org/wayback/goldrush/goldfever.html

http://www.kidport.com/reflib/usahistory/calgoldrush/calgoldrush.htm

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goldrush/

http://ceres.ca.gov/ceres/calweb/geology/goldrush.html

Friedman, Mel. The California Gold Rush .

Murphy, Claire Rudolph. Children of the Gold Rush.

Murphy, Claire Rudolph. Gold Rush Women.

Raum, Elizabeth. The California Gold Rush: An Interactive History Adventure.

Roop, Peter. California Gold Rush.

Stein, Conrad. The California Gold Rush.