Questions and Thinking in Common Core
Part 2: Students as Questioners
Developing a Mindset Around Questions
Creating a culture of questioning, using the language of questioning, modeling effective questioning, and honoring student questions all set up an expectation that as we read and learn we will have questions, and these are important. To be active participants in their learning, students need to take a metacognitive stance—to step back and think about their thinking. Generating some questions prior to readingincreases engagement, noticing the questions that they have as they read and finding ways to answer them aids comprehension.
Consider using these lesson plans at readwritethink.org around “thin” (closed) and “thick” (open-ended) questions as a way to get students started questioning as they read. Your own mini-lessons can provide something for them to be thinking about as they read, and question stems or response stems can be a way to get at that thinking. Some examples:
“As you read, pay attention to what the characters do and say or think. What is the author letting us know about the character? Mark a spot in the text as evidence of your thinking.”
I'm wondering...
Why does..?
Why doesn't...?
Can...?
How does...?
What is this section/chapter mostly about? What are we mostly learning here?
Question-Answer Relationships • Questioning the Author • Questions to Guide Inquiry