Teaching Critical Reading with Questioning Strategies

Larry Lewin

Among the higher level skills our students need is the ability to generate thoughtful questions.

Three engaging classroom practices turn middle schoolers into critical readers.

It is time—actually past time—to address critical-thinking and analytic-response skills in our classrooms. The pendulum is ready to swing from overreliance on rote learning and prepping for standardized tests to preparing students to be 21st century thinkers. And thank goodness; our world needs students who can read texts critically, not just fill in bubbles.

Among the many higher-level thinking skills our students need is the skill of generating thoughtful questions. 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). When you ask yourself questions about incoming information, you are paying attention, self-monitoring, and actively constructing knowledge.

Yes, students already ask us questions. But it has been my experience as both a classroom teacher for 24 years and a staff developer in schools for more than a decade that the questions kids ask typically either seek clarification on procedural matters (Which numbers are we supposed to do?); attempt to cut a deal (Can we write two paragraphs instead of three?); or try to detour the group from the lesson (What time does this period end?).

What we want from students, of course, is the kind of questioning that spurs critical thinking and analytical response. Students need to ask questions if they are to read for real learning.

The following three question-asking activities move learners from “starter” questions to intermediate-level questions to advanced questions that touch the highest levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. As a consultant, I’ve used all three activities in partnership with middle school teachers in a variety of settings and have shared them as literacy strategies with preservice and inservice teachers.

Sparking Starter Questions

An activity called Questions Mailed to My Teacher introduces students to the habit of asking questions as they read. I adapted this one from an activity called Chain Notes in which each student writes a quick response to a review question written on a large envelope.¹  I’ve modified Chain Notes in two ways. First, I write my name and school address on the front of the envelope. Second, instead of composing a question for student response, I have students write their own questions about the reading (directed to me) and insert those questions into the envelope. The last student to insert a query “mails” the envelope by delivering it to my desk.

Questions to My Teacher serves three purposes: It gives kids practice asking questions and monitoring their own comprehension as they read, it introduces students to the crucial idea that questions have different levels of complexity, and it helps teachers diagnose students’ comprehension. By reading the questions, teachers glimpse what students know as opposed to waiting until the chapter test to find out whether all is well—in other words, they practice formative assessment.

For example, when teacher Tyler Nice reviewed questions from his 6th grade ancient history class about a chapter on Egyptian pyramids, he noticed that students’ questions showed different levels of thinking. This gave him insight into how critically they were reading and putting information together. Consider these three student-generated questions:

The first question shows that the learner needs to review information already presented; the textbook explained the value of stolen mummies. The student who wrote this question missed that piece of information—bad news about his comprehension abilities. The good news is the student sensed something was missing in his understanding.

The second question indicates a communication problem between the reader and writer. The text included an illustration of a step pyramid clearly showing steps on the structure. Literacy educator and author Taffy Raphael (Raphael, Highfield, & Au, 2006) would classify this as a “think and search” question because the information is provided in two (or more) different locations in the text. This learner did not put it all together, however, and the question reveals a comprehension gap—fortunately sooner rather than later.

The third question shows higher-order thinking; this student is wondering about information that the author didn’t provide. Kudos to this student for asking a “wonderment” question. The learner is clearly on the ball and even points out a deficiency in the text.

Taking this questioning stance helps student readers realize that reading comprehension is always a two-way street. Instead of always blaming themselves for difficulties with understanding—and perhaps losing motivation—they come to see that the problem can often be traced back to the writer. And they may even be inspired to track down answers through further reading. For instance, here’s a great, generative question a middle school science teacher received: I wonder why each nucleotide consists of three different types of materials. As you read the questions kids submit, sort them according to their complexity. One categorization I use is “thin versus thick” questions. Thin questions are literal, recall questions that are easy to answer because the information is in the text (like Why did grave robbers steal mummies?) Why would a teacher allow students to ask such obviously answerable questions? Because they build confidence by allowing students to begin at a “doable” level, which primes the pump for more challenging questions later. Thick questions, on the other hand, require student readers to go beyond the text and speculate, hypothesize, or make inferences. These questions often inspire more complex questions.

As you debrief this activity with your class, explain to them that not all questions are the same; questions come in different degrees of complexity and difficulty, and different kinds of questions are useful for different purposes. Give students guidance and practice in asking thicker questions. You might have students brainstorm a list of things they’d like to know after reading the text and direct them to start each query with a phrase that usually leads into broader questions, such as these created by Vincent Ciardiello (2007):

• What are some other ways …
• What if you …
• Can you imagine …
• If … , then …
• How might …

Becoming Sidekicks

Once students have practiced asking their teacher questions, bump them up to the intermediate level by asking the author of a text questions.

more…http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/mar10/vol67/num06/Teaching_Critical_Reading_with_Questioning_Strategies.aspx