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Questioning
by Sue Misiak
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Questioning is a strategy that engages the reader with the text. Questioning helps to clarify meaning, promote comprehension, and extend understanding.
The act of questioning indicates that the student is reading with a purpose. Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis (2000) state that "when our students ask questions and search for answers, we know they are monitoring comprehension and interacting with the text to construct meaning, which is exactly what we hope for in developing readers" (p. 82). Likewise, Cris Tovani (2004) asserts that questioning helps the student to "hold" her or his thinking (retain what she or he is thinking) while reading. |
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Where is questioning discussed in the Ohio Academic Content Standards? |
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Although the questioning strategy is embedded throughout the Ohio academic content standards for reading, it is specifically mentioned in the following:
English Language Arts
Standard: Reading Process—Concepts of Print, Comprehension Strategies and Self-Monitoring Strategies
| Grades 4–7 |
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Benchmark C. |
Make meaning through asking and responding to a variety of questions related to text. |
| Grades 8–10 |
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Benchmark B. |
Demonstrate comprehension of print and electronic text by responding to questions (e.g., literal, inferential, evaluative and synthesizing). |
| Grades 11–12 |
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Benchmark B. |
Demonstrate comprehension by responding to questions (e.g., literal, informational and evaluative). |
Math
In the math standards, questioning is an implied strategy when students are expected to analyze, evaluate, and interpret as they meet the benchmarks for data analysis and probability as well as those for mathematical process.
Science
Standard: Scientific Inquiry
| All grades |
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Students develop scientific habits of mind as they use the processes of scientific inquiry to ask valid questions and to gather and analyze information. |
Standard: Scientific Ways of Knowing
| Grades 9–10 |
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Benchmark B. |
Explain how scientific inquiry is guided by knowledge, observation, ideas and questions. |
Social Studies
Throughout the various benchmarks for history, government, and social studies, questioning is implied as a strategy when students are asked to explain, evaluate, and analyze.
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How does questioning support reading comprehension? |
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Reading comprehension is deepened when readers make a personal connection with the text, and questioning facilitates this.
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What activities support students in questioning? |
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Questioning should be done before, during, and after reading. According to Janet Allen (2004), creating questions before reading indicates that readers have already thought about the content. Jim Burke (2003) posits that during reading, the value of self-questioning is that student questions "demand a dialogue: someone is asking another to respond" (p. 247). In Strategies That Work, Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis (2000) affirm that after reading the text, "questions stimulate research efforts" (p. 81).
When students question before they read, they activate their prior knowledge, and they may make predictions. This act of engagement prepares them to connect with the text and to get ready for comprehension.
Daily Focus Question
You might use a daily focus question as a before-reading technique. In his book Deeper Reading: Comprehending Challenging Texts, Kelly Gallagher (2004) describes a high school language arts class in which students consider a "big idea" that sets the stage for what they'll be reading in class that day. For instance, before students read a particular chapter in All Quiet on the Western Front, Gallagher suggests posing as the daily question, "Where is God during wartime?" This is an anchor, or essential, question to encourage student reflection before they read.
During reading, students use questioning to:
- Search for answers and information
- Hold their thinking—in other words, sustain their thoughts
- Make connections
- Monitor their comprehension
From the ORC Collection
For a useful during-reading technique, try the resource "Character Card Bookmark," part of the ORC collection. The description in the ORC record (Record #3418) reads:
The Character Card Bookmark is a "notemaking" tool that encourages students to document their thoughts as they read fictional text. One side of the template provides space for students to record their ideas, while the reverse side lists questions to prompt comprehension and reflection.
You can view the full ORC record, which includes a link to the resource along with information such as standards alignment, at http://www.ohiorc.org/record/?id=3418, or you can go straight to the resource at http://www.englishcompanion.com/pdfDocs/toolcharcardbmark.pdf.
After reading, students continue to formulate questions to:
- Think critically about their comprehension of the topic and the text
- Decide if more research needs to be done
Questioning the Author
Questioning the author is an after-reading technique that gives students the opportunity not only to consider the author's purpose in writing the text, but also to examine the methods the author used to convey understanding. For a description and example of this technique, see the Literacy Matters website at http://www.literacymatters.org/content/readandwrite/question.htm#after.
From the ORC Collection
Other after-reading techniques are given in the article "Make Science Reading Fun and Meaningful in Middle School" (ORC Record #4361). As explained in the ORC record:
In this article, Teresa Null explores teaching reading strategies in her middle school science classroom by teaching units through scientific storylines. Students are put into small groups and are responsible for reading an assigned paragraph aloud within their team and determining the meaning of each paragraph. These groups then report to the rest of the class, basically becoming experts on their passages and "teaching" the rest of the class. The groups also come up with one question from their readings in which the class as a whole tries to solve together. Null also talks about the potential difficulties when carrying out this activity, which is helpful advice for teachers thinking about using this strategy in their classrooms. (author/mcg)
You can access the record at http://www.ohiorc.org/record/?id=4361, or go straight to the article at http://www.ohiorc.org/adlit/InPerspective/Issue/2005-09/Article/motivation.aspx.
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How can graphic organizers be used to support the strategy of questioning? |
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Graphic organizers are invaluable in helping students to visualize the format and sequence of text, and the questioning strategy lends itself well to visual representation. Graphic organizers not designated specifically for questioning often can be easily adapted to a question-answer format. For example, a concept ladder (provided here) can be used as a method for breaking down a topic into its supporting details. Or as Allen (2004) explains and as shown below, a concept ladder can begin with a topic or concept, such as "viruses," and then questions can be developed about it before reading to help students guide their comprehension.
A good web source of graphic organizers for questioning is the Tools for Reading, Writing, & Thinking section of the Greece Central School District website found at http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/Tools/Index.htm. Some of the graphic organizers you'll find on this site are:
- Question Generator
- Collaborative Questions
- Interactive Notes
- Q Notes
- Questions Only
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How can questioning be used to teach vocabulary? |
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Before reading, students can skim the text, putting a "?" next to an unknown word or using a Post-it asking "huh?" when they are stuck. This technique identifies the vocabulary that is unknown to the student and that is helpful in comprehending the text. Students may then bring these words to the attention of the teacher and class, look up definitions, or revisit the words to determine meaning in context.
You can also set up a "controlled activity" by choosing or writing a passage with unfamiliar vocabulary words along with context clues that will help students figure out what the vocabulary words mean. Then ask the students a set of questions that will set them off searching the passage for meanings. An excellent example of this kind of activity appears on the School District of Manatee County, Florida's website http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/elementary/samoset/Resources/..., where students explore "What Makes an Area a Tropical Rainforest?"
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Where can I go for additional resources pertaining to questioning? |
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Allen, Janet. (2004). Tools for teaching content literacy. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.
Burke, Jim. (2003). The English teacher's companion (2nd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Gallagher, Kelly. (2004). Deeper reading: Comprehending challenging texts. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.
Harvey, Stephanie, & Goudvis, Anne. (2000). Strategies that work. York, ME: Stenhouse.
Questions only. (n.d.). Reading strategies: Scaffolding students' interactions with texts. Greece Central School District, New York,
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References
| Allen, Janet. (2004). Tools for teaching content literacy. Portland, ME: Stenhouse. |
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| Burke, Jim. (2003). The English teacher's companion (2nd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. |
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| Gallagher, Kelly. (2004). Deeper reading: Comprehending challenging texts, 4-12 (pp. 46-47). Portland, ME: Stenhouse. |
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| Harvey, Stephanie, & Goudvis, Anne. (2000). Strategies that work. York, ME: Stenhouse. |
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| Reading: Questioning. (n.d.). Literacy matters, http://www.literacymatters.org/content/readandwrite/question.htm. |
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| Reading strategy: Using context clues to find the definition of words. School District of Manatee County, Florida, http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/elementary/samoset/Resources/rcdc2.htm. |
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| Tools for reading, writing, & thinking, accessed May 17, 2006, Greece Central School District, New York, http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/Tools/Index.htm. |
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| Sue Misiak is a former teacher for the Columbus Public Schools, where she taught English, speech, and drama and served in the Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow program and the Kenyon Academic Partnership. Her experience includes facilitating State Institute for Reading Instruction and English Language Arts Academy sessions. She is currently co-facilitator of the High School Language Arts Network, sponsored by the Central Ohio Regional School Improvement Team. |
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