Ask questions throughout the reading process

If you see readers who . . .

• read words and turn pages of a book without being engaged or understanding what the author is saying.
• are unable to describe or recall key details of the text.

Readers who ask questions during reading are actively engaged and thus tend to remember important details and information. While asking questions, readers monitor their understanding of what they are reading.

When you are reading, you must generate your own questions about the text, and realize that not all your questions will be answered.

When introducing this strategy, we begin by explaining that asking questions during the reading process can help us focus on what we are reading, give us a purpose for reading, and enable us to monitor our reading or check to see whether we are understanding what we are reading.

We model this questioning process by stopping during our reading and sharing the question we have in our minds. We then read a selection of text and ask students to participate by turning to an elbow buddy and sharing a question they have about what we just read.

Suggested language:

• What does this part mean?
• Is this important?
• What does this word mean?
• What questions do you have right now about the main character?
• I wonder . . .

Possible ways to differentiate instruction:

• Teach students different kinds of questions readers ask. We use Taffy Raphael's (2006) work on QAR (Question Answer Relationship), which defines questions under four categories: Right There, Think and Search, Author and Me, and On My Own. Have students generate questions using these categories and definitions.
• Guide students with questions such as What is something you would like to know about the character? Is there something the character did that you would have done differently?
• Help students think about questions like What's confusing me right now? What would I like to know more about?

Reconsider materials, setting, instruction, and cognitive processes.

These strategies may provide support before, during, and after teaching this strategy:

• Check for Understanding; Monitor and Self-Correct
• Cross-Check
• Look Carefully at Letters and Words
• Back Up and Reread