Comprehension Strategy Instruction: Questioning

Mini-Lesson Outline:

Complete Lesson Plan - DAY ONE on CHART

Context:
We have been reading about people, and about other cultures. Yesterday we watched a short video about Mahatma Ghandi. We will follow that up by reading a story about a young man from Egypt who has a secret.

Learning Targets:
Reading Strategy - Students will be able to articulate a question, relating to the text, and indicate how it might help them as a reader/learner better understand the text/material.
Content - Students will realize the similar cross cultural value for literacy.

Pre-assessment:
This is an appropriate lesson for the students because after watching the short video yesterday about Mahatma Gandhi, most of the students were unable to answer any of the comprehension questions which followed. Admittedly the content was most likely not developmentally appropriate, but I expected some comprehension on a basic level. The students were not comprehending even the most basic facts such as who, what , where, when, and why. We will bring down the level of difficulty by reading a fictional story about a boy from Egypt who has a secret. The students will be encouraged to engage the text by asking questions.

Materials Needed:
The Day of Ahmed's Secret, by Florence Parry Heide & Judith Heide Gilliland, Illustrated by Ted Lewin

Introduction:
"Yesterday when I was watching the video we watched in class, I realized that as I was watching the video I was asking myself questions in my head. How many of you ask yourselves questions in your head when you are watching something or reading a book?" I will take responses from students and use one as a springboard to continue the train of thought. "That's right! It will help us understand what's going on in the book, what the author is doing, and it will help keep us interested and involved in the book. Sometimes the questions are answered by what's in the book and sometimes they aren't. Either way, these questions help me understand what I'm reading."

Modeling:
"I'm going to read aloud a few pages of this book. At a few points I am going to stop and tell you what I'm thinking. You will know when I am thinking because I am going to say "I wonder..." and then I'll tell you what it is I'm wondering, and together we will look for the answer in the text and/ or ask ourselves if there is any other way we may be able to answer the question".

Teacher reads the title (The Day of Ahmed's Secret). "Wow, right away I wonder what Ahmed's secret is. Do you see anything here that might tell us? Maybe, but I just can't tell, so I'm going to hold onto that question in my mind and see if I can answer it later in the book.." Teacher reads a couple more pages" I wonder what country Ahmed lives in, because everything looks different to me than here. Have we read anything that might tell us? Maybe, though I'm not sure yet, I'm going to hold onto that question in my mind as well as the possible answers we discussed and see if I can answer it later in the book." The teacher reads a couple more pages "I wonder what it is that Ahmed does, or what it is he is delivering. Do any of you have any ideas based on what we have read or the pictures you have seen? That's right; he does have a cart with some kind of canisters on it. Perhaps he's delivering something, but I wonder what. I'm going to hold on to that question and see if I can answer that question later."

Teacher continues reading. On page 10, when Ahmed drops off his first fuel canister the answer to what he is delivering is answered (fuel). As soon as the woman says that, "Oh, so he is delivering fuel, that answers that question. Now we know what he does. Do we know what his secret is yet, or what country he is in? Not yet, I'm still curious, so let's keep reading".

Pages 17, answers the questions about where Ahmed lives. "Well that answers the question I asked about where he lives. Cairo, I know where that is. That's in Egypt." Teacher will then point to Egypt and Cairo on the world map in class. "That answered that question, but I still wonder what his secret is."

Guided Practice:
"Did you hear how I kept asking myself questions, trying to understand more about what I am reading? Now I would like you to try that with me. After I read the next page, I want you to turn to your neighbor and tell them a question you might ask yourself. Remember that the answer doesn't have to come from the book, but the question should be somehow related to the book or be inspired by the book."

After reading the page, the students will talk to their neighbor for 1 minute. The teacher will then solicit questions from the class and give specific positive feedback. "Would anyone like to share their question? (Brief discussion) Thank you, I was also wondering how camels are able to make it across a dessert, that is a fabulous question and one I'm going to write down so I can look it up later if the answer is not given in the book." The teacher will write a question on the board that can be researched later but is not in the book.
"Excellent effort, now let's try that again on the next page." the teacher will repeat the process for the next page, again soliciting questions and giving specific positive feedback. It will not be necessary to write another "not in the book" question on the board.

On the last page, Ahmed's secret is revealed (he now knows how to write his name). Having answered the question that are in the book, the teacher will then model the process of looking up the answer for the question that was written on the board that was not in the book (How do camels cross long deserts?).

Link to Independent Practice:
"So now, you all get to read your independent reading about people and other places. While you are reading these books, I want you to start to be aware of that voice inside your head that is asking questions, and take the time to listen to those questions and try and answer them as your read."

Reflection/Share Session:
During the share session, we will sit in a circle and discuss, "How did the questioning strategy work for you today?" The teacher will also provide time for students to ask questions about applying the strategy and help each other problem-solve.

Post-Assessment:
I will confer with students during independent reading time and take focused notes about their questioning strategies. I will listen carefully during the guided practice and share session to see how effectively the students are using the strategy. I will ask: "Were there places in the text where you asked yourself questions? What questions did you ask? What information in the text might have helped you answer your question? How did the question help you understand the text better?"

I will use the following "Questioning Checklist" to make notes on my conversations and observations:

Lesson 2: Questioning
In a second lesson on questioning, I would continue to model the strategy with increased guided practice. I would continue to think aloud and encourage students to think to themselves and make their own questions, while I read. The next book I would use to model inferring might be Elizabeth by Claire Nivola, the true story of a little girl who has to leave her beloved doll behind when she is forced to flee Nazi Germany. Thoughtful questions about families leaving and their destinations abound. I would continue to read and think aloud about my questions about the text and perhaps some questions not in the text. I would allow for plenty of independent practice. If some students are grasping the concept of questioning better than others, I would release those students to practice the strategy on their own, introducing the questioning bookmark worksheet. For students that may need more practice, I would continue to work on modeling and guiding with text and introduce the question / draw worksheet.
My hope after two or more modeled lessons would be that students are grasping the concept and are starting to generate questions as they read. At this point, I would spend a lot of time roaming around the classroom during independent reading. I would spend time talking to students about their questions, the thinking behind these questions, and how these questions are helping them to better comprehend the meaning of the text. As students have more practice with questioning during independent practice, we would continue to discuss how sometimes our questions can be answered from within the text, while other times, further research outside the text is required. We would then discuss how these outside questions help us to better comprehend the text because we are digging deeper into the details of the text and that is what good readers do. I will again use the "Questioning Checklist" to assess student progress.

Lesson 3: Questioning
For a third lesson on questioning I would show students how we do not just question when we use narrative or fictional text. I want students to understand that the technique of asking questions goes through all genres and subjects and media. For the next lesson, I would use a piece of science to model how readers often ask questions when they read this non-fiction informative text. An example of a non-fiction book I may use to teach questioning would be The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle. For this lesson I would re-introduce the tools from day two and model the use of the bookmarks. After I read through the book once, I would tell the students that this book, at first, did not make much sense to me and I would reread the book in smaller chunks and questions as to what about what some of the words and phrases mean to help me better understand the text. Since the book is rather short, I would ask the first question myself, in order to model the process of questioning once more for students (using a bookmark tool, then we would finish questioning about the book together for guided practice. To further practice questioning through non-fiction, we would list our questions and our thinking behind those questions on questioning bookmark worksheet page. I think that it is important for students to write down their questions and their thinking behind these questions so that students can really dig deeper into the meaning of the text and better understand the story or what the author is saying.
For independent practice, I would have books of genres in the classroom for students to read during independent reading and try their questioning and thinking skills out on these. While we worked on the comprehension strategy of questioning I would continue to have these multi genre books, as well as other non-fictional books, available to students during independent practice so they could make the transfer in their learning and use these genres to ask questions as well. During our circle time we will discuss how questioning can lead to not only better understanding, but increased interest and enjoyment. I will again use the "Questioning Checklist" to assess student progress.

These printouts are from the easy to use and valuable book, Guided Comprehension: A Teaching model for Grades 3-8

Of course any mention of great comprehension books should include Debbie Miller's great book, Reading With Meaning: Teaching Comprehension in the Primary Grades