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    Kayla Marie Cago
    This document discusses the importance of asking questions before, during, and after reading to improve comprehension. It notes that research has shown teachers often only ask questions after reading rather than throughout the reading process. Proficient readers actively generate questions at different points when reading. The document provides strategies for modeling question asking during read-alouds and encouraging students to develop their own questions. These include thinking aloud one's own questions, stopping periodically during reading to discuss questions, and using frameworks to guide question generation. It emphasizes stretching students' thinking with open-ended, evidence-based, and interpretive questions.

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    Essay

    Uploaded by

    Kayla Marie Cago
    40 views4 pages
    This document discusses the importance of asking questions before, during, and after reading to improve comprehension. It notes that research has shown teachers often only ask questions after reading rather than throughout the reading process. Proficient readers actively generate questions at different points when reading. The document provides strategies for modeling question asking during read-alouds and encouraging students to develop their own questions. These include thinking aloud one's own questions, stopping periodically during reading to discuss questions, and using frameworks to guide question generation. It emphasizes stretching students' thinking with open-ended, evidence-based, and interpretive questions.

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    This document discusses the importance of asking questions before, during, and after reading to improve comprehension. It notes that research has shown teachers often only ask questions after reading rather than throughout the reading process. Proficient readers actively generate questions at different points when reading. The document provides strategies for modeling question asking during read-alouds and encouraging students to develop their own questions. These include thinking aloud one's own questions, stopping periodically during reading to discuss questions, and using frameworks to guide question generation. It emphasizes stretching students' thinking with open-ended, evidence-based, and interpretive questions.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    40 views4 pages

    Essay

    Uploaded by

    Kayla Marie Cago
    This document discusses the importance of asking questions before, during, and after reading to improve comprehension. It notes that research has shown teachers often only ask questions after reading rather than throughout the reading process. Proficient readers actively generate questions at different points when reading. The document provides strategies for modeling question asking during read-alouds and encouraging students to develop their own questions. These include thinking aloud one's own questions, stopping periodically during reading to discuss questions, and using frameworks to guide question generation. It emphasizes stretching students' thinking with open-ended, evidence-based, and interpretive questions.

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    of 4

    Questions Before, During, and After Reading

    What Is It?
    To aid their comprehension, skillful readers ask themselves questions before, during, and after
    they read. You can help students become more proficient by modeling this process for them and
    encouraging them to use it when they read independently.

    Why Is It Important?
    Dolores Durkin's research in 1979 showed that most teachers asked students questions after they
    had read, as opposed to questioning to improve comprehension before or while they read. In the
    late 1990s, further research (Pressley, et al. 1998) revealed that despite the abundance of research
    supporting questioning before, during, and after reading to help comprehension, teachers still
    favored post-reading comprehension questions.
    Researchers have also found that when adult readers are asked to "think aloud" as they read,
    they employ a wide variety of comprehension strategies, including asking and answering
    questions before, during, and after reading (Pressley and Afflerbach 1995). Proficient adult
    readers:
     Are aware of why they are reading the text
     Preview and make predictions
     Read selectively
     Make connections and associations with the text based on what they already know
     Refine predictions and expectations
     Use context to identify unfamiliar words
     Reread and make notes
     Evaluate the quality of the text
     Review important points in the text
     Consider how the information might be used in the future
    Successful reading is not simply the mechanical process of "decoding" text. Rather, it is a
    process of active inquiry. Good readers approach a text with questions and develop new
    questions as they read, for example:

    "What is this story about?"


    "What does the main character want?"
    "Will she get it?" "If so, how?"
    Even after reading, engaged readers still ask questions:

    "What is the meaning of what I have read?"


    "Why did the author end the paragraph (or chapter, or book) in this way?"
    "What was the author's purpose in writing this?"
    Good authors anticipate the reader's questions and plant questions in the reader's mind (think of a
    title such as, Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman). In this way, reading becomes a
    collaboration between the reader and the author. The author's job is to raise questions and then
    answer them – or provide several possible answers. Readers cooperate by asking the right
    questions, paying careful attention to the author's answers, and asking questions of their own.

    How Can You Make It Happen?


    To help readers learn to ask questions before, during, and after reading, think aloud the next time
    you are reading a book, article, or set of directions. Write each question on a post-it note and
    stick it on the text you have the question about. You may be surprised at how many typically
    unspoken questions you ponder, ask, and answer as you read. You may wonder as you read or
    after you read at the author's choice of title, at a vocabulary word, or about how you will use this
    information in the future.
    You should begin to model these kinds of questions in the primary grades during read-
    aloud times, when you can say out loud what you are thinking and asking. Read a book or text to
    the class, and model your thinking and questioning. Emphasize that even though you are an adult
    reader, questions before, during, and after reading continue to help you gain an understanding of
    the text you are reading. Ask questions such as:

    "What clues does the title give me about the story?"


    "Is this a real or imaginary story?"
    "Why am I reading this?"
    "What do I already know about___?"
    "What predictions can I make?"
    Pre-select several stopping points within the text to ask and answer reading questions. Stopping
    points should not be so frequent that they hinder comprehension or fluid reading of a text. This is
    also an excellent time to model "repair strategies" to correct miscomprehension. Start reading the
    text, and ask yourself questions while reading:

    "What do I understand from what I just read?"


    "What is the main idea?"
    "What picture is the author painting in my head?"
    "Do I need to reread so that I understand?"
    Then reread the text, asking the following questions when you are finished:
    "Which of my predictions were right? What information from the text tells
    me that I am correct?"
    "What were the main ideas?"
    "What connections can I make to the text? How do I feel about it?"
    Encourage students to ask their own questions after you have modeled this strategy, and write all
    their questions on chart paper. Students can be grouped to answer one another's questions and
    generate new ones based on discussions. Be sure the focus is not on finding the correct answers,
    because many questions may be subjective, but on curiosity, wondering, and asking thoughtful
    questions.
    After students become aware of the best times to ask questions during the reading process, be
    sure to ask them a variety of questions that:
     Can be used to gain a deeper understanding of the text
     Have answers that might be different for everyone
     Have answers that can be found in the text
     Clarify the author's intent
     Can help clarify meaning
     Help them make inferences
     Help them make predictions
     Help them make connections to other texts or prior knowledge
    As students begin to read text independently, you should continue to model the questioning
    process and encourage students to use it often. In the upper elementary and middle school
    grades, a framework for questions to ask before, during, and after reading can serve as a guide
    as students work with more challenging texts and begin to internalize comprehension strategies.
    You can use an overhead projector to jot notes on the framework as you "think aloud" while
    reading a text. As students become comfortable with the questioning strategy, they may use the
    guide independently while reading, with the goal of generating questions before, during, and
    after reading to increase comprehension.

    How Can You Stretch Students' Thinking?


    The best way to stretch students' thinking about a text is to help them ask increasingly
    challenging questions. Some of the most challenging questions are "Why?" questions about the
    author's intentions and the design of the text. For example:

    "Why do you think the author chose this particular setting?"


    "Why do you think the author ended the story in this way?"
    "Why do you think the author chose to tell the story from the point of view of
    the daughter?"
    "What does the author seem to be assuming about the reader's political
    beliefs?"
    Another way to challenge readers is to ask them open-ended question that require evidence from
    the text to answer. For example:

    "What does Huck think about girls? What is your evidence?"


    "Which character in the story is most unlike Anna? Explain your reasons,
    based on evidence from the novel?"
    "What is the author's opinion about affirmative action in higher education?
    How do you know?"
    Be sure to explicitly model your own challenging questions while reading aloud a variety of
    texts, including novels, subject-area textbooks, articles, and nonfiction. Help students see that
    answering challenging questions can help them understand text at a deeper level, ultimately
    making reading a more enjoyable and valuable experience.
    As students become proficient in generating challenging questions, have them group the
    questions the time they were asked (before, during or after reading). Students can determine their
    own categories, justify their reasons for placing questions into the categories, and determine how
    this can help their reading comprehension.

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