Ms. Amber Huntington

 According to Costa, comprehension exists on 3 levels when discussing texts  Each level indicates an enhanced, more comprehensive understanding of a text  The lowest level of questioning is Level 1; the highest is Level 3  Try to encourage your group to answer questions which ask them to infer or apply prior knowledge rather than regurgitate what the text has already said

 On the line questions are quite literal  What color was Red Riding Hood’s cape?  What sort of fish was Nemo?  What was the name of the place the children discovered through the wardrobe?  These sorts of questions are great for recounting facts and are useful in that aspect, but they do not promote higher order thinking or discussion  The answers to these questions are often forgotten after a short time (like after the test is over)

 Hidden questions force people to combine snippets of information given in the text to come to a conclusion  The answers are still in the text, but not written on the line like Level I; some deduction and interpretation is required  How do we know the Beast was in love with Beauty?  How do we know the professor wasn’t use to children in the house in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe?  These questions force people to interpret or infer answers by using several pieces of evidence to conclude something

 These questions require the person to use prior knowledge to make an informed decision  They should be able to deduce, predict, or ascertain an answer based on their own experiences and the text  Do you think the children will ever return to Narnia?  Do you think pandas will ever become extinct?  Do you think world leaders will ever abolish nuclear weapons?  These questions require students to draw on head facts—things they already know—to come to an informed answer

 Get into groups of 3-4 people  Receive paper-clipped papers, and make sure you have 15 strips of papers with questions on each  Create three piles of questions: Level I Questions, Level II Questions, and Level III Questions according to Costa’s definitions  We will all check our answers together  Use this knowledge to create great discussion questions for your World Poem assignment