Today, you need… handouts Things Fall Apart novel writing utensil Your homework last night was to read Chapter 2. You have a reading quiz today!

Quiz, Chapter 2 THIS QUIZ IS NOT OPEN BOOK. On your ¼ slip of paper, answer the following questions: Who is Ikemefuna? (2.5 points) What happens to him? (2.5 points)

Understanding Text- Based Questions and Question—Answer Relationships Tuesday, March 3, 2015 (SS) LAC I

Brainstorm… Think back to all the times your teachers have asked you questions about texts you’ve read. What types of questions have they asked you? …about informational text (non-fiction)? …about literary text (fiction)? What similarities do you notice between these questions? Differences?

Many of the questions you highlighted have an important commonality: They’re what we call “text-based questions.”

Text-Based Questions They’re exactly what you think they are: questions whose answers are based in a text (or multiple texts) that you’ve read. And believe it or not, there are different types, or levels, of text based questions. It’s easiest to sort these questions by considering how the questions and their answers relate to each other, or their “Question—Answer Relationship.”

Question—Answer Relationships (QAR) What is QAR? Reading strategy meant to help students understand where to look for answers to teacher questions. Can also be used to write different types of questions. This is what we’re focusing on. Why use it? Shifts responsibility for learning from me (the teacher) to you (the student). End result: teacher control student control

Question—Answer Relationships (QAR) What will QAR help you to do? Understand where to find the answers to questions. Stay focused on your reading. Self-check for comprehension. Analyze the text. Respond to what you’ve read in a meaningful way (of your choosing).

QAR Levels

QAR, Level 1: On Your Own Questions ask how you are able to connect with the material as a reader. Opinions Connections Text-to-Self, Text-to-Text, and Text-to- World Answers cannot be found in the text; must be based on reader’s own background knowledge and experience.

QAR, Level 2: Right There Questions are specific and focused on comprehension clarifying questions context clues Answers can be found in one place in the text— meaning, you could literally put your finger on its location.

QAR, Level 3: Think & Search Questions ask you to make inferences. Focus: literary elements Topic and/or central idea Answers require synthesize from: multiple sections of text multiple texts

QAR, Level 4: Author & You Questions require deep analysis. authorial intent stylistic decisions evaluate/critique work Answers cannot be found in the text; require you to expand upon and go beyond ideas present in text

Question 1 Question: What is significant about the quiet evening the narrator describes? Things Fall Apart, Ch. 2, pg Type? Level 3: Think & Search Explanation? Must synthesize information about moonlit and moonless nights in order to answer this question. Answer? Dark, moonless nights inspire fear, unlike moonlit nights where both young and old enjoy the outdoors. The dark ominous feeling Okonkwo feels foreshadows unpleasant events that are to follow.

Question 2 Question: Why are the men of Umuofia “asked to gather at the market place”? Things Fall Apart, Ch. 2, pg. 9 Type? Level 2: Right There Explanation? There is one answer to this question, and the reader can put his / her finger on it. Answer? The men are asked to gather in order to determine what to do next, as “[ t ] hose sons of wild animals [ Mbainians ] have dared to murder a daughter of Umuofia ” ( Achebe 11).

Question 3 Question: The narrator spends a great deal of time describing the customs and traditions of the Ibo/Igbo peoples. Why is this attention to detail crucial for Achebe as he works to recast the poplar European view of this African culture? Things Fall Apart, Ch. 2, pg Type? Level 4: Author & You Explanation? Must read text to answer, but text acts only as a reference point. Response must come from reader ’ s understanding of the author, the text, and his / her background knowledge. Answer? Europeans tended to see African cultures as the primitive opposite of their civilized Western Culture. Achebe ’ s text helps readers to see that the customs and traditions are different, but not necessarily primitive (“ art of language ”).

Question 4 Question: Does Umuofia’s way of settling disputes seem efficient and/or effective? Things Fall Apart, Ch. 2, pg. 15 Type? Level 1: On Your Own Explanation? Question requires you to have read the text, but the answer is not present in the words on the page ; it requires you to refer to your own background knowledge and experiences. Answer? Varied responses.

Homework Read Chapters 3-4 tonight! There WILL be a quiz tomorrow. Please read.  Extra Credit Opportunity #1 Finish answering Ch. 2 questions; submit at the beginning of class on Wednesday 3/4!