The Three Basic Types…What are they and how can good readers tell the difference?

 Check reader understanding  Allow readers to think about what they have read  Give readers the opportunity to make connections with their reading

 LITERAL  INFERENTIAL  CRITICAL

 Usually the easiest to answer.  Information can be found right in the reading.  Questions can be answered using language word-for-word from the reading.  EX: How old was EdNah when she came to Crown Point?  “I was seven-nearly eight-years old.” (pg 5)

 More difficult than literal reading comprehension questions.  The information cannot be found word-for- word in one place.  The reader takes two or more pieces of information, puts them together, and reads between the lines to come to a conclusion.  Ex: Did the children have much parental guidance during the summer? No, because they were always doing troublesome things and getting into mischief.

 Usually the most difficult to answer.  Many critical reading comprehension questions ask the reader to make a personal judgment or decision, analyze character behavior, or re- imagine events from another perspective. Answers cannot be found in the reading.  Critical reading comprehension questions require readers to think BEYOND the text.  Ex: How would EdNah’s life at Crown Point have been different if Naneh and Little Fat did not befriend her?

 Choose one of the chapters that we have already read and compose one of each type of question for it.  Literal:  Inferential:  Critical: