Reading like a Detective Deeper Reading with Text- Based Questions

Objectives Understand the purpose and format of text dependent questions Experience close reading with text dependent questions Create text dependent questions for complex texts Use text dependent questions in your own classroom to help students read closely and analytically

Common Core Shifts for ELA/Literacy  Regular practice with complex text and its academic language  Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from the text, both literary and informational  Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction

 80-90% of (CCSS) reading standards require text-dependent analysis yet over 30% of questions in major textbooks do not.

How do we address these shifts?  Close and Critical Reading Process  What does the text say?  How does the author say it?  What does the text mean?  What does the text mean to me?  Depth of Knowledge  Text-Dependent Questions

Teaching Students to Read like Detectives  “A text-based discussion approach challenges students to extract information from the text, consider their own experiences and background knowledge, and engage in academic talk about ideas and concepts. But it does not stop there. This approach demands that students read, write, and think rhetorically in order to interrogate the text itself.”

Text-Dependent Questions…  Can only be answered with evidence from the text  Can be literal (checking for understanding) but must also involve analysis, synthesis, evaluation  Focus on word, sentence, and paragraph, as well as larger ideas, themes or events

 Focus on difficult portions of text in order to enhance reading proficiency  Can also include prompts for writing and discussion questions

Text-Dependent Questions are NOT:  Low level, literal, or recall questions  Focused on comprehension strategies  Just questions… These are still necessary processes in helping students understand text.

Three Types of Text- Dependent Questions  Questions that assess themes and central ideas  Questions that assess knowledge of vocabulary  Questions that assess syntax and structure

Which of these questions requires students to read the text closely? 1. In “Casey at the Bat,” Casey strikes out. Describe a time when you failed at something. 2. What makes Casey’s experience humorous?

How about this one? 1. In “The Gettysburg Address” Lincoln says the nation is dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Why is equality an important value to promote? 2. “The Gettysburg Address” mentions the year According to Lincoln’s speech, why is this year significant to the events described in the speech?

Teaching Students to Read like Detectives  “Text-based discussions are fostered by the purposeful instructional moves of the teacher. By modeling the ways in which we interpret, reread, and consult the text, we demonstrate habits of mind for our students.”

Guiding Students through Close Readings  Establish purpose  Read Independently  Assess for Understanding  Teacher-Led Reading  Small/Large Group Discussion  Additional Reading  Culminating Task Fisher, Frey, and Lapp: Text Complexity: Raising Rigor in Reading Handout

Close Reading  Read “On the Death of Friends in Childhood” keeping in mind the essential question:  How do we cope with the loss of friendships? Handout

Close Reading #1  Read the text on your own, making annotations as you read  Underline major points  Use brackets to emphasize a passage  Star to emphasize the most important statements  Circle important vocabulary  Record questions, comments, or visualizations in the Notes section

Close Reading #1  Small group discussion for meaning  Which sections did you star? Why?  Where did you underline? Why?  Where were you confused?  What message is the author trying to convey?  Large group discussion

Teacher-Led Reading and Think Aloud  Model how skilled readers construct meaning from a text  With your partner: Explain whether hearing the text altered your understanding

Text-Dependent Questions  Transition to Higher Level Text-Dependent Questions  Guide a discussion using higher level text- dependent questions referring to the text for additional rereading as needed  Encourage the use of textual evidence to support answers  Initial questions should be designed to highlight the explicit meaning of the texts, progressing toward more challenging and implicit meaning

Close Reading #2  Read the text on your own looking for the tone of the piece.  How does the tone begin?  How does the tone end?  At what line does the tone shift?  What parts of the poem support your answer?  Small group discussion  Large group discussion

Close Reading #3  Read the text on your own keeping in mind the following question:  Would the author suggest that we attempt to hold on to memories of lost friendships or let them go?  Small group discussion  Large group discussion

Culminating Task  Write a perfect paragraph answering the following question:  How does the poem “On the Death of Friends in Childhood” relate to Lord of the Flies?  Use evidence from the poem to support your answer.

Progression of Text-Dependent Questions Handout

Planning Text-Dependent Questions  Step 1: Start with a high quality, complex text and identify the desired student learning objectives.  Step 2: Create questions/activities to ensure that students have a general understanding of the text and recognize key details.  Step 3: Target vocabulary, syntax, and text structure. Handout

 Step 4: Draw attention to literary devices and figurative language.  Step 5: Delve into challenging areas of the text, paying special attention to author’s purpose and inferences.  Step 6: Ask students to either state their opinions, create arguments, and/or make intertextual connection. This could be part of the culminating task.  Step 7: Arrange questions in appropriate order for instruction.

Text-Dependent Questions Planning Map General Understandings Key Detail Questions Vocabulary & Text Structure Author’s PurposeInferences Opinions, Arguments, Inter-textual Connections Handout

Depth of Knowledge Webb, Norman L. “Web Alignment Tool”

Summary  Text-Dependent Questions…  Can only be answered with evidence from the text  Allow students to build knowledge rather than rely on background knowledge  Require an understanding that extends beyond recalling facts  Often require students to infer  Focus on word, sentence, and paragraph, as well as larger ideas, themes, or events  Require time for students to process  Are worth asking Rhode Island Department of Education

Additional Resources  “Asking Questions that Prompt Discussion” Fisher & Frey  “Engaging the Adolescent Learner” Fisher & Frey  Teaching Students to Read Like a Detective Fisher, Frey & Lapp  Text Complexity: Raising Rigor in Reading Fisher, Frey, and Lapp  