1. Writing Text Dependent Questions
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Writing Text Dependent Questions
Grades 6-8 Leadership

2. Welcome Back!
3 minutes

3. Grades 6-8 Leadership Introduction: Who I Am
Ani Rosario
9th Grade English teacher and reading Specialist - Dansville, N.Y
NYS ELA Core Curriculum Fellow

4. Grades 6-8 Leadership Standards Institute Approach
Conceptual
Practical
Foundations
Shifts & Tools
Texts & Fiction
Canon & Contemporary Application: Shifts 1&2
Modules and Units
Deconstructing Lessons: Shift 3
Inquiry
Research and Writing
Equity
Strategies & Assessment
Support
Access
Rigor
Relevance
July 13 - July 17
1 min
Today we are going to deep dive into a module, but before we do we have to get very clear around the glue that cements the text, instruction, and the standards together- which is how we ask questions, and what we ask in them (or something)

5. Grades 6-8 Leadership Today’s Sessions
Session 1: Writing Text-Dependent Questions
Session 2: Shifting the Paradigm: Teaching Nonfiction in the Common Core
Session 3: Shifting the Paradigm: A Standards-based Approach to Fiction
Session 4: ACT, SAT, PARCC and CCSS for Leaders

6. Grades 6-8 Leadership Session 1: Writing Text-Dependent Questions
Participants will be able to:
Determine the differences between questions that are assessing a deep knowledge of the text and questions that rely on a surface level understanding
Identify the components of a vocabulary based TDQ and a Central Idea/Theme based question
Construct text dependent and multiple choice questions to suit the needs of their classroom
1 minute

7. Grades 6-8 Leadership This Session’s Agenda
Understanding text-dependent questions and their importance to learning in the Common Core, including:
How to use these questions in your classroom
The different types of Text-Dependent Questions
Writing text-dependent questions that can be used for discussion and scaffolding for understanding texts
Examining alternatives to traditional multiple choice questions
1 min

8. Text-Dependent Questions... Text-Dependent Questions are not...
Grades 6-8 Leadership
Text-Dependent Questions...
Text-Dependent Questions are not...
Are answered only with evidence from the text.
Involve analysis, synthesis, evaluation.
Focus on words, sentences, and paragraphs, as well as larger ideas, themes, or events.
Focus on difficult portions of text in order to enhance reading proficiency.
Low-level, or recall questions
Focused on comprehension strategies
“Just questions” to make sure students are reading and understanding
3 min
on low-level/recall questions-- the messaging should not be that you never ask basic/comprehension questions to ensure that the students understood the text--it's just that these kinds of questions are not what TDQs are.
the low-level/recall questions can be good questions to begin with in advance of TDQs to make sure you are ready to engage in richer, more complex questions. There cannot be analysis without comprehension.

9. What do you remember about taking the SAT? What was difficult?
Grades 6-8 Leadership
What do you remember about taking the SAT? What was difficult?
What headline did the author say she would use for a newspaper story on the SATs?
(Before reading the text) What does “jarring” mean?
How would you structure an argument about why textbooks are or are not difficult enough?
Not Text-Dependent
Text-Dependent
According to the author, what main factor explains declining and plateauing SAT scores?
How does paragraph 3 show what the author believes the problem is and how she feels about it?
(During or immediately after reading) Based on the context in paragraph 6, what is the meaning of “jarring”?
Describe what is effective about the author’s reasoning and how she structures her argument.
4 min
We’ll spend more time on strong questioning in task and instruction tomorrow. For now…At your table discuss the differences between these sets of questions and what changes are required of teachers to become skillful at rich, Text Dependent Questions.
3 min
Whole group share
If necessary, sum up the points below:
Examples of questions that take students outside and inside the text.
Text-dependent questions require students to pay attention to the text at hand and to draw evidence from that text.
What does this look like in the classroom?
Teachers insist that classroom experiences stay deeply connected to the text on the page and that students develop habits for making evidentiary argument both in conversation, as well as in writing to assess comprehension of a text.
Students have rich and rigorous conversations and develop writing that are dependent on a common text.

10. Grades 6-8 Leadership Making Questioning Work for Your Classroom
Know the text well
Determine the important words, themes, ideas and sections of the text that will provide a deeper understanding of the text
Know the standards that are being assessed
Keep the Module, Unit, and/or Lesson focus standards in mind while writing questions
Use Question Stems
Allow for consistency and can ensure alignment to standards
1 min
Designing/adapting questions to fit the needs of our students is an arduous, but incredibly worthy and purposeful task. Having a place to start (the text, the standards, and question stems) is about halfway through the design process. The real focus should be what do you want to know about your instruction- are the students understanding the material? Are they able to demonstrate proficiency on a specific skill that you’ve addressed? Don’t try to teach the whole text with a single question. When you do this, you have generally created an assessment question, rather than a question designed to scaffold student learning. Stick with small sections and go deep.

11. Grades 6-8 Leadership Types of Text-Dependent Questions
Questions that scaffold learning
Questions that build knowledge of vocabulary
Questions that help students grapple with themes and central ideas
Questions that build knowledge of syntax and structure
1 min
Get very clear about the answer you want your question to elicit.
The better you understand this, the better you’re able to see the understanding you’re trying to help students develop. If you can articulate very clearly what a great answer would be, that can help you design a great question

12. Grades 6-8 Leadership Questions that Scaffold Learning
Text-Dependent Questions can serve as scaffolding, placed directly in the margins of the text for students while reading
1 min
If there’s a very important and difficult section of text, it’s okay to ask a very basic question about it, such as: “What’s happening here?” or “What did X just do?”. Remember, though, that the purpose of these questions is to scaffold and guide thinking, not to test comprehension. Keep that distinction clear in your head and your questions will be better.

13. Grades 6-8 Leadership Vocabulary-Based TDQs
Possible Question Stems
What other words in this sentence help give meaning to...
Based on the context, what is the meaning of…
Looking at the examples provided in the preceding paragraphs, what does the word...
Which words should we look at for TDQs?
Essential to understanding the text
Likely to appear in future reading
More abstract words (as opposed to concrete words)
1 min
Academic vocabulary and determining which words need to be provided through direct instruction, which words can be determined from context, and which words need to be elaborated on because they are essential to the understanding of a text.
Note: Essential words that cannot be or are difficult to figure out by context should not be asked about, but instead provided

14. Grades 6-8 Leadership Vocabulary TDQs: Practice
On p.22 of the materials, there is Vocabulary-Based TDQ practice
Read the poem “In This Blind Alley” to yourself
Answer the “Prep Questions,” and then discuss with a partner
Using the “Suggested Question Stems,” try writing a few Practice Vocabulary TDQs with a partner
Keep in mind:
Choose words that are essential to the understanding of the text
10 min
Materials page 20, “In This Blind Alley” Poem and Practice Vocab TDQs. Participants will read the poem alone, and then discuss the Prep Questions and the Suggested Question Stems with a partner in order to practice writing some questions. Remind participants of the 4th point (“Keep in Mind”) as they are writing.

15. Grades 6-8 Leadership Central Idea/Theme-Based TDQs
Why should we ask Central Idea/Theme-Based TDQs?
Guide students toward the theme
Encourage students to look to the text to support their answers
Encourage students to examine the complex layers of a rigorous text
Support comprehension
Possible Question Stems
How does the author develop a central idea/theme…
This sentence (paragraph, detail, event) contributes to the central idea/theme by…?
What central idea/theme is unfolded in this section...
1 min
Note that this is where text complexity, particularly the qualitative elements, come into play. The kind of texts we want our HS students to read, understand and analyze have rich themes and central ideas. These kinds of questions go deeper than a gist understanding of a text such as in Of Mice and Men George and Lenny are friends during the depression.
Good litmus test for planning: If the text cannot support these kinds of questions, then the components of its qualitative complexity do not support R2.

16. Grades 6-8 Leadership Theme/Central Idea TDQs
On p.23 of the materials, there is Theme-Based TDQ practice
Re-read “In This Blind Alley,” if necessary
Answer the “Prep Questions,” and then discuss with a partner
Using the “Suggested Question Stems,” try writing a few Practice Theme/Central Idea TDQs with a partner
Keep in mind:
Guide the student toward the important thematic elements of the text
Consider how you can get students to examine the complex layers of the text, beyond just basic comprehension
10 min
Materials page 23, “In This Blind Alley” Poem and Practice Theme TDQs. Participants will read the poem alone, and then discuss the Prep Questions and the Suggested Question Stems with a partner in order to practice writing some questions. Remind participants of the 4th point (“Keep in Mind”) as they are writing.

17. Grades 6-8 Leadership Multiple Choice TDQs
Generally speaking, open-ended “Discussion TDQs” support and scaffold reading and learning, while Multiple Choice Questions are used for assessment.
However, we can change this by creating MC questions that go beyond just “pick an answer”
2 min
Here, the difference between Discussion TDQs (found in the module, used to scaffold and support reading) and Multiple Choice TDQs (for assessment) should be made clear. However, the second half of this presentation will attempt to shift that understanding and even eliminate that “difference.” We are going to encourage teachers to write their own assessment-style MC questions to use them in their classroom for formative assessment, authentic test preparation, thus scaffolding and supporting the learning that is taking place.

18. Grades 6-8 Leadership Nontraditional approaches
Adding another element to a multiple choice question beyond answer selection will:
Force students to access a higher level of thinking
Provide students with an alternate question strategy
Support the second Key Shift: “reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence taken directly from the text”
1 min
The hardest questions to write are multiple choice questions- and they tend to not be the favorite question type for teachers, but they can provide you with a quick and accurate sample of how successful your students are with the material or skill. Adding other elements to the question like explaining why a choice is incorrect, or simply providing the student an opportunity to support their answer choice with evidence from the text, can show the student that sometimes the “right” answer isn’t always the “best” answer.

19. Grades 6-8 Leadership Ask students to support their answer with evidence
See materials: pages 20-24
Although students still choose an answer, by asking them to support their answer we are asking students to show their thinking
Instead of looking for the first “right” answer they find, they will look for the answer that is “best” supported
2 min

20. Grades 6-8 Leadership Ask students why they didn’t choose the other answers
See materials: pages 24-26
Again, students are selecting an answer, but they need to explain why they didn’t pick the others
This will help students eliminate the answers that are clearly wrong, and to rethink the answer they selected as correct
2 min

21. Grades 6-8 Leadership Writing Multiple Choice Questions
Decide what text or what section of the text you are going to use
Just like with Discussion TDQs, these should be the most complex and thematically important sections of a text
Choose which standard to focus on
These should be Focus Standards or standards in need of growth
Choose a question stem that aligns with that standard
2 min
This slide overviews the 3 steps to writing an MC question. Simply put, multiple choice questions are not going anywhere. They are a favorite of test writers (from the SAT to the PARCC assessment and everything in between). However, they are also the hardest questions to write- and they tend to not be the favorite question type for teachers. But, if we change our mindset and learn how to write them effectively, they can provide you with a quick and accurate sample of how successful your students are with the material and the standards.

22. Grades 6-8 Leadership Choosing a Standard
Can be the focus standard for the lesson, unit, or module
Standard in need of growth

23. Grades 6-8 Leadership Aligning to a Stem
It is important that the multiple choice question is aligned to the standard, but is not a rewording of the standard.
Stems Document (s) on pp. 1-20, of materials:
Provides multiple choice question stems that are aligned to the standards, although not ALL standards are there
Allows you to pick and choose which to use based on the standards you want to assess
Formalizes multiple choice questions to get students used to elevated questioning
1 min
This document can be used as a tool for test development based solely on the stems alignment to the standards. It is beneficial for practice in NYS for the CC Regents, but can also be adapted to the PARCC assessment

24. Grades 6-8 Leadership Final Thoughts on Questioning
Don’t try to teach the whole text with a single question.
When you do this, you have generally created an assessment question, rather than a question designed to scaffold student learning. Stick with small sections and go deep.
Don't worry about writing perfect questions first.
In fact, write bad questions. Write lots of them. In those bad questions are the ideas you find important in your text. Find the great ideas and wordsmith the questions.
“Head ’em off at the pass” questions are okay.
If there’s a very important and difficult section of text, it’s okay to ask a very basic question about it, such as: “What’s happening here?” or “What did X just do?”. Remember, though, that the purpose of these questions is to scaffold and guide thinking, not to test comprehension. Keep that distinction clear in your head and your questions will be better. Speaking of which….

25. Grades 6-8 Leadership Final Thoughts on Questioning
Use the questions in the instructional sequence as scaffolds.
Keep assessments where they belong—as assessments of learning. The purpose of the types of text-dependent questions we’re talking about is not to assess whether students “got it,” it’s to help them get it. This seems like an academic distinction, but it’s really not. Keep telling yourself that’s the purpose of the questions you’re writing, and your questions will be better.
Get very clear about the kind of answer you want your question to elicit.
The better you understand this, the better you’re able to see the kind of understanding you’re trying to help students develop. If you can articulate very clearly what a great answer “should” be, you can then expect the same from your students
Tips/Fixes/ Question Checklist on pp

26. Grades 6-8 Leadership Reflect and Write
What is the gap between where you need to be and where you are?
What do you need to lead and support this work?
•Systems and structures
•People
•Resources
Who needs to learn what by when?
•You
•Leadership team
•Staff
4-5 minutes

27. Questions?