1. Literacy Shifts Text Dependent Questions
ELA Cadre Presentation
October 14, 2015

2. Literacy Shifts:
Remember, we are ALL teachers of the language of our content. Students need to know how to read, write and speak like artists, historians, scientists, mathematicians.

3. Three Literacy Shifts
Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction.
Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from text.
Regular practice with complex text and its academic language.

5. 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.
TDQ’s should not require background knowledge (stores of background knowledge can be added to by collecting the evidence from the text to further build knowledge, or can be tapped into to make meaning of the text.)
Questions that involve analysis, synthesis, evaluation actually point towards the most difficult parts of text. Literal question do not.
TDQ’s will drive the CCSS in the classroom if questions are asked about words, sentences, paragraphs, big ideas, themes, relationships, etc.
TDQ’s are an opportunity to address the academic (tier two) vocabulary and syntax that are features of complex text – the features that make text difficult for students.
This means that good questions actually make students stronger and more capable readers.

6. Non-Examples and Examples
Not Text-Dependent
Text-Dependent
In “Casey at the Bat,” Casey strikes out. Describe a time when you failed at something.
In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Dr. King discusses nonviolent protest. Discuss, in writing, a time when you wanted to fight against something that you felt was unfair.
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?
What makes Casey’s experiences at bat humorous?
What can you infer from King’s letter about the letter that he received?
“The Gettysburg Address” mentions the year According to Lincoln’s speech, why is this year significant to the events described in the speech?
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 is dependent on a common text.

7. Which question requires students to read closely for text-specific information?
Questions based on: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave by Frederick Douglass
After reading Frederick Douglass’ narrative, In what ways does America represent the hope for freedom that lived in the heart of Frederick Douglass?
How did Frederick Douglass’ ability to read contribute to his emotional struggle for freedom?
Cite examples from the text to support your answer.
Rhode Island Department of Education /2012

8. Activity:
Read the excerpt from the Ohio ELA Standards Appendix B, The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Cole which is found in the grade 2-3 Informational Text band.

9. Are these questions text dependent?
Why do you think the author chose to write about Ruby Bridges’ story?
What was unfair about schools in New Orleans?
How do you think the other students at the school felt about Ruby?

10. Are these questions text dependent?
How did Ruby act when she saw the crowd of people each morning?
What is a federal marshal?
How has life changed since the 1960s?

11. Handouts
Handout 1: A Guide to Creating Text Dependent Questions for Close Analytic Reading
Handout 2: Prompts for Text Dependent Questions
Handout 3: Text Dependent Question Types

12. Making Questions Text Dependent
Use sentence starters
In paragraph 3,...
When the author writes, “ ”
Where in the text can you find....
Add a clarifying questions
-How do you know?
-What words in the text make you think so?

13. Activity
Look at the questions you brought to this session. Determine if they are text dependent.
When you find questions that are not text dependent, reword them to make them text dependent.
Share with a partner to check your work.

14. As you plan lessons and activities in the following weeks, we ask you to be aware of the questions you are asking/using. The more questions that require students to go back to the text to answer fully, the more learning will be occurring.
As you increase your text dependent questioning skill and ask students to be dependent upon text to answer questions well, reflect upon what changes you see in student behavior, attitude, and learning.