Reading like a DetectiveDeeper 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
www.achievethecore.org
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.
www.achievethecore.org
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 1776. 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 Purpose Inferences
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 www.achievethecore.org www.ride.ri.gov