Inside This Week’s Episode: Learn how to help your students master the art of asking questions while reading to increase their reading comprehension. This is a must-listen episode for all upper elementary teachers looking for a simple approach to reading comprehension strategy instruction!

All teachers would agree that asking questions is (usually) a good thing.

Yes, we have the those students who seem to ask endless questions, or questions that seem off-topic or irrelevant, but — overall, we know that students use questioning and wondering as a strategy for learning about the world.

AND - when it comes to reading, asking questions is a reading comprehension strategy that needs to be explicitly taught to students to help them learn and engage with the text.

It helps the reader to clarify what he or she is reading and to better understand the text. It helps them to challenge the text. Ultimately, asking good questions is a way for students to monitor their own comprehension while reading. 

But - that doesn’t mean that students automatically know how to ask questions.

In fact, struggling readers approach reading as a passive experience. This means that they read the words with the idea that the meaning of the text will reveal itself if they just read enough words. They don’t stop to ask questions or challenge their thinking.

That’s where today’s podcast episode comes into play. I’m diving deep into this critical reading comprehension strategy and breaking it ALL down for you so that you can get your students asking, wondering, and engaging with the books they are reading.

Learn My simple approach for developing stronger readers through asking meaningful questions

Here’s a Snapshot:

• [04:34] Reader’s ask a variety of questions when they read - from why characters behave a certain way to asking why authors include certain text features. Variety is KEY for getting the complete picture of a text

• [05:47] Reader’s questions are constantly evolving and changing. When this happens, it means students are reflecting, evaluating, and self-monitoring their own comprehension, and that’s a GOOD thing!

• [08:05] All questions are not created equal. When teaching the questioning strategy for the first time, we need to teach students the difference between ‘thin’ and ‘thick’ questions. Both are needed for complete comprehension, but one of these types of questions will take us deeper!

• [09:32] When first introducing this reading strategy, start with a simple activity that gets students in the mindset of asking questions. I’ll walk you through my favorite activity that is simple to prepare and fun for student engagement!

• [011:35] When you’re ready to model this strategy with a read aloud, I’ll share with you my step-by-step instructional strategy to help get you started. I’ll tell you what you need to know about pacing out your instruction over several mini-lessons and how to use tools like anchor charts and visual prompts to successfully teach this reading strategy.

• [17:44] FREEBIE: I’ve got free student bookmark that you can snag right away to use in your classroom.

• [19:01] RESOURCE: Take action with teaching this reading strategy with my LINKtivity Interactive Learning Guide — all about teaching students how to ask questions!

LINKS & RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE

Episode 41: Teaching Reading Comprehension Strategies

Episode 47: Reading Comprehension Strategies: How to Teach Visualizing

Episode 51: Reading Comprehension Strategies: How to Teach Making Predictions

My Anchor chart for Asking Questions

My favorites texts to use when modeling asking questions:

• The Stranger by: Chris Van Allsburg

• The Empty Pot by: Demi

• Fly Away Home by: Eve Bunting

• Plant Secrets by: Emily Goodman

Get access to all of my reading comprehension LINKtivities inside the LINKtivity® Learning Membership

Grab my FREE Asking Questions Bookmark below:

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TRANSCRIPT