Using Questioning Strategies to Meet Common Core ELA Standards for Reading Informational Texts

1. Using Questioning Strategies to Meet Common Core ELA Standards for Reading Informational Texts Vivian Bernstein Author, Consultant bernsteinviv@gmail.com www.AbramsLearningTrends.com

2. Reading Research on Comprehension • “Less than half of all fourth graders are proficient or advanced readers.” (National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2011) • “Applying a variety of questioning strategies promotes comprehension.” (National Reading Panel, 2000) • “Good readers ask questions, predict, self monitor, and summarize.” (National Reading Panel, 2000) • “Self-questioning strategies improve comprehension.” (Carlisle, J. and Rice, M., 2002)

3. Reading Comprehension Research(cont.) 5. “Explicit vocabulary instruction improves comprehension with all students.” (Carlo, M.S., August, D., McLaughlin, B. etc. 2004) 6. “Lessons that include more questions by teachers produce greater achievement gains.” (Dillon, J.T., 1984) 7. “Summarizing improves recall and comprehension.” (Carlisle, J. and Rice, M., 2002) 8. “Most readers in the 75th percentile read ‘for fun’ almost daily.” (N.A.E.P., 2011)

4. Common Core State Standards: Changing Reading Instruction Amount of Informational Reading • Grade 4: 50% • Grade 8: 55% • Grade 12: 70% Greater Emphasis on Informational Texts • Build an information base • Informational texts promote success in college and careers • Read complex texts

5. CCSS for Reading Informational Texts Build background knowledge Build academic and domain specific vocabulary Understand author’s point of view Apply evidence and examples to support points of view Integrate research from several sources Comprehend complex texts

6. Strategy 1. Start with Essential Questions • Focus on big ideas of a unit • More than one correct answer • Set a purpose for learning • Contain easy to understand phrasing • Promote critical thinking • Apply prior knowledge • Create a final project

7. Examples of Essential Questions • How did the California Gold Rush change the United States? • Which was the best way to travel to California in 1849? • Why do people make dangerous journeys? • How does the Sun affect life on Earth? • How do living things survive?

8. Strategy 2: Apply Self-Questioning Strategies Self-Questioning: What Do I Know? Main Topic: California Gold Rush I know something about this topic but I cannot explain it. I know this topic and I can talk about it. I do not know anything about the topic. Topics San Francisco Forty-Niners California James Marshall John Sutter

9. Applying CCSS: Self-Questioning the Text Structure • What kind of informational text am I reading? • Narrative • Cause and effect • Problem-solution • Chronology • Comparisons • Author’s point of view

10. Self-Questioning Prepare to Read a Textbook Chapter • Survey entire chapter • Vocabulary • Subheading questions • Read and answer questions • End-of-Chapter questions

11. Self-Questioning Strategies for Before, During, and After Reading • After Reading • What did I learn? • What else do I want to know? • What if ____? • Summarize the lesson. • During Reading • Do I understand what I’m reading? • What do I predict will happen next? • What was the main idea of the section? • Before Reading • What do I know about ______? • What do I predict? • What do I expect to learn?

12. Self-Questioning as You Read What is the Main Idea? Main Idea: Thousands of people rushed to California in 1849. • Main Idea • Thousands of people rushed to California in 1849. • Detail: • Detail: • Detail: • Detail:

13. Self-Questioning to Make Inferences What did I learn from the book? There were no railroads across the United States. There were no paved roads west of the Mississippi. What do I already know? California was thousands of miles from the eastern coast. What can I infer? Traveling to California would take a long time. The trip would be difficult.

14. Strategy 3. Use Questioning Techniques to Build Vocabulary Select 10 Tier 2 Vocabulary Words for a Unit Topic: The California Gold Rush New Vocabulary Gold Rush Forty-Niners territory culture emigrants shortages scarcity inflation prospectors epidemics

15. Vocabulary Study Aid inflation definition What is inflation? What causes inflation? Why did it happen in 1849?

16. Applying CCSS: Questioning Activities to Build Vocabulary Why did people become Forty-Niners? Would you rather have a cholera shot or get sick during an epidemic? Why did people become emigrants? What is an example of a culture? True or False: Pollution can cause a scarcity of fresh water.

17. Strategy 4. Use Questioning Techniques to Summarize Information Why is Summarizing Important? • Promotes long-term recall • Helps students focus on main ideas and important details • Helps students distinguish relevant and irrelevant information

18. Self-Questioning to Summarize a Section • What are one or two main ideas? • What are important supporting facts? • What information is irrelevant? Remember! Students cannot summarize if they cannot identify main ideas.

19. Writing the Summary Step 2: Find the main idea, supporting facts, and irrelevant facts. Main Idea Levi Strauss became rich by making jeans for miners. • Important Facts • Prospectors needed stronger pants • Levi used rivets and denim to make strong pants • Irrelevant Facts • Born in Germany • Family had 7 children Step 3: Write a one paragraph summary using the graphic organizer.

20. Strategy 5. Teach Students to Work with Many Kinds of Questions: Apply CCSS: Build Recall • Who discovered gold? • What jobs did women do? • When did California become a state? • Where was gold discovered? • How did people travel? • Why was life difficult for miners?

21. CCSS: Ask Questions to Understand Text Features • Types of text features: • Maps • Charts • Graphs • Diagrams • Primary Sources • Time lines

22. Applying CCSS: Questions for Higher-Level Thinking Use questions to help students think beyond the content of the text. • Whatwere some other ways people might get rich during the Gold Rush? • I wonder whyit was so difficult to travel to California? • Interpret the facts. What conclusions can be drawn? • What evidence supports your point of view?

23. Applying Bloom’s Taxonomy California Gold Rush Knowledge: What are three facts about the California before the Gold Rush? Comprehension: How did emigrants travel to California? Application: Sequence five events that happened after gold was discovered. Analysis: Compare and contrast the overland journey with the voyages by sea. Synthesis: Plan a trip to California in 1849. What supplies would you pack in your covered wagon? Evaluation: How did the 1849 Gold Rush change the United States?

24. “Wait Time” Promotes Success • Students need time to think! • Average wait time is only one second. • Research: Increasing wait time beyond three seconds increases achievement. • Struggling students greatly benefit from more wait time.

25. Learn More About the Gold Rush • http://pbskids.org/wayback/goldrush/goldfever.html • http://www.kidport.com/reflib/usahistory/calgoldrush/calgoldrush.htm • http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goldrush/ • http://ceres.ca.gov/ceres/calweb/geology/goldrush.html • Friedman, Mel. The California Gold Rush . • Murphy, Claire Rudolph. Children of the Gold Rush. • Murphy, Claire Rudolph. Gold Rush Women. • Raum, Elizabeth. The California Gold Rush: An Interactive History Adventure. • Roop, Peter. California Gold Rush. • Stein, Conrad. The California Gold Rush.