Where in the House is your thinking

1. Where in the House is your thinking?

2. Leveled Questions  To better understand a work, the reader must take an active role in the process. One strategy that addresses this is creating leveled questions. Think about game shows that require a contestant to answer questions (“Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” and “Jeopardy,” for example). The easiest questions are ones that most anyone can answer and offer the least monetary reward. The more difficult the question, the more advanced the reward on these game shows. Students should feel proud that they have a question rather than pleased that they have the answer. Janice Szabos

3. Leveled Questioning Level One questions will help us to become more familiar with the details of the text while Level Three questions will challenge us to relate the literary selection to our world or some other work of literature.    Here is a simple description of each of the three levels of questions:

4. Level 1 Questions These questions can be answered directly from the text. These questions can be answered explicitly by facts contained in the text or by information accessible in other resources They are mostly important detail questions. “On the Line” Questions

5. Level 2 Questions You must use the text and your own knowledge to answer these questions. These questions are textually implicit, requiring analysis and interpretation of specific parts of the text. “Between the Lines” Questions These questions require you to make inferences (It says, I say, & So strategy). These questions are about the text and basically remain in the text – they don’t venture into other worlds (except for your mind).

6. Level 3 Questions You will NOT find the answer to these questions in the text. These questions are much more open-ended and go beyond the text. They are intended to provoke a discussion of an abstract idea or issue. “Beyond the Lines” Questions These questions are critical thinking questions. These questions are based in the text but go beyond the text, relating the story to the real world or to other worlds of literature.

7. Level 1 Example: What did Cinderella leave behind at the ball? ON THE LINES – it is a recall question that can be found directly in the text.

8. Level 2 Example: Compare and contrast Cinderella to her stepsisters. BETWEEN THE LINES – requires you to look over the entire text and synthesize the material to come up with an answer.

9. Level 3 Example: How might the Cinderella story have unfolded if one of the glass slippers had fit one of the stepsisters? BEYOND THE LINES – requires you to think beyond what the text says using your own prior knowledge and experiences, combined with the text, to come up with the answer.

10. Level 1 Key Words Who, what, when, where, which, chose, find, define, label, identify, match, name, spell, select, restate, observe What is ….? What is the definition of….? Which one…? How would you show? Who was…? Which is the best answer? What facts…? How would you classify…? When did….? How many…?

11. Level 2 Key Words Apply, compare, solve, classify, reason, distinguish, examine, contrast, inspect, develop, infer, analyze, explain How is ____ similar to _____? What might we infer from…? What is the function of ….? How would you classify…? summarize...? What conclusions can you draw? Why do you think…..? How is ____ related to ____?

12. Level 3 Key Words Evaluate, predict, judge, assess, idealize, forecast What judgment could be made about….? What would you predict if…? How would you prioritize…? Why was ____ better than ____? How could you prove or disprove _____? What evidence supports ______?

13. Students should feel proud that they have a question rather than pleased that they have the answer. Janice Szabos