Reading to Learn | Literacy Lessons

Comprehending History through Question Generation

Rationale: Question generation helps fluent readers gather information and read critically. In creating and asking their own questions, students connect background knowledge to new information and become investigators in their own learning. Through explicit teaching and modeling, this lesson introduces readers to inquisitive questions that help foster reading comprehension. The overall goal is reading comprehension, so these questions must be crafted well.

Materials:

dry-erase marker per student
laminated checklist of questions per student
wide-ruled paper per student
pencil per student
teacher paper and pen to follow along with students’ work
projector and devices to display teacher example for all students to see
teacher copy of “Native People of the American Northeast” and extra piece of paper to display 1 paragraph at a time on projector
copy of “Native People of the American Northeast” per student
dry-erase board and marker for teacher
Comprehension questions sheet per student

Procedures:

Say: I love learning, and there are so many different ways to learn! Some people like to watch videos, learn from teachers, or read to learn. How do you like to learn? [Allow 2-3 students with raised hands to respond.] In life, we will have to learn in all of those different ways at different times! Today we are going to talk about a strategy that helps us when we are reading to learn. For this strategy, we will ask questions about what we read and connect it to what we already know!
To make a question, we have to look at the big idea of our reading. So, like an artist uses lots of little brushstrokes and colors to make a whole painting, we will use all the little details in our readings to create a question about the whole entire text.
On your desk, you should see a checklist of different questions you can ask yourself when making a question about your reading. If you can check all the boxes with your dry-erase marker, then you have made a question that will help you learn! 1) Your review questions must cover important information so that you are learning what is most important about the text. 2) Also, your questions must bring information together so that you aren’t focusing on only one piece of text. 3) Lastly, you must be able to answer your questions, otherwise they aren’t helping you learn what is already in the text.
On the back of that checklist, there are 4 types of questions. Let’s talk about these: “Right there” questions are questions with obvious answers. For example, if the text said “Taylor Swift’s favorite pet is a cat,” a “right there” question would be “What is Taylor Swift’s favorite pet?” The answer would be easy to see. We don’t like to use “right there” questions for reading comprehension. The last one, “on my own” questions, are questions that you can answer with only background knowledge and you don’t need the text for at all. So I might ask you who sings the song “Shake it off”? If you can answer “Taylor Swift” without needing any other information, then it is an “on my own” question and we don’t want to use those for reading comprehension. “Putting it together” questions are second on the list and use several different parts of a text to answer a question. You would have to look throughout a text to answer the question rather than in just look in one spot. The third on the list, “writer and me” questions, ask you to use evidence from your text and evidence from your background knowledge to answer the question. We will talk about examples of these with our text today, because “putting it together” and “writer and me” questions ARE the type of questions that we want to ask for reading comprehension.
I’m going to show you how I would use these questions to understand a paragraph in a text about Native Americans. In this text called “Native People of the American Northeast,” we learn more about the first group of people to ever live in Northeast America. How do you think they survived the freezing winters without indoor heating? Did you know that they wrote with different types of letters than we do? What and where are they today? This text will help us learn more about this Native American group.
Now I want you to read along with me this one paragraph from “Native People of the American Northeast” [display paragraph on board]: “Tribes that lived only on the coast—including the Micmac (pronounced MIK-mak) and Pequot (pronounced PEE-kwot)—often ate meat from clams and sea snails, then pounded and polished the shells into beads called wampum. (Purple beads were especially prized because shells of that color were more rare.) They could then trade these beads with members of inland tribes for furs and food.”
Wow, I bet those shells were beautiful! I like working backwards to make a good question, so first I’m going act like a detective to find key details from this text that will become the answer to my question. What do I think is really important? Well, clams, sea snails, and shells are all from water, so being resourceful with those materials must be important. What did they use those resources for? Oh yeah, to trade for furs and foods! So, the tribes in the Northeast were resourceful with things on the coast so that they could trade with other tribes not on the coast. [Write these on the board to create a visual thought process that students can see.]
The next step is to make a couple questions that ask about those main ideas. For a “putting it together” question, I might try to ask “Where did the Micmac and Pequot tribes live?” [Write on the board.] While I know that the answer is “on the coast,” I can’t mark one question off of my checklist. Does anyone know which one it is? [Call on students with raised hands, looking for answer: Does my question bring information together.] Right! My question doesn’t bring information together because I can use only one piece of information to answer that question. [Cross out question on the board] So, let’s change that question to “How did the Micmac and Pequot tribes use resources found on the coast?” [Write on the board.] Let’s check it with the checklist. 1) Does my question cover important information? Yes! It uses a big idea from the text. 2) Does my question bring information together? Yes! There are multiple sentences in the text I will have to look at to get my answer. 3) Can I answer my question? Let’s find out! Who thinks they can answer it? [Call on students with raised hands, looking for version of answer: “The natives ate animals from the water, then used their shells to make jewelry and trade the jewelry for other resources.”]
Next, I will use that same paragraph to make a “writer and me” question. This kind should pull in lots of background knowledge. Using the clues I got just a few minutes ago [reference thoughts listed on board], I’ll think about what I already know about some of this. It seems to me like the tribes were using the shells like we would use money today. I can make a question that asks “How has trade changed since the Micmac and Pequot natives lived on the coast in this passage?” [Write it on the board.] I’ll answer it by saying that today we don’t have to trade with things anymore, so we use money to pay for things. I want you to look at your checklist and think about whether this question checks all of the boxes. [Give students time to think.] Now, turn to the person next to you and tell them what you think and listen to what they think. [Students should be paired in partners, give a short time for this.] Now, will someone tell me what you think? [Respond to 1-2 students with raised hands.] Right, this question checks all the boxes.
Now it’s your turn to read, then make some questions! We will read along together as you look at your copy of “Native People of the American Northeast.” [Read aloud for students as they follow along.]
Now, I want you to create your own question! It can be “putting it together” or “writer and me,” but just make one. It can come from parts throughout the text, or from pieces of one paragraph like I did in my example. Write this question on your lined paper and label it with a number 1. Put your pencil down when you’re done so I know you are through. Make sure you check off your checklist before you finish. [Give students time and come back when all pencils are down.]
Next, share your question with your partner and mark your checklist for your partner’s question. Talk to them about why or why not they got a check. [Allow time for groups to discuss]
I’ll give you a moment to read through all of “Native People of the American Northeast” independently. [Allow students time to finish reading the passage independently.]
Now, write another question about the text. It can be either “putting it together” or “writer and me,” but you’re only making one more. Write this question on your lined paper and label it with a number 2. Put your pencil down when you’re done so I know you are through. [Give students time and come back when all pencils are down.]
Let’s look at a vocabulary word we read in the text today: treaty. A treaty is an agreement between 2 people or groups of people. Often, treaties are made to try to compromise on disagreements and are down on official documents. For example, The Treaty of Versailles helped end World War I by making compromises that both sides agreed to. Those countries had to make an agreement on paper to end fighting in the war. What other times might you see a treaty being used? [Call on students with raised hands to answer, look for answers outside of “wars” for comprehension of word.] If two classrooms needed to make a treaty, what might it be about? Write 1-2 sentences about this treaty on your lined paper, labeling it number 3. I’ll write my own, too. [Once students are done writing, share your example on the projector, then call on 2-3 students to share their own creative ideas.]
Before you turn in your lined paper, I want you to write your name on it, then get out your comprehension question sheet. Answer all the questions and turn in both papers together. I bet you’ll be great at these questions because of how you all made great questions on your own. [Collect and grade papers at the end.]

Checklist:

Does my question cover important information?

Does my question bring information together?

Can I answer this question?

Types of Questions: (on the back of checklist)

Right there
Putting it together
Writer and me
On my own

Comprehension Questions:

What were the northeast clans named after?
Which is bigger- a tribe or a clan? How do they compare to the way we live?
How did clans adjust to seasonal temperature changes?
What types of things do the northeast tribes make?
Why do some tribal members live on reservations?
How do the tribes help us in America today?
How do the natives’ lives seem similar to yours? How are they different?
What changed about the natives’ lives from before the Englishmen came to after?
Why do you think clans wanted to live by bodies of water?
Do these tribes and clans still exist today? How and where?

References:

Bruce Murray “Using About-Point to Awaken the Main Idea” https://murraba.wixsite.com/readinglessons/reading-to-learn

Bridgette Johnson “Investigating a Text through Question Generation” https://bridgettejohnson11.wixsite.com/ctrd-reading-website/reading-to-learn

Text: Jamie Kiffle-Alcheh and Cynthia O’Brien’s “Native People of the American Northeast” https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/native-americans/native-people-of-the-american-northeast/

Gif: https://giphy.com/gifs/halloween-weird-creepy-l1J9HWBKLp20YfNAY

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