Questions lead us to consider the DEEPER MEANING of a text. Both ANSWERING and ASKING questions we enhance our understanding while developing new perspectives from which to interact with a selected text.
Charles: A Focus on Literacy Skills
Charles is a short story written by Shirley Jackson in 1948. A full copy of the text can be READ HERE. This SERIES will focus on all TEN KEY LITERACY SKILLS. The lessons are arranged in SEQUENTIAL ORDER which builds a strong foundation before moving on to the next skill.
This series is an excellent way to BEGIN your class’s semester, ensuring everyone has a strong understanding of BASIC LITERACY SKILLS before you gradually release responsibility, asking them to put those skills into practice.
There are three main types of questions – Literal, Inferential, and Evaluative. INFERENTIAL questions require one to use personal knowledge, combined with knowledge from the text to answer them. EVALUATIVE questions ask for personal opinions, which must still be supported by specific examples from one’s life. LITERAL questions require one to restate, in full sentences, information that has been directly stated in the text.
What’s the Point of Questions?
The point of questions is to better understand a text. By ANSWERING a question, it is hoped that you are led to a DEEPER understanding of the text as the answer will HIGHLIGHT key pieces of information.
What Makes a Strong Question?
A strong question is one that FORCES the reader to consider KEY PIECES of information. A strong question should:
- HIGHLIGHT important details
- Offer new PERSPECTIVES on an event
- Provide INSIGHT into a character’s thoughts or actions
- Demand a BIG answer, not a simple yes or no.
PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE
Answer each of the questions below. Write one sentence explaining the INSIGHT each question HIGHLIGHTS for the reader.
Who did Laurie walk to school with on his first day?
How did Laurie manage to convince his parents that he was well behaved at school?
Would you welcome Laurie as your class helper if you were his teacher?
Big Questions versus Small Questions
BIG questions are those that require a large answer. These are also called OPEN questions because the questions are open to a variety of different answers. SMALL questions are also called CLOSED questions because they have a very limited number of correct responses.
Asking BIG questions provides a far greater insight into a text, as well as offering readers more opportunity for self-expression.
How do I Ask BIG Questions?
The very first word in a question can be the difference between a small CLOSED question, and a large OPEN question. Consider the following:
- Do you like the story Charles?
- Note that this is an EVALUATIVE question, but it’s one that can be answered with one word – yes or no.
- Who did Laurie walk to school with on his first day?
- This question is a LITERAL question, and while it requires students to show some understanding of the text, it is answered by simply restating information that was already presented to them.
- Why did Laurie tell his parents about Charles’s actions each day?
- This is an INFERENTIAL question that demands the reader consider what they know about the text, while also using information from their own personal experiences.
- How did Laurie manage to convince his parents that he was well behaved at school?
- By asking “how” readers must consider numerous pieces of information to construct their responses
- Should Laurie’s parents have been more worried about what Charles was doing in class than what Laurie was doing?
- When one is asked if something “should” happen, they are required to consider a number of pieces of information, while also coming to and supporting their conclusion/
- Would you welcome Laurie as your class helper if you were his teacher?
- By answering “would” questions the reader is allowed to express their open opinion while relating it directly to the text.
Use the space below to ask one INFERENTIAL, one EVALUATIVE, and one LITERAL question. Be sure to explain what INSIGHT you expect the answering of each question to provide.
Having familiarized yourself with QUESTIONS you will have noticed that a number of BIG questions demand that the reader makes connections between the text and their own experiences. This will be further developed in the next lesson where we look at CONNECTING.