Sequenced TextBased Questions LEARNING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER

Goals Deepen understanding of text-based questions that scaffold students’ reading, writing, speaking, and listening by learning more about: • qualities of text-based questions. • how the sequencing of questions helps students meet the CCSS. • developing sequenced, text-based questions for a set of sequenced complex texts. LEARNING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER © 2013 University of Pittsburgh 2

Review of Key Shifts in ELA/Literacy CCSS 1. Complexity: Regular practice with complex text and its academic language. 2. Evidence: Reading, writing and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational. 3. Knowledge: Building knowledge through contentrich nonfiction. *Excerpted from A Strong State Role in Common Core State Standards Implementation: Rubric and Self-Assessment Tool, p. 6, Table 1, Key Instructional Shifts of the Common Core State Standards, by the Partnership of Readiness for College and Careers Transition & Implementation Institute, 2012, Washington, DC: Achieve. LEARNING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER © 2013 University of Pittsburgh 3

What Are Text-based Questions and Tasks? Text-based questions and tasks: • are focused on the text. • are generally text-specific rather than generic questions that could be asked of any text. • don’t get students off of the text (e. g. , tell me about a time you went camping…). • require students to re-read the text closely to do such things as draw inferences, develop interpretations, and analyze ideas and language. • may promote convergent (comprehension) and divergent (interpretation/analysis) thinking about a text. LEARNING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER © 2013 University of Pittsburgh 4

Research about Questions • Nystrand & Gamoran (1997): Higher spring performance in classes that devoted time to discussion around authentic textdependent questions about literature. • Langer (2001): Students in schools that have made unusual progress on standardized tests were given more authentic textdependent questions than those in schools that have made more typical progress. • Applebee, Langer, Nystrand, and Gamoran (2003): Higher spring scores on writing assessment in classes where teachers provided students with authentic text-dependent questions. *Authentic text-based questions are questions that have more than one possible response that can be supported with evidence from the text. LEARNING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER © 2013 University of Pittsburgh 5

Text-based Questions: Meeting the Common Core Standards Please take a moment to read the quotation from the Publishers’ Criteria with the following questions in mind: • • How do Coleman and Pimentel define high-quality textbased questions in the quotation from the Publishers’ Criteria? What are they saying about the benefits of using sequences of high-quality text-based questions? LEARNING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER © 2013 University of Pittsburgh 6

Text-based Questions: Meeting the Common Core Standards for ELA “High-quality sequences of text-dependent questions elicit sustained attention to the specifics of the text and their impact. The sequence of questions should cultivate student mastery of the specific ideas and illuminating particulars of the text. High-quality text-dependent questions will often move beyond what is directly stated to require students to make nontrivial inferences based on evidence in the text. Questions aligned with Common Core State Standards should demand attention to the text to answer fully. An effective set of discussion questions might begin with relatively simple questions requiring attention to specific words, details, and arguments and then move on to explore the impact of those specifics on the text as a whole. Good questions will often linger over specific phrases and sentences to ensure careful comprehension and also promote deep thinking and substantive analysis of the text. Effective question sequences will build on each other to ensure that students learn to stay focused on the text so they can learn fully from it. Even when dealing with larger volumes of text, questions should be designed to stimulate student attention to gaining specific knowledge and insight from each source” (Coleman & Pimentel, 2011, p. 7). LEARNING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER © 2013 University of Pittsburgh 7

Studying Text-based Questions: Moving From… and Moving To… With a partner, study and compare the “moving from” and “moving to” questions. Discuss and take notes on your response to the following questions: • What differences do you see between the “moving from” and “moving to” questions? • What’s the intellectual work required of students to answer the “moving from” questions? The “moving to” questions? • What patterns do you see among “moving from” questions? In other words, with what do writers of questions usually struggle? LEARNING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER © 2013 University of Pittsburgh 8

Studying a Sequence of Questions Using the “Moving From…Moving To…” handout, look now at the entire sequence of Moving To questions for the text. Then, talk with a partner about the following: • What do you notice about the relationship among the questions as you move vertically through the sequence? • How does the question sequence organize instruction and scaffold students’ learning? • In what ways does the organization of questions help students meet the demands of the CCSS? . LEARNING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER © 2013 University of Pittsburgh 9

Sequencing Text-based Questions for Instruction: Types of Questions • • Prior Knowledge (P) (non-text-based) Comprehension (C) (includes vocabulary work) Significance (S) Interpretive (I) Analytic (A) Step. Back (SB) (non-text-based) Retrospective (R) (text-based and/or non-text-based) LEARNING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER © 2013 University of Pittsburgh 10

Prior Knowledge Questions • • • Open Ended Non-Text Based Purposeful, Limited in number Not lead to front-loading of information* Use only as necessary What do you know about William J. Clinton? What do you know about the famous speech, “I Have a Dream”? What are some modern concerns about what we should eat? What are some technical words and phrases about space exploration? What are some features of effective opinion pieces? LEARNING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER © 2013 University of Pittsburgh

Comprehension Questions • • • Open Ended Text Based Get the gist of the text Deal with areas of difficulty Addresses vocabulary What is known and unknown about Ebola? What are the ideas of this text in the order in which they unfold? What is this speech about? What do you know about the author? Write a summary of the claims in this text. What words and phrases dos the author use to discuss the topic? How can we use context clues to figure out what these words and phrases mean? LEARNING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER © 2013 University of Pittsburgh

Significance Questions • • Open Ended Text Based Ask reader to identify and explain signifanct moments Usually include the term “significance” or “significant” What are the most significant reasons to study Ebola? Identify a moment that strikes you as significant to the (argument/story/situation) Explain why it is significant. From your reading, what are three significant events in the history of space exploration? LEARNING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER © 2013 University of Pittsburgh

Interpretive Questions • • Open Ended Text Based Digs Deep Into Writer’s Ideas Focus on Integration of Knowledge What inferences can you make about Ebola from the artice? Identify and assess whether the evidence scientists gathered warrants their findings. What are three most crucial strategies a community leader should take to prevent outbreak? Why does Truth keep using the phrase, “Ain’t I A Woman? ” What do you see as the goal of this speech? Based on the two texts, what are the benefits and costs? LEARNING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER © 2013 University of Pittsburgh

Analytic Questions • • Open Ended Text Based Looks at author’s methods or craft Focus on text structure Study King’s use of repetition in this speech. Explain its role in his argument. What methods does Clinton use to build and support his argument? How does each advance his argument? Where does the author use sufficient, credible, and relevant evidence? Where doesn’t he? What are the text structures of each text? How do these text structures support readers? LEARNING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER © 2013 University of Pittsburgh

Step. Back and Retrospective • Open-Ended • Revisit big ideas and/or craft • Metacognitive What was interesting, surprising, or new information in this text? Why? What did you learn about he methods writers use to build and support their opinions? What did you learn about space exploration? LEARNING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER © 2013 University of Pittsburgh

Developing Sequenced, Text-Based Questions LEARNING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER © 2013 University of Pittsburgh

Module 5: Takeaways • Different types of text-based questions ask for different kinds of mental work and invite particular kinds of writing and talk from students. • Text-based question sequences are scaffolded so that earlier responses in writing and talk provide the foundation for later responses. • Developing text-based questions is hard work, is best done collaboratively, and requires deep knowledge of the text(s) under study. • Text-based questions should be developed with attention to the CCSS. Module 5 Takeaways (white book, p. 173) LEARNING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER © 2013 University of Pittsburgh 18