Hi Jennifer, I agree. I use the thick and thin questions with my students, too. I recently found a teacher in Michigan who has nice down-loadable 'Thick' and 'Thin' pages posted on her classroom website, with criteria and questions to help children frame their own thick and thin questions. Teachers who are not familiar with this strategy might like to check it out and use these pages to scaffold lessons to get you started. http://hill.troy.k12.mi.us/staff/bnewingham/myweb3/index.htm As Lucy Calkins said in her book The Art of Teaching Reading: "We want to create communities in which students feel strongly in response to books and bring those strong responses to the group. We want a community in which every student takes responsibility for thinking, How can I be a more helpful member of this conversation? (Page 241) I hope that through modeling and facilitating active classroom conversations I can engage my students and help them to be responsible learners, asking questions of themselves and each other. Sometimes we share "Wonderings". I might start off by saying, "I was wondering [thinking] x,y,z while I was reading _____. What were you wondering when you read that part?" If I model my thinking and what that sounds like/looks like/feels like, the children are usually able to follow suit and share what they have been thinking about. If they have nothing to add to the part I've selected, then I ask them to share a "wondering" about another section of the story. I want my students to know that they are active participants and thinkers in their reading. They are not just trying to answer questions for the sake of getting a right answer or to clarify something confusing. I often ask open ended questions with no right answer. My goal is to help my students to be able to think, and that might require them to question the text, the author, a peer, their teacher or themselves! Their questions can lead them to deeper understanding of their text and of themselves as learners. Best, 'Becca Massachusetts
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Jan I have a little different take on questioning...I like to categorize questions by "thick" or "thin". Thick questions are those that require inferential thinking, that have more than one right answer. Thin questions have answers that are 'right there' in the book. I think it is possible to ask yourself questions that help deepen your understanding of the book--those thick questions--especially through discussions about these questions with others, but the questions don't have to be generated only when you are confused. Questions can propel you forward in your reading---like "I wonder what will happen next?" or make you reflect back on what has already been read like "How would the story been different if the character had done X rather than Y?" These kinds of thinking questions get the mind ready to make connections, to look for text clues to make inferences, to read more carefully and with greater interest. I think sometimes the questions we ask for clarification when we are confused are just one aspect of the strategy and may be "thin" questions---like when you lose track of a character "who was that guy again?" I think a good quality question generated by the reader can deepen understanding but it doesn't have to begin only when a reader is confused. I see self questioning as more than a fix up strategy. What does everyone else think? Jennifer Maryland In a message dated 4/28/2007 5:46:40 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I am a Literacy Coordinator from Melbourne Australia. I don't have my own class any longer but model and mentor for other teachers. Our Grades 3 & 4 are introducing the strategies for comprehension. We are struggling a bit with questioning from the point of view of getting them to realise that questioning is asking questions to gain understanding; therefore you would only be asking a question when you don't get it. They ask myriads of questions but they are questions for questions sake if you know what I mean. Have read all the books and refer to them constantly. Can some one give us some tips? Jan ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
