Constructing Text Dependent Questions
for the Social Studies Classroom
1
Session Outcomes
 Identify
the role of close analytic reading
and text-dependent questions toward
achieving college and career readiness
 Evaluate
sample text-dependent
questions
 Practice
the process of designing text
dependent questions for social studies
text
Why Use Text Dependent Questions?

“An effective set of text-dependent questions
delves systematically into text to guide students
toward extracting the key meanings or ideas found
there.” – achievethecore.org

Not all questions should be text dependent,
however, they should be used to help unlock the
meaning of complex texts.

The power of text dependent questions lies in the
ability to create independent readers of complex
texts
Sample Text and TDQs
We the People of the United States, in Order
to form a more perfect Union, establish
Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide
for the common defense, promote the
general Welfare, and secure the Blessings
of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,
do ordain and establish this Constitution for
the United States of America.
Questions About the Questions!
Is
it text dependent?
Is
it high quality?
Is
it important for unlocking
the content?
Evaluate a Text Dependent Question

We the People of the United
States, in Order to form a
more perfect Union, establish
Justice, insure
domestic Tranquility, provide
for the common defense,
promote the general Welfare,
and secure the Blessings of
Liberty to ourselves and
our Posterity, do ordain and
establish this Constitution for
the United States of America.
Text

Question:
According to the
Preamble, what are the
responsibilities of the
United States
government?
Text Dependent Question
Questions About the Questions!
Is
it text dependent?
Is
it high quality?
Is
it important for unlocking
the content?
Evaluate a Text Dependent Question

We the People of the United
States, in Order to form a
more perfect Union, establish
Justice, insure
domestic Tranquility, provide
for the common defense,
promote the general Welfare,
and secure the Blessings of
Liberty to ourselves and
our Posterity, do ordain and
establish this Constitution for
the United States of America.
Text

Question:
What is the most
important duty of the
United States
government? Why?
Cite evidence from the
text to support your
answer.
Text Dependent Question
Questions About the Questions!
Is
it text dependent?
Is
it high quality?
Is
it important for unlocking
the content?
Evaluate a Text Dependent Question

We the People of the United
States, in Order to form a
more perfect Union, establish
Justice, insure
domestic Tranquility, provide
for the common defense,
promote the general Welfare,
and secure the Blessings of
Liberty to ourselves and
our Posterity, do ordain and
establish this Constitution for
the United States of America.
Text

Question:
How many
responsibilities does the
government have to the
people of the United
States?
Text Dependent Question
Questions About the Questions!
Is
it text dependent?
Is
it high quality?
Is
it important for unlocking
the content?
Evaluate a Text Dependent Question

We the People of the United
States, in Order to form a
more perfect Union, establish
Justice, insure
domestic Tranquility, provide
for the common defense,
promote the general Welfare,
and secure the Blessings of
Liberty to ourselves and
our Posterity, do ordain and
establish this Constitution for
the United States of America.
Text

Question:
Why were these
principles important
when writing the
Constitution? Are they
still important today?
Text Dependent Question
Questions About the Questions!
Is
it text dependent?
Is
it high quality?
Is
it important for unlocking
the content?
Choose a Text Worth Reading

Not every text is worthy of a close reading
that requires an analysis lead by text
dependent questions. Choose wisely.

A worthy text :
is complex
is aligned to content standards and
supports understanding of topic, solves a
problem, or informs citizens
Is engaging for readers
Start with a Complex Text That Fits
Your Content Needs
SECONDARY TEXT: Theodore Roosevelt
“Duties of American Citizenship”
Speech delivered on January 26, 1883;
Buffalo, New York
Know the Text Well
Use annotation to identify important and
challenging areas of the text before
constructing questions.
Read and annotate the text. Identify …
• the central ideas and key details of the text.
• key academic vocabulary and text structure
• the sections of the text that will present the most difficulty
(difficult sentence structure, dense or unfamiliar
information, tricky inferences).
• Areas critical to gaining the desired content knowledge
Annotate the text
Your turn to read
and annotate the
text
Central
idea and key
details
Vocabulary
Difficult
areas of text
for students
Critical
content
Considerations for Writing Text-dependent
Questions for Close Analytic Reading
• Identify the core understandings and key ideas.
• Include opening questions to orient students to the text and
provide confidence.
• Craft questions based on powerful academic words and text
structures connected to the key ideas.
• Develop questions that support tough sections of text
presenting the greatest difficulty for deep understanding.
• Sequence the series of questions to build toward deeper
analysis.
• Identify which standards are aligned with the questions.
Some Thoughts on Writing TDQs
•
There is no one right way to have students work with textdependent questions.
•
Differing needs of students means providing and scaffolding
supports differentially - not asking easier questions or
substituting simpler text.
•
Listening and speaking should be built into any sequence of
activities along with reading and writing.
•
The CCSS require ALL students to read and engage with
grade appropriate complex text regularly. This requires new
ways of working in our classrooms.
Modified from Achieve the Core
Example 1
Secondary Example: What does shirk mean in
the following sentence: “No man has a right to
shirk his political duties under whatever plea
of pleasure or business?” What is Roosevelt’s
argument in this statement?
Your turn
1.
Review your annotations.
2.
Where in the text would you pause and ask a
text-dependent questions that causes students
to slow down reading and analyze the text?
3.
Craft questions that address these difficult or
important areas of the text.
4.
Organize the questions into a meaningful
progression for students.
Secondary Example
TIME TO SHARE
What’s the Relationship?
How do these work together?
Keep in Mind….
What is your end goal for students?
“No one who
ever bought a
drill wanted a
drill. They
wanted a hole.”
- Perry Marshall