Text Dependent
Questioning
Patricia Coldren
Lee County Schools
pcoldren@lee.k12.nc.us
Common Core and Literacy
• An increase in the
complexity and rigor of
literacy is a keystone of the
Common Core standards.
• The Common Core
document states “The
Common Core Standards
hinge on students
encountering appropriately
complex texts at each grade
level in order to develop
the mature language skills
and the conceptual
knowledge they need for
success in school and life.”
College and Career Readiness
Anchor Standards for Reading
1. Read closely to determine what the text
says explicitly and to make logical
inferences from it; cite specific textual
evidence when writing or speaking to
support conclusions drawn from the text.
The Three Shifts
(Common Core Keys)
1. Building knowledge through content rich
nonfiction and informational texts.
2. Reading and writing grounded in
evidence from the text.
3. Regular practice with complex text and its
academic vocabulary.
Reading and writing grounded in
evidence from the text.
•
•
Standards expect students to be able to answer text dependent questions that
depend on them having read the text carefully and repeatedly rather than
questions that can be answered based completely on prior knowledge
and/or personal experience. New standards place great emphasis on writing
to sources and using evidence from texts to create effective argumentative
and informational writing, as well as focusing on narrative writing.
What does that look like in the classroom? Teachers will ask questions that
make it necessary for students to reread text to find answers and find
evidence to support their answers. Students will have to read text closely to
find evidence and draw inferences. Students will support their opinions with
evidence from the text.
Why change the way we
question?
What We Do Today
•Asking students to make connections to themselves,
other texts and the world is a common style of
questioning that guides students away from the text. It
does not lead to a deep understanding of the text.
•We often ask simple questions that require very literal
thinking to ensure they have read the text. Students
expend a lot of time and energy answering these
questions instead of considering meaningful text-specific
questions that will bring them to a deeper understanding.
•More instructional time spend outside the text
means less time spent inside the text.
•Departing from the text in classroom discussion
privileges only those who already have experience
with the topic.
•It is easier to talk about our experiences than to
analyze the text-especially for students reluctant to
engage with reading.
•The CCSS and College Career Readiness
Standards.
What does the future look
like?
Overview of Text Complexity
Smarter Balanced
Assessments
Charlotte’s Web
Overview of Text Complexity
Charlotte’s Web
Overview of Text Complexity
Charlotte’s Web
Overview of Text Complexity
Yes We Can!!!
Overview of Text Complexity
www.achievethecore.org
Guide to Creating Text Dependent
Questions
Text Dependent Questions
•Can only be answered with evidence from the
text
•Can be literal (checking for understanding) but
must also involve analysis, synthesis, evaluation
•Focus on word, sentence, and paragraph, as well
as larger ideas, themes, or events
•Focus on difficult portions of text in order to
enhance reading proficiency
•Can also include prompts for writing and
discussion questions
Good Text Dependent Questions
Overview of Text Complexity
•Analyze paragraphs on a sentence by sentence basis and sentences
on a word by word basis to determine the role played by
individual paragraphs, sentences, phrases, or words
•Investigate how meaning can be altered by changing key words
and why an author may have chosen one word over another
•Examine how shifts in the direction of an argument or
explanation are achieved and the impact of those shifts
•Question why authors choose to begin and end when they do
•Note and assess patterns of writing and what they achieve
•Consider what the text leaves uncertain or unstated
Four Steps to Creating Text Dependent
Overview of Text Complexity Questions
Find It
Look Closer
Prove It
Take It Apart
Based on Comprehension Through
Deductive Reasoning by Margaret Kilgo
and The Common Core Institute,
Institute 3
Overview of Text Complexity
Find It
Most literal, requires reader to find explicitly stated
facts and details in text
Identify facts and details.
What is…?
Where is…?
Who is…?
Look Closer
Overview of Text Complexity
Literal, but requires searching in more than one place
Demonstrate understanding of information found in
more than one place
Compare and contrast…
Explain…
Summarize…
What do the facts or ideas show…
How would you rephrase the meaning?
Prove It
Overview of Text Complexity
Inferential, readers search for clues/evidence to support
their answers
Analyzing or evaluating the information
Identify main idea…
Draw conclusions…
Make predictions…
Make inferences…
What is the theme….
What is the central idea…
Take it Apart
Overview of Text Complexity
Challenge the reader to analyze from a literary
perspective
Analyze text structure and organization
The first paragraph is important because…
How has the author used the information?
(cause/effect, clues/evidence, chronological, etc.)
Why does the author use a chart, illustration…
The author uses description to tell…Give an example
from the text.
Examples
In “Casey at the Bat,” Casey
strikes out. Describe a time when
What makes Casey’s experiences
you failed at something.
at bat humorous?
In “Letter from a Birmingham
Jail,” Dr. King discusses
nonviolent protests. Discuss, in
writing, a time when you wanted
to fight against something that What can you infer from King’s
letter about the letter that he
you felt was unfair.
received?
In “The Gettysburg Address”
Lincoln says the nation is
“The Gettysburg Address”
dedicated to the proposition that
mentions the year 1776.
all mean are created equal. Why
is equality an important value toAccording to Lincoln’s speech,
why is this year significant to the
promote?
events described in the speech?
Charlotte’s Web
Overview of Text Complexity
Charlotte’s Web
Overview of Text Complexity
The characters in Charlotte’s Web all demonstrated certain character traits that were
important to the outcome of the story. List three characters and complete the chart.
Character
Trait
Evidence from the
text
How does this
evidence show the
trait you listed? What
difference did it make
in the story?
Analyze Your Own
Overview of Text Complexity
Choose your own classroom activity. Read each question
carefully. Determine if it is a Text Dependent Question.
If it isn’t a text dependent question, can you rewrite it?
What does this mean for
my classroom?
Students
Have to Live and Breath
Overview of Text Complexity
the Text
•We have to make a conscious effort to rethink what we
do before, during, and after reading
•You have to spend time analyzing your questioning for
each reading group in your classroom
•You have to dig into the
text before your students
can
•Planning is of the utmost
importance and the detail is
key
•We have to teach students
how to interact with text
and use the text in writing
It doesn’t mean…
Overview of Text Complexity
No more cool activities that get students excited about
reading…but we have to rethink those activities and push
the students farther to activate those higher levels of
learning.