Leveled Questions
Level One questions – “right there questions”
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They are mostly important detail questions and can be answered from the text.
You can put your finger on the answer in the text.
Usually answer who, what, where, when, and how questions.
They correspond to Bloom’s Knowledge and Comprehension levels.
Level Two questions – “detective questions”
 You must use the text and your own knowledge to answer these questions.
 These questions require you to make inferences, analyze and interpret specific parts of the
text.
 Usually attempt to answer “why?” questions.
 These questions correspond to Bloom’s Application and Analysis levels.
 These questions are the basis of critical thinking.
Level Three questions – “the big questions that may never be answered”
 Deepen critical thinking.
 Correspond to Bloom’s Evaluation and Synthesis levels.
 Based in the text but go beyond the text, relating the story to the real world or to other
literature. These questions examine larger contexts and purposes .
 You will not find the answer in the text.
 Responses to Level 3 Questions are especially useful when responding to high-stakes testing
as they bring a universal perspective to the text being analyzed.
Examples from Classroom Texts
I’ve chosen three representative texts to use as examples for leveled questions: Lilly’s Purple Plastic
Purse by Kevin Henkes for elementary, The Giver by Lois Lowry for middle school, and Romeo and Juliet
by William Shakespeare for high school.
Examples of Level One questions:
1. What is inside Lilly’s purple plastic purse?
2. Who is Jonas’s best friend?
3. What is Romeo’s last name?
Examples of Level Two questions:
1. Think about what you know about Mr. Slinger as a person. Why do you think he sent a note back to
Lilly instead of sending her to the principal’s office or calling her parents?
2. Based on what you know from everything that happens in “The Giver,” do you think Jonas and Gabriel
live or die at the end of the book? Why do you think that?
3. Based on what you know from the text, why is Mercutio so sarcastic?
Examples of Level Three questions:
1. What makes a good teacher?
2. Is a “perfect society” possible? Why or why not?
3. How do you know that you’ve met “the one”?
Suggested Activities
1. Begin teaching leveled questioning by choosing a simple story like Cinderella or The Three Little Pigs.
Help students create a simple foldable by halving a sheet of 8x11 construction paper in the “hot dog”
fold and section off three flaps on one side. Cut these flaps to make doors that will open. Label each
door front with Level One, Level Two, Level Three. Have students write a description of each level on the
outside. Model your thinking as you write a question for each level. Have a student volunteer retell the
story and then ask students to group brainstorm more questions for each level. In elementary, they will
need some help in levels 2 and 3, but they will eventually be able to generate these on their own. For
younger children, you may want to have another child volunteer to retell the story a third time as you
group brainstorm. Get three big pieces of chart paper to collect the questions, placing them under the
correct category of Level One, Level Two, and Level Three. Next, have students choose an example from
the chart to write under the flaps of their foldables, making sure they are copying them under the
correct flap. Talk about why they go with each level. The key is to generate lots of questions to
demonstrate that reading is re-reading (and thinking and wondering and asking questions).
2. Once students are comfortable with this structure, give them a short video piece to analyze. Make
another foldable and have them label the flaps and have students help you rewrite the descriptors for
each level in their own words. This activity in itself is heavy lifting for some kids as they’ve never
attempted metacognition before and have trouble paraphrasing ideas. Gently insist and model
profusely. Paraphrasing is a key strategy for comprehension, so the more practice, the better. The Pixar
short movies are an excellent resource for this, but you may also use a short clip from an appropriate
movie. After watching the video once, have students think-pair-share Level One questions. Tell students
that many times, you have to watch a video or a movie more than once to notice everything or even
understand what’s going on. That’s why you’ll be watching the video three times to make sure you
notice, think, and question what’s going on. Then, watch the video again and then have students help
you generate questions for the second level. Watch the video a third time. Have student pairs help you
generate level three questions. Don’t forget to add examples to your wall charts.
3. Students now have some confidence with familiar texts (and some practice using literary analysis by
“reading” the video) and are able to begin tackling written text. Again, the idea is to stay simple and
keep practicing. Make another foldable, again directing students to work with a partner to label each
flap and write descriptors for each in their own words. Next, use a short piece of text or a poem
appropriate for your classroom. The key here is practice. Younger students will still need to work as a big
group here. Intermediate grades and up can work in triads or groups of four. Make sure each student
has a copy of the text to mark up and annotate. Read through the text once and encourage them to just
follow and listen. Before you read again, stress the idea that good reading is re-reading and we often
notice things on second and third readings that we don’t see the first time, just like we did with the
video clip. The deepest thinking only comes after re-reading. On the second read, direct students to
underline interesting sentences or put a check mark by a place they like. Next, have each group choose a
reader to read the text a third time. As the others listen, they begin putting question marks by areas in
the text that make them wonder or that confuse them. Once they’ve marked the text as a group, tell
them to try to write a question for each level. Have a volunteer from each group share out and chart the
questions for use in a whole-class discussion.
4. Revisit the wall charts of questions and call on several students to explain why each question is a level
one, two, or three. Make one more foldable and label accordingly. Try working with a piece of art, a
sculpture, or a photograph this time because it adds to students’ background knowledge and allows
them to see that leveled questions cross genres. Have younger children work as a big group.
Intermediate and up work with a partner. Circulate among pairs and help as needed. Have a member of
each pair share out. Chart examples.
5. Revisit the wall charts briefly and this time try a poem. Give each student a copy of the text to
annotate. Ask them to follow along as you read through the poem once. On the second read, ask a
student to volunteer and direct everyone to begin marking the text with question marks in places that
make them wonder or confuse them. Next, have students read the poem silently a third time,
underlining and/or circling interesting words or phrases. Once they’ve read three times, have them try
writing one question for each level. Remind them to use the wall charts for help/examples. Have
volunteers share out and add to the wall charts.
6. Students should begin generating leveled questions for all of the texts you read. You can use the
questions as an exit ticket each day, which works as a quick assessment of the day’s learning. Try mixing
up the exit tickets the next day, and have students answer someone else’s question.
7. Post the best examples of questions and answers. Create a question collage where you collect
student-generated questions about current events and use these as discussion starters or writing
prompts.
8. You can have students generate questions on blogs or use big piece of chart paper as a “paper blog”
to collect questions after reading.
9. My favorite use of leveled questions is as starters for Socratic Circle discussions. I require students to
come armed with at least two questions for each level on the day of the discussion to make sure
everyone has something to contribute, if needed.
10. The best leveled questions work as student-made essay prompts – whether you use them as formal,
timed writing, or free writing prompts or starters.
11. Finally, students can use their own questions to begin self-generated inquiry, the highest use of
leveled questions that I’ve found. These questions become formal presentations, whether as research
papers or multimedia products.