Text-Dependent Question Stems
-
College and Career
Readiness Anchor Standards
for Reading
-
Do the questions require the reader to return to the
text?
Do the questions require the reader to use evidence
to support his or her ideas or claims?
Do the questions move from text-explicit to textimplicit knowledge?
Are there questions that require the reader to
analyze, evaluate, and create?
Key Ideas and Details

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.









2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text
and analyze their development; summarize
the key supporting details and ideas.









3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and
ideas develop and interact over the course of
a text.












GENERAL UNDERSTANDINGS: Overall view, Sequence of information, Story arc, Main claim
and evidence, Gist of passage
Retell the story in order using the words beginning, middle, and end (K-2)
What does this author want me to understand?
What is the main idea of the text? Support your answer with one example from the text.
What big idea/main idea does the text show? Provide two details from the text that support this
idea.
Based on the information in the text, what generalization can the reader make about (concept/idea/
event)?
Based on the information in the text, what conclusion can the reader draw about (character/idea/
event/concept)? Provide information from the text to support the conclusion.
One conclusion that a reader can draw from this text is (give conclusion). Provide two details from
the text to support this conclusion.
 KEY DETAILS: Search for nuances in meaning, Determine importance of ideas, Find
supporting details that support main ideas, Answers who, what, when, where, why, how
much, or how many.
How long did it take to go from a hatched egg to a butterfly? (K-2)
What is one food that gave him a stomachache? What is one food that did not give him a
stomachache? (K-2)
Which sentence summarizes this text?
What are two similarities/differences between (people/events/object, etc.) and (people
/events/object, etc.)? Include information from the text in your answer
Which sentence best describes (person’s/organization’s) response to (person/organization) in the
text?
Which sentence explains why (event) happened in the text?
According to the text, what happens/happened when (action)?
Explain why (event) happened. Include two details from the text/paragraph in your answer.
What problem does (person) experience in the text? What are three events that contribute to the
resolution of the problem? Include information from the text in you answer.
What do I need to remember to make sense of the text?
What theme or idea might the author be exploring in this story?
 INFERENCES: Probe each argument in persuasive text, each idea in informational text, each
key detail in literary text, and observe how these build to a whole
The title of the book is The Very Hungry Caterpillar. How do we know he is hungry? (K-2)
Why might the author have the characters say or do this? (2-5)
What point might the author be making about the character’s actions? (2-5)
Why might the author place the story in this setting? (1-5)
How do the characters feel about one another?
How does the author use conflict in this story? (6-8)
How does the author resolve this conflict? (6-8)
Which sentence from the text is an opinion?
What is the strongest evidence in support of (facts and details or interpretations from the text)?
Which claim from the text is least supported by factual evidence? [Which claim is weak?]
Which phrase in paragraph/text title is contradicted by information in paragraph/text title?
What is the main support the author offers for his position? Which statement in paragraph __
contradicts his supporting points?
Craft and Structure

4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used
in a text, including determining technical,
connotative, and figurative meanings, and
analyze how specific word choices shape
meaning or tone.









5. Analyze the structure of texts, including how
specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger
portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter,
scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the
whole.


VOCABULARY: Bridges literal meaning and inferential meaning, Denotation and
Connotation, Shades of meaning, Figurative language
How does the author help us to understand what cocoon means? (K-2)
What is the meaning of the word/phrase “_________” as it is used in paragraph ___ of the text?
Which word could the author have used in paragraph ___ instead of (vocabulary word/phrase)?
“(phrase from text with vocab. word)” Why did the author use (word) instead of ______? What
further evidence reflects author’s tone/person’s feeling/etc…?
“(phrase from text with vocab. word).” What clues help you understand what ______ means?
Which word/sentence in paragraph ___ best describes the author’s attitude/feelings about ___ in the
text?
What does the author’s choice of words indicate about what the author might be thinking?
What emotions is the author eliciting?
Does the author have an “attitude,” and if so, about what?
 TEXT STRUCTURE: How organization contributes to meaning
Which sentence tells how (two concepts in the text) are similar?

6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes
the content and style of a text.






AUTHOR’S PURPOSE: Genre (Entertain? Explain? Inform? Persuade?) Point of View (Firstperson, third-person, limited, omniscient, unreliable narrator) Critical Literacy (Whose story
is NOT represented?)
Who tells the story – the narrator or the caterpillar? (K-2)
In paragraph ___ of the text, why does the author include (technique)?
What is most likely the author’s purpose for writing this text? [Provide one detail from the text to
support your answer.]
What is the primary intent of the text?
What is the intent of paragraph ___?
How has the author’s perspective influenced what he or she tells me?
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in
diverse media and formats, including visually
and quantitatively, as well as in words.*
8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and
specific claims in a text, including the validity
of the reasoning as well as the relevance and
sufficiency of the evidence.
9. Analyze how two or more texts address
similar themes or topics in order to build
knowledge or to compare the approaches the
authors take.

INFERENCES: Probe each argument in persuasive text, each idea in informational text, each
key detail in literary text, and observe how these build to a whole





 OPINIONS, ARGUMENT, and INTERTEXTUAL CONNECTIONS: Author’s opinion and reasoning
(K-5), Claims, counterclaims, Ethos, Pathos, Logos, Rhetoric
Is this a happy story or a sad one? How do you know? (K-2)
How are these two books similar? How are they different? (K-2)
How can I connect what this author is telling me to understand something better?
How is this similar to/different from other material I’ve read?
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
10. Read and comprehend complex literary and
informational texts independently and
proficiently.
