Creating Text-Dependent Questions for Close Analytic Reading
Selection: The Astronaut and the Onion by Ann Cameron Grade: 4 Unit 1
Initial Planning
Identify the Core Understandings and Key Ideas of the Text
As in any good backward mapping process, teachers should start by identifying the key insights they want students to
understand from the text. Keeping the major points to be made in mind is crucial for crafting an overarching set of successful
questions. This step is also critical for creating a means to check for student understanding.
Identify Lesson Focus: (Review Qualitative Measures)
Meaning: Moderately Complex- The theme, mentors, is clear. Dr. Grace mentors Gloria, giving her advice to pursue
her dreams.
Text Structure: Moderately Complex- p. 86- illustrations may mislead reader or be confusing; p. 87- After Gloria
tosses the onion and misses the catch, she imagines what may happen if the onion crashes into the baby food castle.
This break from reality into imagination, then back to reality, will be confusing to students.
Language Features: Moderately Complex- some use of figurative language; but most sentences and vocabulary are
simple and not overly academic.
(p. 86- “When she tilted her head, her earrings spun around, and I saw they were Earth . . .”; p. 94- “Big things are
really little . . .”)
Knowledge Demands: Moderately Complex- Gloria’s experiences in the story are not unusual or uncommon. The
astronaut’s career is unique, but the reader does not need academic vocabulary or knowledge of astronomy in order to
understand the text.
CCSS Focus Standards: RL 4.3 (character analysis); RL 4.2 (determining the theme); RL 4.1 (text evidence)
Use shorter text or excerpts of longer texts
Supporting Student Needs
Considerations for Reader and Task
To really understand a complex text, the reader will have to read it more than once, to make sense of what the author is saying
and to glean the details at both the explicit and implicit levels. First and foremost, close reading demands a willingness to
return to the text to read part or even all of it more than once, ultimately instilling habits of mind in approaching text. Planning
for multiple reads as well as multiple purposes for reads is essential in order to support all student needs.
Potential Challenges this Text Poses:
Strategies/Lessons to access complex text: Pre teach
Meaning: (Conceptual Understanding Examples, pg. #)
CCSS Focus Standards:
The title (p. 83) and illustrations (pp. 83, 85, 86, 94) may confuse the
readers because they do not give clues about the plot or theme of the
selection.
RL 4.1 Refer to detail and examples in text when explaining what the
text says explicitly and when drawing inferences.
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Close reading tool kit
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Highlighter
Text Structure: (Organization/Graphics Examples, pg. #)
The illustration on p. 86 may make it difficult for the reader to predict
what may happen next because it shows what the main character is
imagining, rather than what has really happened in the story, as
described on p. 87.
Language: (Syntax, Vocabulary Examples, pg. #)
Figurative language: p. 86- “When she tilted her head, her earrings
spun around, and I saw they were Earth . . .”; p. 94- “Big things are
really little . . .”; pp. 87, 92- use of the word “paralyzed”
RL 4.2: Determine the theme of the story from details in the text,
summarize the text.
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Explicitly define the theme
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Provide sentence stems to assist in summarizing
RL 4.3 Describe in depth a character is a story, drawing on specific
details in the text (e.g. character’s thoughts, words, actions).
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Character traits list
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Thinking Map: Bubble and Double Bubble
RL 4.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used
in the text.
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Frayer Model for vocabulary development
Group 11
Tamara Metken
Guille Pulido
Toni Klugh
Joanne Harvin
Pre teach
Make predictions about the theme using details and illustrations from
the selection.
Activity/Lesson
Guided picture walk prior to reading the selection; make
predictions.
First Read:
Read through the selection in 2 days. Day 1: pp. 82-87 describe Gloria’s trip to the store to buy an onion.
Day 2: pp. 87-95 describe Gloria’s meeting and conversation with Dr. Street. For the first read, have students make predictions
along the way using illustrations and textual evidence.
Close Reads
Create Coherent Sequence of Text-Dependent Questions
Create Coherent Sequences of Text-Dependent Questions – Start Small to Build Confidence
The opening questions should help orient students to the text, and be specific enough to answer so students gain confidence.
The sequence of questions should not be random but should build toward more coherent understanding and analysis to ensure
that students learn to stay focused on the text to bring them to a gradual understanding of its meaning.
Think of ways to maximize student engagement.
Close Read I
Learning Focus: Character Analysis Focus CCSS: RL-4.3 Character analysis
Text-Dependent Questions
Evidence-Based Answers/Pg. #
1. Who are the main characters in the story “The Astronaut and
the Onion”? (DOK 1)
Gloria and Dr. Street
2. Read the paragraph and look at the illustration on pp. 82-83.
Based on the illustration and the text, how do you know Gloria
is in a good mood as she walks to the store? (DOK 2)
Gloria is in a good mood and doesn’t mind going to the store
for her mother. She says, “Sure” when her mother asks her to
go and is smiling and flipping a coin as she walks. She looks
happy and confident.
p. 87, last paragraph- She has sparkly brown eyes, her hair is
shiny black ringlets, and she wears earrings that spin around
and look like the Earth.
“I took the prettiest- a big round one, light tan and shiny, with
a silvery glow to its skin.”
Gloria is careful and choosy. She likes the best in things.
(answers can vary based on multiple perspectives)
p. 88- Gloria is attracted to the woman’s earrings. When the
woman mentions her “trip”, Gloria remembers seeing her on
3. *The woman described by Gloria on p. 87 is a new character.
What details about the woman’s appearance does Gloria
notice? (DOK 2)
4. Read the 2nd paragraph on p. 84. How does Gloria describe
the onion she chooses? (DOK 1)
5. What does her description of the onion tell you about the
kind of person Gloria is? (DOK 3)
6. Read the dialogue at the top of p. 88. Describe how Gloria
figures out the identity of the woman. (DOK 2)
Group 11
Tamara Metken
Guille Pulido
Toni Klugh
Joanne Harvin
7. Refer to the text and tell us what you know about the
character of Gloria? (DOK 4)
8. Read p. 92. What do you learn about Dr. Street’s character
traits on this page? (DOK 3)
9. Read the last four paragraphs on p. 84 and look at the
illustration on p. 85. Based on Gloria’s description of the glass
castle and the illustration, what things can you infer about
Gloria? (DOK 4)
10. Read Dr. Street’s description of being in space on p. 90 and
view the illustration on p. 91. What does the author want us to
know from the illustration and Dr. Street’s description? (DOK 3)
11. Pg. 93
What character traits does Dr. Street have that tells you how
she reacts in space? (DOK 2)
12. What evidence from p. 90 shows that Gloria may not be as
confident in herself as she seemed at the beginning of the
story? (DOK 2)
13. With your partner, discuss what you learned from their
brief meeting what character traits you think Gloria and Dr.
Street share?
(DOK 3)
14. On p. 94, Gloria wanted to ask Dr. Street how big things are
really little. Based on Dr. Street’s character, how do you think
Dr. Street would answer? (DOK 4)
TV and studying her in school. Then, she remembers the
woman’s name and that she is an astronaut.
This tells me that Gloria remembers details and has a good
memory. She is aware of important events and may have an
interest in the study of space.
p. 92- she is realistic (“Anyhow, saying ‘Maybe I can’t’ is
different. It’s okay. It’s realistic); she believes in trying to
succeed (“But when you don’t even know what you can
do . . .); she wants to help by offering advice (“You need to do
well in school . . . and you need to tame your fears . . .”) p. 92,
paragraph 4; She was positive and optimistic.
-She pays attention to detail. (p. 84: “All the little jars were
stacked . . .”; “I started counting the jars . . .”; “A woman
wearing a sky-blue jogging suit . . .”)
-She likes to improve herself (p.84: “I tried to improve and
make my throws harder to catch.)
-She likes to make a good impression on others (p. 84: “I
decided to show her what a really good catcher I am.”)
-She’s daring (p. 84: “I made a wild and daring onion throw.”;
p. 85- the illustration shows Gloria tossing the big onion while
standing very close to the glass castle.)
I think the author wants us to know that Dr. Street is wild and
daring, too. (p. 90- “The most awesome part was when we had
to fix things on the outside of the station.” The illustration
shows her working outside the station in space. It looks
exciting and scary at the same time.
Pg. 93
She is courageous, confident, careful, and fearless.
p. 90 – “I’d like to be an astronaut. Of course, probably I
couldn’t.”; ‘But maybe I can’t!”; “I didn’t think a very poor
onion thrower had a chance to be an astronaut.”
They’re both curious, daring, smart . . .
Answers may vary.
Close Read II
Learning Focus: Making Inferences Focus CCSS: RL 4.1 – Making Inferences
Text-Dependent Questions
1.
Reread pg. 84. What was wild and daring about
Gloria’s actions? (DOK 1)
2.
Reread the top of pg. 87. What does the author
mean when she says, “I was paralyzed, I shut my eyes.
I had gone deaf from fright.” (DOK 2)
3.
Reread the last paragraph on pg. 93. What do you
think the author means by “By doing things that are
Group 11
Tamara Metken
Guille Pulido
Toni Klugh
Joanne Harvin
Evidence-Based Answers/Pg. #
Pg. 84 –
I decided to show her what a really good catcher I am. I made
a wild and daring onion throw.
Pg. 87 –
She threw the onion and saw the tower of baby food and knew
it was going to knock it over. She was so fearful, her body
became still.
Pg. 93
We need fear inside us to keep us motivated to succeed. It
difficult and succeeding, that’s how you learn you can makes us want to finish what we start so that the fear can go
count on yourself, that’s how you get confidence. But away. We still need to challenge ourselves with a little bit of
even then, you keep a little bit of fear inside – a fear
fear.
that keeps you careful.” (DOK 3)
4. Why do we need to keep some fear inside us?
“taming their fears”, answers may vary
(DOK 4)
5. Read Pg. 92. What was the author conveying by
Pg. 92
stating, “But when you don’t even know what you can She is telling the girl to be open to try new things and not to be
do, telling yourself ‘Probably I couldn’t’ will stop you
fearful of failing.
before you even start. It’s paralyzing.” (DOK 3)
Checking for Understanding
How will you know that learning has occurred? Planning for a means to check student understanding is crucial. Refer back to
the Lesson Focus to plan intentionally to check for student understanding.
Describe how you will check for student understanding:
Completion of “Inferring Reading Response” (character traits chart) collaboratively.
Write a paragraph about something you are fearful of at school. Talk about what it is and why you are fearful.
Discuss strategies of how you are going to overcome your fears. Use examples of things you may have learned from reading “The
Astronaut and the Onion”.
STUDENTS FIGURE OUT
THE MEANING
sufficient context clues
are provided in the text
TEACHER PROVIDES
DEFINITION
not enough contextual
clues provided in the text
Vocabulary
KEY WORDS ESSENTIAL TO
UNDERSTANDING
Words addressed with a question or task
WORDS WORTH KNOWING
General teaching suggestions are provided in
the Introduction
Paralyzed, p.87
Warp, p.87
Account, p. 95
Produce, p. 94
“tame your fears”, p. 93
Display, p.84
Pennants, p. 84
Protested, p.90
Sensible, p.92
Confidence
Realistic
Ducked
Castle
Awesome
Endless
ringlets
Group 11
Tamara Metken
Guille Pulido
Toni Klugh
Joanne Harvin
Group 11
Tamara Metken
Guille Pulido
Toni Klugh
Joanne Harvin
Group 11
Tamara Metken
Guille Pulido
Toni Klugh
Joanne Harvin