First Grade Sample Questions/Prompts
*For each of the questions below, ask students to support their answer with evidence from the text.
Literature Standards:
RL 2: Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.
 Have children page through the story Invite volunteers to take turns retelling the events in order. Encourage
them to use the illustration as a guide.
 What is the lesson you could learn from the story?
 Have children page through the book, taking turns to retell the story to a partner.
 Help children retell the story. Ask them who are the characters in the story? What do they do? Why?
 Retell the story. What will happen next?
 Stop every few pages and ask students to retell the story so far in their own words.
 Ask students what a character is like based on their words and actions on several pages of text.
 Have students read pages _________________ , look carefully at the illustrations, and discuss the message the
author is trying to teach the character.
 Encourage student to use the phrase, “Once upon a time” when appropriate to retell stories.
 Have students retell the story with a partner then discuss why a portion of the story might be ______ (fun, sad,
silly).
 Have one partner retell the story- have the other partner pantomimes the actions.
 Lead children in a brief discussion about a text. Have them recount the major events in the correct order and
describe the characters and setting. Remind children to support their ideas using the illustrations and details
from the story.
 Retell the tory in your own words. What lesson does the author want us to think about?
 Ask children to help you fill out a chain of events organizer, documenting the important events in the story in
the order they occurred.
 Reviews with children, folktales often teach us a lesson. After reviewing the important events in the story,
discuss what lesson the characters are learning.
 Which event happens first in the story? Which event happens last in the story?
 After discussing the lesson the main character learned- Ask - What do you think the character will do the next
time they face a similar situation?
 Ask partners to share the information they have learned from this selection.
 Ask students to retell the events in the story. They should identify their favorite part of the story and tell why
they like it.
 Have students retell key details they learned from the photos and the text.
 What lesson does ____________ (character) learn?
 What lesson can you learn from the character in this folktale?
 Think about the major events that happened. What message do you think the author wanted to give by writing
this story?
 Have students work with a partner to retell the story. Remind students to tell the events in the order in which
they happened.
 Retell the story from ____________ (character’s) point of view.
 What lesson does this story teach?
 Ask students to restate the stories’ lesson in their own words.
 Have students work with a partner to retell the story. Then ask students to discuss what ________________
(character) was thinking or doing.
 Use labels and pictures to assist students in retelling key details in the story.
 Ask student to tell about the main message or lesson in the story
 What message or lesson do you think the author wants to tell reader with this story?
 Ask student to retell the major events in the story. Have them identify their favorite part or event in the story.
 What do you know about the _____________(characters) so far?
 What was the main reason the author wrote this story?
 Retell what happened so far. Why is _________(character) ____________( emotion sad, happy, angry)?
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Ask students to retell the fable. After identifying the lesson learned by the characters- ask students to identify
examples from the text of the lesson learned. Ask students to identify opportunities in their own lives in which
using the lesson learned by the character was effective. (being kind instead of forceful)
How did _________________( character )use what they had learned to show ____________ (lesson – kindness )
towards _____________ (other character)
Have students page through the book, taking turns to retell the story to a partner.
What is chapter one mostly about?
 What happens in this selection? What is its central message?
 What are some key details in the story?
 What lesson does ____ learn?
RL 3: Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.
 Sometimes you can learn about characters by noting details about what they do or say. How does __ feel about
__? How do you know?
 Look at page __. Where is __ now?
 Who are the characters in the story?
 What do they do? Why?
 What does ____do to help ____?
 What does ___’s actions tell you about what kind of person he is?
 How does ___feel at the end of the story? How do you know?
 What important things do the characters do?
 What does the text evidence tell you about what they are like?
 Ask students to retell key details in the selection.
 Describe the main characters and setting.
 Tell the major events from the selection, referring to the illustrations for help.
 Many stories tell about events in the order in which they happened. Use a flow chart to write about the
sequence of events. Tell what happened first, next and last.
 What is the main problem in the story?
 Describe what ___does to try to solve the problem.
 Describe the important story events in the order in which they happened.
 What is the important event that happens on page__?
 Use the pictures to retell the story, including key details about characters, setting and events.
 Help children summarize different parts of the story. What happens at the beginning of the story? What
happens at the end of the story?
 What kind of place is __at? Where is ___now?
 Who is the new character in this story? Describe him/her.
 What is happening in this part of the story?
 What is the first thing that ___does?
 How is the place at the beginning of the story different from the place the characters are at the end of the story?
 Tell what your character does first, next, and last.
 Use text evidence (what a character says or does) to figure out what a character is like.
 Where does this story take place?
 Which characters have we met so far?
 Summarize what you have read so far, retelling only the most important events.
 What actions in the story are repeated by the characters?
 The words and pictures tell that there is a new character in the story. Describe the character.
 List text evidence about the characters in a chart to help you understand them better.
 Discuss whether ____changes the way he acts by the end of the story.
 What lesson does ___ learn?
 Write a description of what ___is like. Use text evidence to help you describe them.
 What happens to ___?
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Describe what ___ does after ___.
Which character tells the beginning of the story? How do you know? Use text evidence.
Who tells the rest of the story?
Retell the story as ____ (story character) would tell it.
Describe the characters you meet on these pages.
What words describe the setting of the story?
Describe important events that have already happened in the story.
___ was ___ at the beginning of the story. Where is he now? Describe the place?
What is happening in the middle of the story?
Describe how ___ and ___ are alike?
What does ____ do and what does that show about him? What text evidence helps you to know?
Describe what happens between ___ and ___.
What does the character look like? How does he act?
How is he different from the picture on page __?
Describe what ___ does after __.
Describe how ____changes _____.
How does ___feel about ___?
Have students page through two different selections. Tell how the places (settings) are alike and different. Use
text evidence from words and pictures to show this.
Choose a character or event from the selection. Prepare for a talk to clearly describe the character or event
using specific details from the text.
Describe __ based on what you’ve read and seen in pictures so far.
How does __ act differently from the other characters?
How are the characters in this story alike? How are they different?
Compare and contrast the characters in this story.
What does the picture on page __ tell you about the story’s setting?
What does __ want to do? What does this tell you about __?
How do __ and ___ think differently about ___?
How has __’s feelings about ___ changed from the beginning of the story to now?
Lead children in a brief discussion about the important events in the story. Remind them to support their ideas
with text evidence from the illustrations and details in the text.
As you read, ask yourself what happens and why. Use text evidence to figure out what might happen next.
Why does ___ say _____?
What causes ___ to ____?
What happens when _____?
What do the words and pictures tell you about the way ___ is feeling / acting?
Describe how the event is different this time.
Describe the characters and the reasons for their feelings / actions.
This story has many events that cause other events to happen. What is the effect, or what happens next because
of ____.
Have children page through the selection and find silly or funny events that happen. Describe these events.
Tell when and where the story takes place. Tell how the story could be different using when or where.
Describe how you can tell that ____ is a good friend to ____.
Summarize the plot. Describe ____’s problem and its solution.
How did ____’s appearance change from the beginning to the end/
How were the experiences and adventures in ____’s life different at the beginning and at the end?
Who is the main character of the story? In many stories, the main character has a problem. What is ___’s
problem? How is his problem solved?
Describe the new character we learn about.
How do you think ___ feels during this part of the story? Why?
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Use pictures in the selection, or sequenced picture cards to prompt students to retell the story, describing
characters, setting, and major events.
Recall details from the selection to compare and contrast ___ and___.
What do you find out about the setting and the characters on the first few pages of the story?
How do you know which boy is ____?
What does this action tell you about ___?
List clues (words and actions) about the characters to help you figure out how they feel and what they are like.
(Consider using a chart to list this.)
What will other characters in the story learn from ____?
Guide students to stop after each portion of the selection to retell what has happened so far.
What did ___ learn from his/her experience?
How is the end of the story like the beginning?
What do you think will happen next? Tell why using text evidence.
Tell what things about __(character) stay the same during both the beginning and ending part of the story.
What problem do ____ have? What do the characters do about their problem?
How do you know ____’s problem is solved?
Have children describe the setting in detail and tell how it is important to the events in the story.
How is the setting important to what happens?
What is chapter 1 mostly about? Describe the events.
Compare and contrast how ____ feels before and after ______.
What does __ do to help ___?
Describe what __ and __ are like. Use details from the story.
What problem is __ trying to solve?
Why does ___think ___? Is he right? Use text evidence to explain how you know.
RL 4: Identify words and phrases in stories and poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses (see grade 1
Language standards 4-6 for additional expectations) CA
 Remind students about their 5 senses. Discuss how the sensory words and phrases help them picture things.
After reading ask students to identify sensory words on page __________.
 After readings have students work with a partner to find words and phrases in the poems that tell what the
____________ and ____________ look like. In addition, have them find words or phrases that tell how the
characters feel.
 Describe how ___________ feels while ______________. Which words help tell how ________ feels.
 After reading the ___________, have children identify words that tell about feelings.
 After reading – ask students to identify words or phrases that tell how things look, sound or make them feel.
 Make a list with the class of words that tell how the poem makes them feel or describe things in the poem.
 Which words are repeated on these pages? Why do you think the author did this? Discuss how repeating words
makes the story or poem ______________.
 What words tell how ____________ (character) is feeling when __________________________ happens?
 Which words in the sentence help you know what __________ means?
 Recall details from the selection to compare and contrast ___________ and ______________.
 Ask the children to find words in the poem that describe _____________. Then have students use those words
along with their own words to describe a _____________.
 What details in the words and pictures tell you how ___________ feels?
 What words help you understand the meaning of _____________ (vocab word) on this page?
How does the picture match the words?
 What words on page ________ tell you how ______________ is feeling when ____________ happens in the
story?
 During and after reading guide students to identify figurative language that appeals to the senses or suggests
feelings. Discuss how these words and phrases add meaning to the story.
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Review that an author chooses words to help describe how things look, feel, sound, smell, or taste.
Which words on pages _____is _______ help us to understand what the (character) _______ is
____________________ (insert feeling or one of the 5 senses)?
How does ___________________( character) feel about ____________________? What text evidence
helps you know?
The author describes _____________ (character or object) as __________________ ( adjective or
adverb). What do you picture in your mind when you read the word _______________?
Which word in the story tells how ______________ is feeling?
Where does the author provide sensory images? (taste, touch, feel, sight, hear, smell)
When the author uses the word ___, which of the five senses are demonstrated?
When the author says _____ how does that make you/the character feel?
Where does the author provide feeling words?
How do we know the character feels happy/sad/angry/frustrated/etc?
Where does the author provide sensory images? (taste, touch, feel, sight, hear, smell)
When the author uses the word ___, which of the five senses are demonstrated?
When the author says _____ how does that make you/the character feel?
Where does the author provide feeling words?
How do we know the character feels happy/sad/angry/frustrated/etc?
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RL 5: Explain major differences between books that tell stories and books that give information, drawing on a wide
reading of a range of text types.
 Do the words tell a story or facts? How do you know?
 What do the pictures tell you about whether this story is make-believe or fact?
 Remind students that a story is a fantasy when it is make-believe. Make-believe means that something cannot
happen in real life. What evidence do you find in the words and pictures that tell you this story is a fantasy?
 Explain the major differences between a fantasy story like ____, and an informational text like ____. Use details
that support your answers.
 What text evidence tells you that this story is a fantasy?
 Explain the difference between books that tell stories and books that give information.
 What do the title / heading tell you about what you will learn from this text?
 Point out words and pictures that tell you this is a make-believe, or fantasy story.
 How can the pictures and/or title in _____help you figure out that the selection is an informational text?
 Point out features of the text that help you to know this selection is a folktale.
 Explain the major differences between folktales like_____ and informational texts like _____.
 Review the selections _____ and _______. Identify which selection is make-believe and which one is
informational text. Use details to explain how you know this.
 Is this part of the story about real things or make-believe things? How do you know?
 Does this book give true information?
 Display a fantasy book. Ask children to find some make-believe parts in the book.
 Display an informational text. Ask children to find facts in it.
 How can the photographs in _______help you figure out that the selection is an informational text? Point out
other features of informational text that you notice in this selection.
 Explain the main differences between a make-believe fairy tale and an informational text.
 Is this selection a make-believe story or informational text? How do you know?
 Which selection is true? Which is make-believe? Tell how you know.
 Decide whether ____ is fiction or non-fiction. Tell why you think so.
 Identify characteristics of informational texts you have read.
 Identify characteristics of fantasy stories you have read.
 Are the characters in ___ real or make-believe? How do you know?
 Could the events in the ____ really happen? Explain your answer.
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Think about the people in (informational text). How are they different from the characters in (fictional text)?
RL 6: Identify who is telling the story at various points in a text.
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Remind students that the narrator is the person who is telling the story. The narrator can be a
character from the story. Text evidence from words and pictures helps identify who the narrator is.
Which words in this story help you figure out who the narrator is?
Identify the person who tells this story. What clues in the text tell you this?
Which character in the story tells the beginning of the story? How do you know?
Who tells the story on pages ___? Who tells the rest of the story? What text evidence supports your
answers?
Review with children that dialogue is the words that characters say. Point out that quotation marks
are around words that someone is speaking. As children read, ask them to find dialogue and identify
the speaker(s).
Who is the speaker at this point in the story? How do you know?
Remind students that the word said can show who is talking. Look at the text. Who is talking now?
How do you know ___ and ___ are speaking?
Who is speaking at the beginning of the story, in the middle, and at the end?
Who is the narrator in the story? What text evidence in words and pictures help you to know?
Who is the narrator in this part of the story? Is this the same narrator as before?
Why do you think the author has this character tell the story?
How would the story have been different if___ was the narrator?
How do we know that ____ is not the narrator?
Explain how to recognize the narrator is in the selection.
Which character in _____do you think is telling the story? Why do you think so? Look for text
evidence.
Who is telling the story? How do you know?
At this point in the selection, who is telling the story?
RL 7: Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas.
 Describe the main character using information form the illustrations and the text we have read so far.
 As you preview the text, ask students to identify features of realistic fiction such as illustrations showing real-life
activities.
 What do the words on page________ tell us the character __________ does? How do the illustrations show us
more about what is going on in the story?
 What do the illustrations tell us about why ___________ is ______________?
 Is the way _________ and _________ are acting realistic?
 What do the ______________’s actions tell you about what kind of person he is?
 How does ____________ feel at the end of the story? How do you know?
 Identify animals in the illustrations that are acting like people.
 Look at the illustrations on page _____ what do you think ____________ is going to do next?
 What is the important event that happened on page _______?
 Where is ___________ at? How do you know?
 What was happening at the beginning of the story? What is happening in this part?
 Use a graphic organizer that includes setting, characters, and plot- as you read with students use the illustrations
and text to add information to the organizer.
 What does the illustration on page ______ tell you about what the _________ is thinking?
 What are the __________ on page doing in the illustration? Why?
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Have students work in pairso Have students read aloud the text, asking each other questions as they read.
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o They should find evidence in the text or the illustrations to support their answers.
Ask students to identify key details in the selection. They should use the text and illustrations to
support their answers.
Look at the pictures on page _____. Think about what we have read so far. What do you think
___________ is thinking or feeling?
What do the illustrations tell you about how the characters in the story are feeling?
What do the pictured and words tell you about what might happen next?
Describe the characters you meet on these pages. Use the illustrations and text to form your answers.
At the beginning of the story ___________(character) was at the ______________, where is he now?
How do the pictures and the words on page _________ go together?
What happens at the end of the story?
Have students generate questions about the selection and encourage them to work with a partner to explore
the illustrations and text to answer their classmates’ questions.
Have children page through the selection. Working with a partner have them take turns pantomiming the main
events in the story. Encourage them to use the illustrations as a guide.
Describe _____________(character) based on what you’ve read and seen in the pictures so far.
Describe how the two characters ____________ and _________ are alike/ different using the illustrations and
the text to support your answers.
What does the picture on page ___________tell you about the story’s setting?
How is the illustration on page _____ different/ similar to the illustration on page ______?
Have children page through the story. Invite volunteers to take turns retelling the events in order. Encourage
them to use the illustrations as well as the text to inform their retelling.
What text evidence in the words and pictures helped you know that this story is a folktale?
Prompt students to support their responses with text evidence from the words and pictures and from their own
experiences.
What do you think and feel when you look at the illustration on page ________?
Reread pages____________. What details do you learn about the characters rom the words and the
illustrations?
Describe what ___________ sees the other character ________________ doing?
Describe the new character we learn about on page __________
How does ___________ act when he sees _______________ coming?
What do the Illustrations tell you about the setting of the story?
Describe what happens when ________________ happens.
How do you know that ___________ is/is not the narrator?
Describe what you know about ___________from his words and actions.
How do you know __________ and ___________ problem is solved?
How are _________ and ________ feeling now? How do you know?
How does the illustration let you know that _________ is sad/ happy like the text says?
What important information do you learn from the words and pictures on pages ________?
Explain that some facts in informational text come from photographs and text features, such as checklists. Ask
children to explain the information and facts they learned from these text and graphic features.
RL 9: Compare and contrast the adventures of characters in stories.
 Which of these selections is true?
 Which of these selections is make-believe?
 How is _______different than the ______ in the other selection?
 How are the two characters alike?
 How are they different?
 What happen to__________(in selection 1) that did not happen to __________(in selection 2)?
 How do the characters feel differently?
 Have children compare and contrast different characters and adventures from different selections.
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How do the characters feelings differ?
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How are the characters feelings alike?
Nothing in this unit
Fill out a Venn diagram with students using information about two characters from a previous story or
two children from the class. Help them compare and contrast things the two characters or people have
done such as experiences or adventures.
How are ___________ feelings and ___________ feelings different?
How is the end of the story like the beginning? How are they different?
Have children compare to similar stories. How are they the same? How are they different?
How are the stories alike and different?
After reading ___explain how their adventures and experiences are similar and different.
How are the adventures of ___ and ___ similar? Different?
Does this story/poem remind you of any other stories or poems we have read?
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Informational Texts
*For each of the questions below, ask students to support their answer with evidence from the text.
RI 2: Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
 Think about what you have learned about ___ so far. If you wrote a new title to tell the topic of this selection,
what would it be?
 Explain that knowing the topic, or big idea the selection is about is important. Write the following on the board:
__,__,__. Ask children to pick the topic of the selection from this list.
 Use picture cards/pictures from a selection. Guide children to identify the main topic and retell key details as
they look at pictures from the selection.
 Tell students that details are bits of information about the main topic. What details did you find out about ___?
 What have you learned about ____from reading pages ___?
 What details tell more about the important idea that _______________?
 What is the main topic the author is telling us about in this selection?
 What important details do you read in the words or see in the pictures that tell more about the main topic?
 Look at the title and headings we see in this selection. These headings will help us figure out the main topic and
important details. What is the main topic of this selection? Name some of the important details.
 What details did you learn about ____?
 Make a list of all the things you learned about ___ in this selection.
 What details tell more about the main topic ____?
 Look at each section you have read so far. Retell the important details for each section.
 What is one fact/ detail you learned from this selection? Draw a picture to show it. Write a caption to tell about
the picture.
 Have children generate questions about the selection that focus on the most important details.
 What details in the text tell you __________?
 What facts about ____ did you learn on this page?
 What words or pictures give us important details about the topic?
 What different information or details do you learn about ___ from the words and photographs on p. __?
 What other details from this selection teach you about ____?
 What details helped you better understand _____?
 Review with students that informational texts give facts about a topic. Sometimes labels are used to tell more
about a picture or photo. This can make information easier to find. Direct students to use labels in the
selection to find key details about _____. Retell the details in their own words.
 The author gives several reasons or details about ________. What are those reasons/details?
 Give an example from the selection of a key detail about ___.
 What details help explain ___?
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After a discussion about a completed selection, ask students to restate the topic and the important details to
help them summarize the selection.
Tell the key details about ___ in your own words.
What is the heading on page ___? What key details do you think will be in this part?
What is the most important idea this selection is about? What text evidence in the words and pictures help you
to know?
Tell students that a chart is a drawing that lists information in a clear way. It can show words or pictures or
both. What key details do you learn from the chart on page__?
What is this article mainly about? What important details help you know?
What are these pages mostly about?
What is the main topic of this part of the selection?
After reading and discussing the text, ask students to identify the main topic and retell the key details. Remind
them that using sequence words can help them find the key details from different parts of the text.
How does ____ relate to the main topic?
(Consider using a graphic organizer to list the main topic and the related key details.)
Think about the title of this selection. What is the most important idea on this page?
As you read, stop to retell the important events or details in your own words.
What important ideas / details do you learn from the words and pictures on p. __ about __?
Have students retell / summarize*(*this terminology comes in at 4th grade) the selection by telling only the most
important events in their own words.
Show the main topic and key details from the selection in a web.
RI 3: Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.
 How is ________ being a good ___________ (friend, pal)? How is _________ being a good _________? What is
the same about ______ an ______ being a good _______?
 Guide students to discuss important information and to describe how the events are connected.
 Guide students to find connections between text (e.g. drums – form of communication and insects and the way
they communicate)
 How does the _________ look different in the _________ (season) and in the (another season)?
 Draw children’s attention to causes and effects in text. Consider using a graphic organizer for the class to record
causes and their effects. Aid students in seeing the connection between the events.
 Venn Diagram can also be used to compare two __________. Encouraging children to talk about similarities
and differences as well as connections.
 Describe how ________ and _______ move. What do ________ have that ________ do not have?
 Sequence of events charts help children see how the events in a selection or process are connected.
 Reread pages _______. How are the growing cycles of __________ and __________ alike?
 How is _______ like __________?
 Remember what you learned about ________________. How would __________ be a problem for
_________________?
 How has ___________ changed from _______ till ______?
 What is ___ doing? What does it have to do with ___?
 This selection is all about ____. In what ways do _____ help with this?
 Help students connect new ideas from one page of text to another. Have children tell what new information
they are learning about ____ after reading each successive page.
 What new information did we learn about_____ on this page? How does this connect to what we already
know?
 Help children recognize that sometimes an author uses examples to help readers understand information. Point
out one sentence from the text that describes something. Ask students to identity another sentence that gives
an example that goes with it.
 How are the animals that live in _____habitat alike?
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Remind children that when they read nonfiction text they can compare and contrast the facts and details. On
page___ we find information about _____. It tells what they were like long ago and what they are like now.
How are they alike? How are they different?
The author is comparing ___ with ____. What are the similarities between ____? What are the differences?
Reread pages ___. How would you connect the information on these pages? What is different? What is alike?
In what ways are _____ the same? In what ways are ___ different?
How do the details in the text help you make connections between ideas and events that the author writes
about?
How are these two events alike? How are they different?
We read that ____and ____were alike because ______. What is one way they were different?
We read that ____ and ____ did ____differently. What is something they did the same?
How were the things that ____ did similar? How were they different?
How were things different before _____? How were things the same?
Remind students that they can make connections between the order in which things happen, or the sequence.
Tell students, ____ happened. What happened next?
What steps are taken between the beginning of the event/activity/process and the end?
What happened first, second, third? Or first, next, last?
Record notes on a sequence chart, or consider using a flow chart to show connections between events or stages.
What steps did ___ take to reach his goal?
What is the sequence of events on these pages?
Retell these events in order.
Fill in the flow chart to show the different stages of _____.
____ says ____. How does ____ respond to this statement/question?
Put the events from this selection in the correct order.
At first we read that _____. Now we read that _____. What changed? Why?
What steps did ___ take to solve the problem or accomplish his goal?
Describe the events of this passage in order.
Remind students that authors who write biographies often tell the events of a person’s life in chronological
order. What events in this person’s life prepared him for ____?
What did we learn about ____’s childhood? How is this connected to what he did as an adult?
What problem(s) did ___ have? Explain how this problem was solved. or, What did ___ do to reach a solution?
Identify the problem in the text and tell how it was solved..
Why did _____happen?
What did ___ want to do? How did he make this happen?
Consider filling in a problem / solution chart with details.
Remind students that a cause is why something happens and an effect is what happens. Ask: Why does
___happen?
What caused ____?
What cause and effect relationships can we find in the text?
What is the effect when/ of ___?
Consider using a cause and effect chart to note the connections.
Which causes help explain ____(effect)?
Because of ____, what happened to __?
What caused people to ____?
Why can you do ____ now, but you couldn’t before?
I read that ________happened. What were the causes of this event. What was the initial / final cause or
reason?
On ___ page what are the two details that are connected? Which one is the cause and which one is the effect?
What clues about ____ helped us know ____?
What kind of information is in paragraph __? What kind of information is in paragraph__? How are these
paragraphs related to each other?
RI 4: Ask and answer questions to help determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text. (See grade 1
Language standards 4-6 for additional expectations.) CA
 Author’s word choice- remind children that authors think about what words he or she will use. They choose
words to make a selection fun or interesting. Point out words that demonstrate this idea while reading with
students.
 What words in the sentences help you know what a _______________is?
 What words in the sentences on page ________ help you to know what ____________ is?
 ___________(character) ______________( action) when________________. What clues in the words and
pictures help you understand the meaning of this word?
 What clues in the text around the word _________ help you understand what ______ means?
 What clues in the sentences and pictures help you know what ________ means?
 What details help you understand what a _______________is and does?
 What words on the pages help you understand the meaning of the word _______________? What details in the
photos help you know?
 Ask students to use details from the words and pictures and their own ideas to help them determine the
meaning of words or phrases.
 On page _________do the words on the page and the pictures help you determine what _______ means?
 Since you know that the –ed ending means “something was done in the past”, what does the word _____ed
mean? (Language standard 4b, 4c).
 Explain how you figured out the meaning of the word____ in this sentence __________________.
 Now that you have reread the sentences around the word ____, what does the word mean? How do you know?
 The author chose the word ____ to describe ____. What senses does this word appeal to?
 There are several words in this section that have to do with ______. Which words are they? Explain how they
are related. (Language standard 5a). Which word is most similar to ____?(Language standard 5b)
 Remind students that knowing the root word in an unfamiliar word can help you figure out the meaning of an
unfamiliar word. What does the word ____ mean? How did knowing the root word help you figure out the
meaning of the entire word? (Language Standard 4c).
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If you didn’t know the meaning of the phrase ____________,you could look for context clues in the photographs
and sentences in the text. What do you think this phrase means? Explain what helped you to know.
RI 5: Know and use various text structures (e.g. Sequence) and text features (e.g. headings, tables of contents,
glossaries, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text. CA
 Have students identify labels as you are reading. Ask what information they will find out about on this page.
 Point charts and explain their purpose when you encounter them in text. Discuss how the information is
organized, and what information we can learn from the chart.
 Discuss using a glossary and how it would help us as readers.
 After text features complete a chart including a list of text features and their purpose.
 While reading informational text- point out text features such as headings, and captions, labels maps, and time
lines.
 Note the time line on page _______. Explain it’s purpose. Have students identify events in _______ life.
 What does the caption on page ______ tell you?
 Ask student how the diagram and photos on pages _____help them find information in the selection
 After reviewing the characteristics of a map and purposes of maps, have the children make a map from
information in a text.
 What do you think we will read about in the section called _____________?
 After reading text that includes labels – Ask students to find key facts and information about the topic. They
should use the text features to assist them.
 What is the heading on ______?
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o What information do you think will be in this part?
What information does the heading on page _________give you?
Point out the labels included in text explaining their purpose.
Review with children the purpose of a dictionary (or other reference materials) and how they can be of
assistance to readers and writers.
Why are there labels on the illustrations on page _____________.
How do the arrows on page ____help make the information clearer?
Encourage students to include labels on their illustrations of informational text they write.
Have children tell where the entry word _______ can be found in a dictionary.
Model using an online dictionary to determine the meaning of an unknown word?
Tell children that informational text may include graphs to provide information.
RI 6: Distinguish between information provided by pictures or other illustrations and information provided by the
words in a text.
 After reading a section- have them explain the different kinds of information they learn from the words and the
photographs.
 The photograph on page _____ shows _____________. The photograph on page ______ shows ___________.
Why are photographs included in this section?
 How do the illustrations connect to the information in the sentences?
 What more did you l earn from the illustration that was not in the words?
 Why did the author put these photographs/ illustration/ chart/ map on these pages?
 Think about the title of this selection. What is the most important idea on this page? How do the pictures
explain more about this main idea?
 What did you learn about
 How does the photograph connect to what is written in this section?
o What does the text say about __________________________?
 How does the photograph on page ____ help you understand the text on that page?
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Before I read page _____, I will look at the photograph ( illustration) and ask: What is going on in the
picture?
Then I will read the text to see I I was correct or if the text gives me more information.
Sometimes the illustrations tell us things about the characters, setting, and events that we don’t learn
from the words. Look at the illustration on page ______. We read that
__________________________.Ask further clarifying questions about the events pictured in the
illustrations that are clarified by using either the pictures or the text.
Good readers ask themselves questions as they read. We can use both the text and the words to assist
us in answering our questions.
How do the illustration(s) tell us more about the topic that the text doesn’t tell us?
Does the illustration match what the writer is trying to say?
Do you think the selection/text and the picture are connected? In what way?
RI 7: Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas.
 How do the pictures help you to understand?
 The text on page ____________ says “__________________________”. Look at the pictures on page _______.
Describe how it shows that he/she is _____________?
 What are the most important ideas you learned on page _______?
 Look again at the photographs and reread these pages. How are the ways that _________ and _________ are
alike and different?
 What facts do we learn from the words and photographs?
 What is the most important information the authors want us to know about ___________ and ____________?
 Are all the __________ the same? What details in the text and photographs tell you the answer?
 What more did you learn from the illustration that was not in the words? How do you think the author feels
about _________? What text evidence in the words and photo help you know?
 Why did the author choose to include 2 different photographs?
 How are the photographs different in 2 selections?
 How are _____________ like ___________________?
 What important details or information have you learned about ______________(topic) in this section?
 What details about an/a ______________ do you learn from the words and photographs on page ______?
 How does the photograph connect to what is written in this section?
 What detail in the words and photographs on page ____ help you understand why a _________ is important?
 What do the pictures on page _______ show?
 What important details do you learn about a ___________ from the words and photo on page _____?
 Look at the photograph of the ___________. Where are the __________ on the _________?
 Read pages ______________. Where is the _________ home? What clues did you use?
 Work with children to locate pictures and information about __________(topic) in reference books, classroom
text books, and other reference books.
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What is happening in the pictures on page _____? Why do you think the authors wrote these
sentences an show us these pictures?
Look at the pictures and think about the words. What makes _______ happy/sad?
How does the illustration on page ___ help you to understand the key ideas?
Explain how the image/illustration makes the ideas more clear?
How do the details provided make the ideas more clear?
RI 8: Identify the reasons an author gives to support points in a text.
 What reason does the author give for why ______happens?
 Name another reason the author gives to support his point about ___.
 What does the author want you to learn? What details help you know?
 The author gives several reasons why ____. What are some of those reasons?
 What text evidence does the author give to support how he feels about ___?
 How is the author explaining why ____ is an important point?
 What important reasons did you learn about_____ in this section of the text?
 The author has written about ___. Tell the most important reasons he uses to explain ____.
 What text evidence in the words and pictures helps you understand ________?
 The author gives some facts or reasons about ___ in this selection. Which ones give the most support for this
topic?
 What does the author want us to know about___?
 What are the most important ideas you learned from the author about ____?
 What is the author teaching us about ___? What did you learn?
 How does the author help you understand ___? Use text evidence to explain your answer.
 Find reasons the author gives to back up his important points.
 What is a reason the authors give to explain___?
 Why does __want / not want ___?
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What reason(s) did the author give that ___ is true?
What are the reasons the author provides to make the point?
Which details in the article support the main points of the text?
The author makes this point: ___. Identify where the author provides reasons for this point?
How does the author support the point that___?
RI 9: Identify basic similarities in and differences between two texts on the same topic (e.g. illustrations, descriptions,
or procedures).
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Make a T chart to compare information provided from 2 sources on the same topic.
Point out to children that comparing two texts on the same topic is a good way to understand both of
them at a deeper level. Ask how they are the same? How are they different?
Compare two selections on the same topic – information provided, method information is shared,
photographs, illustrations, descriptions, topics discussed, facts given by each, genre.
How are the illustrations in two selections on the same topic the same? How are they different?
Complete a Venn diagram with students comparing two selections on the same topic.
We have read two selections. How are they similar and how are they different?
After reading the two texts on ____, explain how the illustrations/descriptions/ procedures/etc.
similar? Different?