Achieving the Core…
Fostering Close Reading
through
Text-Based Questions
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Quickwrite:
What comes to mind when you
hear the words:
“text dependent questions?”
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Opinions, Arguments,
Intertextual Connections
Whole
Inferences
Across
texts
Entire text
Author’s Purpose
Segments
Vocab & Text Structure
Paragraph
Key Details
Sentence
Word
General Understandings
Part
3
Text Dependent Questions
• Originate from the text itself and have
explicit answers rooted in the text
• Embrace key principles of close reading
• Do not rely on background knowledge
• Focus on a word, phrase, sentence,
paragraph or larger section of the text
4
Text Dependent Questions
• Are framed as open-ended and are not
leading questions
• Target academic vocabulary and crucial
passages as focal points for gaining
comprehension through examining
details, explanations and arguments
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Employing Close Reading
 Asks text dependent questions that
require carefully analyzing the text for
evidence
 Offers questions that build upon each
other to ensure students follow the line
of argument
 Requires students to demonstrate
understanding via writing
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Close Reading Template
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Close Reading Exemplar
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Close Reading Exemplar
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Text-Dependent Guided Questions
1. Explain how the words Freedman
uses in the first two paragraphs set
the scene.
2. Why had so many people come to the
concert?
3. Who is Marian Anderson? What were
her accomplishments?
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Text-Dependent Guided Questions
4. Find the point at which the argument
pivots in the selection (paragraph 4).
How does what follows that turning
point undercut the claims made in the
first portion of the paragraph?
5. What words did Freedman use to
characterize Anderson’s performance?
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Text-Dependent Guided Questions
6. What does the change in weather
symbolize?
7. What language does Freedman
use in the closing paragraph to
heighten the drama of the scene?
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Generating Evidence for Theses
“I have approached the
teaching of argument from
the examination of data as a
first step… the process of
working through an
argument is the process of
inquiry. At its beginning is
the examination of data, not
the invention of a thesis
statement in a vacuum.”
- George Hillocks Jr.
(pg. xxii)
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Generating Theses Using Burke’s
Pentad
What was done?
When and where
was it done?
Who did it?
How was it done?
Why was it done?
Juxtapose the why
question against the
others to create a thesis
question:
Why was Marian
Anderson’s concert on
the Mall in Washington
an important event in the
struggle for civil rights?
http://www.history.com/speeches/harold-l-ickes-marian-andersonperforms-at-the-lincoln-memorial#harold-l-ickes-marian-andersonperforms-at-the-lincoln-memorial
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Turn and Talk
With a partner, discuss 5 “do’s”
and 5 “don’ts” of developing
text-based questions. Write your
list down using a T-chart.
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Closing Thoughts
• We need “from the text” questions
rather than “how I feel” questions.
• Student achievement is positively
correlated to classes with discussion.
• Text dependent questions level the
field because they do NOT depend on
prior knowledge.
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Closing Thoughts
• The text may not be an argument
itself but it may allow us to advance
an argument.
• A thesis/claim must start with
evidence and data sources.
• “Texts” include videos, paintings,
maps, charts, diagrams, songs, etc.
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SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS
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