The Winter Conference holds great promise for the comprehension strategy of questioning. Our focus for content will be on science. What better way to prepare for our observations of children using science content in the literacy block than to brush up on our questioning techniques and instruction?  Here is an excerpt from Mosaic of Thought by Keene and Zimmerman for your use:

The Problem: Readers who submit to the text never question its content, style, or the intent of the author.
      
Of all qualities, questioning is fundamental to being human. It is how we dispel confusion, probe new areas, strengthen our abilities to analyze and deduce.

Steps in a questioning study:

• Pay careful attention to the questions that spontaneously take shape in your mind as you read.
• Questions do not lead to answers in the book.
• The questions must lead to other questions.
• “Let the question live for awhile with no answer.” (Mosaic, p. 108)
• Carefully record questions in the  language children use.
• Say: “Do you listen to the questions in your mind? Do you hear your own questions?”

Goal for a questioning study:
Create an aura of mystery, curiosity, and wonder around the concept of questioning during reading. Children will experience the insight that comes from questions, and will learn to love unanswerable questions and experience the absorption of reading a text that fills them with questions. Children will establish the habit of recording their questions before, during, and after their reading and share them with pairs or groups. Children will use questions to clarify meaning, wonder about forthcoming text, and speculate about an author’s intent, style, content, or format. Some questions can be answered in the text and others are inferred based on the reader’s background knowledge. Children will discuss ways in which questions help them focus on and understand text. Tell children to “Listen to their minds at work. Do you have questions before, during, or after you read? I want to hear the questions your mind creates.”

Take a look at the “Questioning” documents attached. 

Asking Questions - 25 Mini Lessons for Strategy Instruction (PDF) (WORD)

Reader Response Sheet (PDF) (WORD)

Assessment Checklist (PDF) (WORD)