Running head: QUESTIONING WHILE READING EFFECTS COMPREHENSION 1

Does Questioning While Reading Effect Comprehension?

Katelyn Massie

Wilmington College Running head: QUESTIONING WHILE READING EFFECTS COMPREHENSION 2

Questioning while reading is very important in the classrooms because it enhances comprehension and it involves children in the text. The questions can either come from the teacher or the students while reading. The main reason why teachers should ask questions is to enhance the text and observe comprehension. The main reason for students to ask questions is to construct meaning of the text. Questioning, in my opinion, has been used in the classrooms but not correctly. The students are not being encouraged enough to ask questions while reading and teachers are not asking the right questions to enhance the students comprehension of the reading.

Even though most teachers have studied or reviewed the Bloom’s Taxonomy questions and have learned how to scaffold questions, “few teachers have been taught a practical pedagogy of questioning.” (Hannel, 2009, p.66). Its important while questioning to keep the questions open minded and practical to the reading. In past field experiences, children either have stories read to them or they read individually. After the reading, students usually have a list of questions to answer about the reading. I have found that the children have trouble with answering the questions about the text that they have just read. I can see the students getting frustrated and they tend to shut down and give up on answering the questions. This is a sign that children do not comprehend the text. They are just reading the words but not really understanding the text. After they try to answer the questions on their own, I try to help and understand what they are having trouble with. The major problem is comprehension. The students understand the main point in books but they have problems with the more detailed information in the text.

A way to solve this problem in classrooms is questioning the students and encouraging students to ask questions during reading. “Questioning strategies encourage active participation in learning along with enhanced problem-solving and concept development” (Crowe & Stanford,

2010,p.37). According to Dwyer (2007), there are six different categories of questions which are Running head: QUESTIONING WHILE READING EFFECTS COMPREHENSION 3 recognition, translation, inference, evaluation, explanation, and imagining questions. Recognition questions are questions that can be directly answered from the information in the text. These questions are the basic questions for comprehending the text. If students cannot answer these kinds of question, they are not comprehending the text. Translation questions give the students a chance to describe what the author is saying in their own words. Inference questions are not directly stated in the text but it can be logically determined. Evaluation questions are where students can evaluate behaviors in the characters. These kinds of questions bring up interesting conversations in the classroom because some students might have different opinions on the behaviors. Explanation questions let students have their own explanation for the text. For example a child can explain why a certain event happened in the story. Imaginary questions let students use their imagination but they need to have a good knowledge about the story, for example, the setting and the characters. These questions can be helpful for all readers whether they are below grade level or above grade level. It is encourages that teachers practice effective questioning. To help this, “teachers must create a classroom environment that is conductive to questioning. Second, teachers must develop expert patterns through the questions they ask.

Otherwise, they may ask good questions, but those questions will be random. And third, teachers must understand why some students may not be responsive to well-scaffold questions and what to do when those situations arise, as they inevitably do” (Hannel, 2009, p.66). Some teachers believe that interrupting the story to speak ruins the story and confuses the students. Stopping at different parts of the story to ask questions actually helps students because if a child is feeling lost at some point in the story, which most do, then it is a good thing to stop and get everyone caught up on what is going on by answering questions. As a teacher, judge how many times you need to stop to ask questions. If questions are being asked and students are not answering Running head: QUESTIONING WHILE READING EFFECTS COMPREHENSION 4 correctly or not many hands are going up to answer the question, then stop more so there is time to understand and go over the text. But if questions are being asked and all the students are participating and engaging in the questions, then the students are comprehending the story and there is no need to keep stopping to ask questions.

In my field experience, I am in a kindergarten class. There is a lot of reading throughout the day as a whole class. My cooperative teacher does a nice job of stopping in the appropriate places in the story to ask the students questions about the text. If she sees that not many students are engaged she will keep asking questions and she will do a short summary of the book so far so the students can get caught up. Since kindergartners are not able to go back to their desk and answer questions about the text on paper, she assesses the students at the end of the story by asking them questions. She either calls on a student herself or she has them volunteer to answer.

When asking students questions, they need to be asked at the right time (Hannel, 2009).

As a teacher, have a pattern of effective questions that benefit the students, they can’t just be random questions because they tend to confuse the students or they start to lose interest. When asking questions, make sure to ask them often to see if students are understanding the text or discussion and make sure it’s related to the topic that is being discussed. Just because there are frequent questions in classroom does not mean learning is being enhanced. As a teacher, be able to point these details out. If questions are continuously beings asked and no one is being engaged or trying to answer, then the students are more than likely not getting the text. To help students better understand the text, ask questions before the reading so the students can get acquainted with the text before the reading starts. If they have some sort of knowledge before the reading, they will be more engaged and understand the text better while reading and the students will probably have more questions during the reading. When asking students questions, there are two Running head: QUESTIONING WHILE READING EFFECTS COMPREHENSION 5 different wait times. There is the wait time after the teacher asks the question and there is the wait time after the student answers the question. After asking a question, wait one to two seconds before calling on anyone. This gives the students time to think about the question a little bit and everyone has a fair chance of answering the question. The wait time for when a student is done answering the question is between two to three seconds. As a teacher, having the child thoroughly explain their question to better their understanding is very important. Give the students time to finish out what they need to say because that benefits the students.

According to Cahill & Gregory (2010), the anchor chart is a good strategy in k-3 classes because it gets the children involved in the text and it helps them to constantly ask questions.

This study was done in Mrs. Hope’s classroom using the anchor chart. At the top of the chart she wrote, “Expert readers ask questions before, during, and after the reading” (p.516). Mrs. Hope showed the students the book she was about to read and she told them if they had any “I wonders” about the book, they need to wiggle their index finger. If the children had questions she recorded them on the chart. While reading the story to the students, Mrs. Hope stopped periodically to record any questions that the students might have about the story. She found as the reading progressed, more and more students were raising their hands to ask questions. At the end of the story she let the students ask more questions if there were any. Then she went through the list of questions. If the students were able to answer some of the other student’s questions she would let them and she would fill in any of the missing parts. This shows that students will ask questions, they just need to be encouraged along the way. If students start asking questions, then more and more questions arise. Also, children like to see that their question is important. This is why Mrs. Hope records the questions because she wants every child to know that their question is important and logical. I enjoy the outcome of the anchor chart. I believe that children don’t ask Running head: QUESTIONING WHILE READING EFFECTS COMPREHENSION 6 questions because they care about what other students might think of their question or they think that there question is stupid or won’t make sense. That is why it is important to stress to students that no question is stupid. Every question is important and will be answered. After students start seeing other students asking questions and that their questions are being written down and being considered, many other students will follow along and do the same, which is what Mrs. Hope came to find out. Below is an example of what an anchor chart looks like when reading: Running head: QUESTIONING WHILE READING EFFECTS COMPREHENSION 7

Overall, it is very important to incorporate effective questions during reading whether it comes from the teacher or from the student (Cahill & Gregory, 2010; Crowe & Stanford, 2010;

Dwyer, 2007; Hannel, 2009). When questioning is involved, students will comprehend the text better and be more engaged in the reading. As a teacher, it is important to have a good pattern of questions to ask your students so no question is random and that every question is important to the text. Also, observe the students while asking questions. If there are students who are not participating in answering the questions or not asking questions, they are most likely not comprehending the text very well.

Method

For my research, I will be reading the different stories to the students in my kindergarten class. At first when I read the students a story, I will not ask any questions to the students before, during of after the reading. I will just give them I title of the book and then read without stopping. Of course this is a kindergarten class, so they like to talk as I read so I they decide to talk or ask any questions I am not going to ignore any child’s questions.

After reading the books, I will ask them to sequence the story. I will have different worksheet activities that they can sequence the story with and to see if they comprehend the reading.

After reading a few stories throughout the week without questioning I will then read a few more stories and start asking some questions throughout the book and also encourage the students to ask questions. For my final assessment, I read the students “The Very Hungry

Caterpillar.” I have many questions set up for the beginning, during, and after reading. I will re summarize at the end by practicing sequencing the story on the felt board in the front of the room. After the students have all got a turn with the felt board, they will then sequence the story Running head: QUESTIONING WHILE READING EFFECTS COMPREHENSION 8 on their own with a work sheet that I will give them. By this worksheet, I will be able to tell if they comprehended the story or not.

References

Cahill, M.A, & Gregory, A.E. (2010). Kindergartners can do it, too!comprehension

strategies for early readers. The Reading Teacher, 63(6), 515-520.

Crowe, M, & Stanfod, P. (2010). Questioning for quality. The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin,

36-40.

Dwyer, E.J. (2007). Ehancing comprehension competencies through questioning. Illionois Running head: QUESTIONING WHILE READING EFFECTS COMPREHENSION 9

Reading Coucil Journal, 35(3), 10-13.

Hannel, I. (2009). Insufficient questioning. Kappan, 91(3), 65-69.