A Deeper Dive Into Text Dependent Questions and How To Craft Them

The ultimate goal of reading is to be enjoyable; but if one has to struggle to understand what they are reading, then the task becomes less and less enjoyable. For some students, struggling to decode words and then form meaning and understanding from the text is laborious and arduous. However, one way teachers can assist their students with feeling more confident and successful in reading is to provide "text-dependent" questions for students to respond to that will guide their understanding of the text and equip them with the tools they need to discuss what they have read with confidence. 

What does it look like when a student reads closely?

Close reading is the methodical breaking down of the language and structure of a complex passage to establish and analyze its meaning. Teaching students to do it requires layered reading and asking sequenced, text-dependent questions; and it should end whenever possible with mastery expressed through writing.

How would you define text-dependent questions?

TDQs are those that cannot be answered without firm knowledge of the text itself. They cannot faked by carefully listening to the discussion or answered by recalling yesterday's reading or from one's own background knowledge. To answer a text-dependent question, one must partake in extensive, attentive reading. 

One mistake teachers commonly make when asking questions about reading is to pose a question that is too large and sweeping. For example, "What do you think was Jane Austen's views on women's rights in Pride and Prejudice?" Use the novel to support your answer. A question like this one can be too broad and intimidating. Students may struggle to know where to begin to form there answers or opinions. 

However, TDQs are more like looking at a text through a microscope. TDQs force the reader to narrow in on a specific part of the text--maybe only 4-5 sentences and make predictions and form opinions in a more concise and focused manner. 

Types of Text-Dependent Questions 

There are many types of TDQs, but these 5 are the most common and universal among content areas. 

1.) Referent Questions:      asks what a word in the passage refers to. 

2.) Denotation Questions:   asks the specific meaning of a word. 

3.) Explanation Questions:  asks what a word or phrase means. 

4.) Paraphrase Questions:   asks a student to restate a line of text in a simplified language                                          to express meaning clearly. 

5.) Summary Questions:     asks students to look at elements of a text and reduce it to its                                           most important ideas. 

No matter what your comfort level is with teaching reading, providing your students with aligned text-dependent questions to accompany what they are reading will boost their confidence and ability to participate in class discussions. 

Resources:  Lemov, Doug, Colleen Driggs, and Erica Woolway. Reading Reconsidered: A Practical Guide to Rigorous Literacy Instruction. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, a Wiley Brand, 2016. Print.