“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.”
E Level Fiction Questions
Thinking within the Text Retelling
o What is the main idea of the story (central message or lesson of the story)?
o What are some key details from the story (2 to 3)?
o Retell the events from the text in the order that they happened including the characters, setting, problem, and solution.
o What was the problem in the story?
o How did the characters solve the problem?
o How did the story end?
o What happened before or after ________________?
o What new information did you learn about __________?
o Who is telling the story? Fluency
o What punctuation do you notice on page __________?
o How does this punctuation help you read? (pausing, voice inflection etc.)
o What are these marks called? (point out quotation marks) Why did the author use them?
o What did you notice about (a bolded word from the text)? How does the author want you to read that word?
o How should we read this (phrase, sentence etc.)?
Thinking beyond the Text Predicting
o During Reading – How do you think the book will end?
o Based on what you know, what might happen next?
o After reading the text, predict what might happen next. What clues helped you with this prediction? Making Connections
o How are the characters the same as you?
o What does this story remind you of?
o Can you think of another book that is similar to this one?
o How is the (topic, characters, ending) similar to (title of another book)?
o How is the character the same in this book as in previous books?
o What connection can you make (personal, text, world)?
o What are some similarities and differences between the adventures and experiences of characters in stories?
Synthesizing
o Before Reading – What do you know about (topic of book or character)?
o What did you learn about __________ after reading this book? Show where you found this information.
o What did you notice about all the things the characters were doing?
Guided Reading Goal Questions
Inferring
o How were the characters feeling in the book? How do you know?
o Why do you think the character felt _______ or acted _________?
o What kind of character is ___________? How did the author show what this character is like?
o Why did the character ______________? How do you know?
o What pictures helped you know __________? How did the pictures help you?
o How did the author show ___________?
o Why do you think __________?
o How did the character change from _________ to _________? Why?
o What caused __________ to happen? What was the effect?
o What do you think (character) was thinking? Why?
Thinking about the Text
o Analyzing
o What was the same about the ________ in the book?
o What did you notice was different? (change in pattern, text features, etc.)
o What was funny in the book? How do you know?
o What do you notice that made the story funny or surprising?
o Discuss how the author organized the story (beginning, middle, end).
o What did the author do to make the characters or situation interesting?
o What is the genre of the book? How do you know?
o What types of illustrations are in the book (photographs, drawings, etc.)?
o What text features did you notice in the book? How did they help you understand the book?
o If applicable, where did you notice a set of directions? How does this help you?
o What are the major differences between books that tell stories and books that give information?
o How do the illustrations and details in a story help to describe its characters, setting, or events?
o Critiquing
o What did you like/dislike about this (book, beginning, characters, ending)?
o What did you like/dislike about the illustrations in this book?
o What did you think about (book, beginning, characters, ending)? Why?
o What was the most important part of the story? Why?
o Why do you think the author included this information?
o How does the author use the photographs to give you more information about the topic?
o How does the author help you learn about _____________?
E Level Nonfiction Questions
What do you already know about this topic? (prior knowledge)
What prediction can you make based about this topic based what you have read?
Can you make a connection to this book with other books? i.e. content, author
What do you already know about this topic? ( prior knowledge)
What new information are you learning as you read this text?
What is the difference between photographs and drawings?
How can you tell the text is nonfiction?
How does the author present a sequence of events? Or set of directions?
What is the sequence of events?
What parts of the text can you identify? Beginning/series of events, ending
What interesting information did the author choose for this factual text?
How can you use an illustration or graphic to learn information?
What does this illustration or text feature mean?
What did you notice about the layout of the text? (bold letters, italics..
Do you agree or disagree with ideas in the text?
How have you changed your mind after read this text?