W Level Fiction Questions

Thinking within the Text -

SUMMARY: 

• Summarize the important events or episodes from the text in the order that they happened. 
• Summarize ideas from a text and tell how they are related.
• What was the problem in the story?  How did the characters solve the problem?
• How did the story end? If applicable, what was the surprise at the end?
• What new information did you learn about __________?
• Look at the photograph/drawing on page ________. What did you learn?
• Summarize the important events at intervals during the reading of a longer text.
• What was the big problem in the story? What other problems did the characters encounter?
• Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
• Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from the details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.
• Tell the important ideas in an organized way.
• Summarize chapters, short stories, or sequels in order to understand larger themes.
• What were the events that led to the ending?

Thinking beyond the Text -

PREDICT:

• Based on what you know about a character, predict what he or she will do.
• Based on what you know, what might happen next?
• After reading the text, predict what might happen next. What clues from the book or personal experience helped you with this prediction?
• Has your prediction happened? How do you know?
• Based on clues from the story, predict what the character will do next, feel, etc.
• With new events in the story, how did you revise your prediction?
• Based on what you know about the genre, what might happen next?
• Based on personal experience, content knowledge, and knowledge of similar texts, how did you revise your prediction?

MAKE CONNECTIONS:

• Can you think of another book that is similar to this one?
• How is the (topic, characters, ending) similar to (title of another book)?
• How is the character the same in this book as in previous books?
• What connection can you make (personal, text, world)? Explain how they are connected.
• Based on a personal experience, what connections can you make to the people of other cultures, times, and places?
• What connections can you make between this text and another text that you have read?
• How is the character in this text similar to a character in another text, based on circumstances, traits, or actions?
• What connections can you make between social or moral issues of today and those presented in the text (biography, realistic fiction, historical, fantasy)?

SYNTHESIZING:

• What new information has been added to what you already knew about the topic?
• After reading, has the new information changed your thinking about the topic? (Different people and cultures)
• o How has your thinking changed after reading? Why?
• Why are ______________ important to us?
• What lesson did the character learn in the story?
• How do you have a better understanding of a character or plot after reading another chapter, connected short story, or sequel?

INFERRING: 

• Look at the dialogue in the text. What does the dialogue tell you about how the characters are feeling or thinking?
• Why do you think the character felt _______ or acted _________?
• Tell what you learned about (character).
• Why did the character ______________? How do you know?
• How did the author show ___________?
• Why do you think __________?
• How did the character change from _________ to _________? Why?
• How would you feel if ________ happened to you? Would you solve the problem the same way the character did
• What caused the problem or outcome?
• What is the big idea/theme of the text? How do they apply to our lives today?
• What were the major events that led to the problem or the solution?
• How did the characters feelings towards each other change from _________ to ______? Why?
• Based on the dialogue, what are the characters feelings and motivations?
• Based on the characters actions or motives, why did he or she behave that way (even if you don’t agree with their actions or motives)?
• How do actions of one character affect another?
• What does the author mean by ___________ (symbol – objects, events, motifs, characters)? How does it enhance the meaning of the story?
• Based on the characters actions or motives, describe the traits of the character.
• How did the character’s thinking or actions impact the turning point of the story?

Thinking about the Text - 

ANALYZING:

• What did the author do to make the characters, situation, or topic interesting?
• What is the genre of the book? What are the aspects of this genre that you noticed? (realistic and historical fiction, complex fantasy, biography, autobiography, memoirs and diaries, myths and legends, hybrid texts and other nonfiction)
• What text features did you notice in the book? How did they help you understand the book?
• Could this story really happen? Why or why not?
• What descriptive language did the author use? How did it add to your enjoyment or understanding of the text?
• Look at the way the writer ended the book. Do you think this was a good way to end? Why or why not?
• What role does the setting play (realistic fiction, historical fiction, fantasy)?
• What aspects of writer’s craft (style, language, perspective, theme) did you notice after reading several texts by this author?
• Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes.
• Explain how specific aspects of a text’s illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting).
• Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots of stories written by the same author about the same or similar characters (e.g., in books from a series).
• What does the writer mean by ______________?
• What was the most important part of the story and why?
• Show a place in the book where the writer showed you _________(descriptive phrases). How did this help you?
• Demonstrate, using a plot diagram, the complex plot of the story.
• Identify and discuss examples of symbolism in the text. What else could this mean?
• If applicable, how is symbolism used to represent good and evil?
• If applicable, identify examples of non-English words, regional dialect, and period phrases. What do they mean? How does it enhance the meaning of the text?
• How did the character’s traits change throughout the story and what impacted this change?
• Identify an example of an idiom and discuss why the author used it.

CRITIQUING: 

• What did you like/dislike about this (book, beginning, characters, ending)?
• What did you think about (book, beginning, characters, ending)? Why?
• What was the most important part of the story? Why?
• What do you think (character) was thinking? Why?
• Why do you think the author included this information?
• Do you agree or disagree with __________? Why or why not?
• Was the title of the text a good one? Why or why not?
• Evaluate the author’s character and plot development. (i.e. believability, depth)
• What did the author do to make this topic/book interesting, funny, or exciting to read about? Why?

W Level Nonfiction Questions 

• What do you already know about this topic?
• What new ideas have you learned?
• How did what you learned add to your knowledge?
• What connections can you make to other books?
• Have you changed your mind after reading this book?
• What did the author want you to learn or know?
• What caused the problem?  Why did that happen?
• How can you tell this book is nonfiction?
• How did the author organize the book?
• Why did the author organize the book this way?
• How well do you think the author used illustrations and graphics? How did they help you as a reader?
• What else would you have included if you were the author?
• What does the illustration mean?
• Find facts and opinions.
• Judge this text. Explain your judgment.
• What did the author do that made this book interesting?
• How would you categorize the information?
• How can what you have read in the past help you understand the people and cultures in this text?
• What qualifications does the author have to write an informational text?
• How does this book give you a new perspective?
• Are the social issues/cultural groups in the text accurate? Why or why not? Use evidence from text.
• What do you think of your subject(s)’s decisions, motivations, accomplishments, etc.? Support your opinion.