Question-Generation

School-Based Intervention Idea from www.interventioncentral.org

Students are taught to boost their comprehension of expository passages by (1) locating the main idea or key ideas in the passage and (2) generating questions based on that information.

Reserve at least a full instructional session to introduce this comprehension strategy. (For effective-teaching tips, consult the guidelines presented in Introducing Academic Strategies to Students: A Direct-Instruction Approach).

Materials:

• Overhead transparencies of practice reading passages, transparency markers
• Student copies of practice reading passages (optional) or reading/text books

Preparation:

• Prepare overheads of sample passages.

Steps in Implementing This Intervention:

Step 1: Introduce this strategy to the class:

• Locating Explicit Main Idea: Tell students that some passages have summary sentences that state the main idea or "gist" of the paragraph or passage. Using examples of passages with explicit main ideas, train students to identify and underline main-idea sentences.
• Finding Key Facts. In some passages, the main idea is implied rather than explicitly stated. Readers must first identify the key facts or ideas of the passage before they can summarize the passage's main idea. Using examples of passages with implied main ideas, locate and circle key facts or ideas. Describe to students how you distinguished this central information from less important details. Have students practice this skill on additional practice passages.
• Writing a "Gist" Sentence. Show students a passage with an implied main idea. Circle all key ideas or facts. Demonstrate how to write a "gist" sentence (one that is built from the identified key ideas and summarizes the paragraph's main idea). Emphasize that the reader may have link information from different sections of the passage to build a gist sentence. Have students practice this skill on additional practice passages.
• Generating Questions. Tell students that careful readers often construct questions about what they are reading to help them learn. Put up a list of 'signal words' that can be used as question-starters: e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how. Using sample passages, show students how to convert explicit main-idea sentences or reader-created "gist" sentences into questions. Point out that these questions can be a good study tool because they are linked to answers that the student has already located in the passage.

Step 2: Give students selected practice passages and instruct them to apply the full question-generation strategy. Provide feedback and encouragement as needed.

References

Davey, B., & McBride, S. (1986). Effects of question-generation training on reading comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 78, 256-262.

Rosenshine, B., Meister, C., & Chapman, S. (1996). Teaching students to generate questions: A review of the intervention studies. Review of Educational Research, 66, 181-221.