Name: _____________________________________ February 2019

Asking Questions: 
A Comprehension Strategy 
Wow...  Yes...  Yes, but...  No, but... 
❏ I understand this  ❏ I understand this.  ❏ I am starting to  ❏ I am having trouble 
really well.  ❏ I can do this without  understand this!  with this. 
❏ I can do this without  help most of the  ❏ Most of the time I  ❏ I need help to get it 
help.  time.  need bit of help.  right.   
❏ I can do it every  ❏ I usually get this  ❏ I sometimes get this  ❏ I don’t usually get 
time!  right.  right.  this right. 
❏ I could teach it to  ❏ Sometimes I need a  ❏ This is still a bit  ❏ I am still working on 
someone else.  reminder of what to  confusing to me.  it. 
do. 

Asking questions before, during and after reading is a critical comprehension 

strategy. To learn this strategy, students were introduced to Thin and Thick 
questions and practiced sorting a variety of questions. During our mini lesson read 
alouds, we discussed many different questions and how to categorize them. A wide 
variety of books were used to help students internalize this strategy. To 
authentically assess student progress in this skill, each student read a good fit book 
and wrote their questions down. 
 
Students will show an understanding of: 
1. Thin Questions ​help you clarify and fix your understanding of the story. (​Where? When? What? Who?) 
2. Thick Questions ​make you ​think​ and help you ​analyze​ ​the story to make your understanding ​deeper​. 
(​Why? How? I wonder?) 

 
Title: _______________________________________ 
Look at the cover of your good fit book.. What question does the cover make you 
think of? 
  thin 
thick 

 
 
During reading ask yourself another question as above. 
  thin 
thick 

 
Draw a picture about your story.