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2nd Edition
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Resources and Tests to Accompany
Chapter 2: Asking Questions
You have probably heard that “Curiosity killed the cat.” In this chapter, you will find activities
that show your students how curiosity serves as a fundamental ingredient to college success.
With Chapter 2: Asking Questions, students call upon their own innate curiosity by learning how
to ask effective questions before reading (the who, why, when, where, what, and how) and then
to search for the answers to those questions in the text.
In the process of questioning and finding answers, your students will learn how to effectively and
efficiently mark or highlight as they read. When they mark or highlight the answers to their own
questions, they are actively engaging in the reading process. The chapter gives some examples of
effective marking and highlighting that lead students to begin distinguishing main ideas from
supporting details.
Additionally, asking questions improves students’ critical thinking. They learn that critical
thinking is a learning process in which the student takes charge of information, interacting with it
and managing it from a number of levels. The chapter covers the six levels of critical thinking by
referring to Bloom’s Taxonomy: (1) remembering, (2) understanding, (3) applying, (4)
analyzing, (5) evaluating, and (6) creating.
At the conclusion of Chapter 2, your students will know how to ask questions before reading and
then search for those answers during reading—and that this is a powerful, individualized way to
facilitate the reading comprehension process. Furthermore, they will know that thinking about
text operates on different levels, in a spectrum of ability that rises from verbatim memorization
of information to creating something new from it. They may also glimpse that the higher they get
on this spectrum, the more active and powerful they become in the academic world.
1. Word meanings shift: A word may take on a more general definition based
on the other words around it. For example, in item 3 the word “Television”
ends up meaning much more than the literal television that sits in a living room.
How does this happen? Have a student try to explain.
2. The general idea can change based on perception: The general idea in a list
can shift depending upon how the author presents the information. Number 8 is
particularly tricky and vague. And in number 9, the most common
interpretation of this list would make “Managing a clothing store” into the
general idea. However, a student may also choose to see the general idea as
“controlling cash-flow” because each of the remaining activities around it
provides an example of controlling the flow of cash. Since we don’t have
more information, this interpretation is correct too.
After the discussion, have each student complete item 10, creating his or her own list of
three specific ideas and one general. He or she should include the general idea in a
random spot, so that a reader must think in order to discover it. Have students present
their lists and have the class try to identify which item is “the general.”
Explain to your students that a topic is similar to a heading; it is like the perfect title for what
they are reading. In this exercise, students should focus on making the general idea into a topic
that acts as a name for the rest of the list. The topic should be a few words, and it should not be a
sentence. Write the following examples on the board. They are just some of the words that
students can use to turn a topic into the name of a list:
General: Music
Specific: Country Specific: Jazz Specific: Rhythm & Blues
Activity 2-3: The Article Club At the beginning of Chapter 2, there is a reading passage
called “Oscar Pistorius Has a Huge Carbon Footprint.” First, ask students to individually
survey the passage by looking at the title, headings, words in bold, and vocabulary terms.
Next, ask each student to momentarily close the book and tune into his or her curiosity
about what might be covered in the passage. Have them write down one or two questions
(depending on the size of the class) that expresses that curiosity. Next, have the class read
the passage together, either silently or taking turns out loud. After reading the passage,
divide the class into groups, each group forming an “Article Club.” Each club is to hold a
meeting based on the reading passage. Group members now share their questions with
each other and come up with answers from the passage together. After 10 or 15 minutes,
ask each group to select a spokesperson and report on some of their questions and
answers to the entire class. This should open up a discussion for you on the importance of
having a purpose for reading. Ask the class how asking questions before reading made
the passage more meaningful.
Activity 2-4: Too Much, Too Little, or Just Right In Chapter 2, there is a subsection in
“Overview of Life’s Unity.” In this activity, students examine the second paragraph of
the subsection with three different ways of marking or highlighting.
Have your students divide into groups and give each group the Activity 2-4 Handout on
page 43 for this activity. Then, ask students to determine which of the three highlighting
attempts was the most effective and efficient. Ask the groups to label the paragraph that
has too much highlighting, the one that has too little highlighting, and the one that is
just right—and to state why. And finally, ask the groups to explain their choices to the
class.
Students may feel intimated by fancy words terms like “Taxonomy” or “levels of reasoning,” but
when they see that these levels are natural and that they apply to real-life situations, they will see
that Bloom’s Taxonomy not only improves their reading comprehension, but it also provides
students with more options in daily problem solving.
Activity 2-5: Reasons Why I Decided to Attend School (Using Bloom’s Taxonomy
with Questions) There is probably a good reason why your students decided to return to
school in order to further their education. Some students may have enrolled to get a better
paying job or a career, some for a job promotion, or some because their parents told them
to. For whatever reasons students have enrolled in your class, you can help them map out
their motivations and goals by using Bloom’s Taxonomy. Different levels of questioning
can help them gain perspective over their own journeys.
Pair up students. Ask one in each pair to interview the other. The interviewer should ask
the interviewee the questions on the Activity 2-5 Handout on page 44, working upwards
from level 1 to level 6. After the interview is over, begin a discussion about what changes
occur in thinking as the interviewee proceeds through the different levels. Ask the class
for examples from the interviews.