FORMULATING QUESTIONS

OF DIFFERENT LEVELS
ABOUT SELECTION READ
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L S O F Q U
LE V E

RATIONALE

PROCEDURE

VARIATION
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One of the Levels of question

strategy that helps students
comprehend and interpret a text
by requiring them to answer
three types of questions: Factual,
Inferential, and Universal.

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1. PREPARE QUESTIONS
- Prepare questions that students will answer. We
suggest writing two or three questions for each of
the following categories:

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FACTUAL QUESTIONS - are answered with information
stated directly from the text. Students need to be able to answer
factual questions to check that they are understanding basic
ideas from the text.
INFERENTIAL QUESTIONS - are a type of questioning that
stimulates thinking and critical analysis. It involves processing
written information and understanding the underlying meaning
of the text.
UNIVERSAL QUESTIONS - are open-ended questions that
are raised by ideas in the text. They are intended to provoke a
discussion of an abstract idea or issue. Universal questions are
deeper or more difficult questions about life.

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2. STUDENTS PRACTICE ACTIVE READING

- Have students watch or read the text
silently or aloud. As they read (or watch),
ask students to underline keywords and
phrases.
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3. STUDENTS ANSWER QUESTIONS

- Students can answer the questions
individually or in small groups.
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4. REVIEW AND DISCUSS

- Review responses to level-one and level-
two questions to make sure everyone
understands the text.

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VARIA

• STUDENT GENERATED QUESTIONS

- after using this strategy a few times, have
students generate their own questions in each of
the categories.
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S

• FOR HETEROGENEOUS CLASSROOMS:

- you can have struggling readers focus on level-
one questions, average readers focus on level-one
and level-two questions, and advanced readers be
responsible for addressing all three levels of
questions.
Than
k Yo
u!