Lesson Plan –

Questioning Strategy for Comprehension

Teacher: Karen Moeser Grade Level: 4

Content and Standards:

Standard: 1.1.4.D. – Demonstrate comprehension / understanding before reading,
during reading, and after reading on grade level texts through strategies such as retelling,
summarizing, note taking, connecting to prior knowledge, supporting assertions about
text, and nonlinguistic representations.

Prerequisites:
Students should be able to understand the difference between thin and thick to understand
the different types of questions. The students should be able to use ideas from the story
to ask both types of questions and finally, they should understand the purpose of the
strategy; to monitor comprehension.

Instructional Objective:
Students will learn what thick and thin questions are and be able to use them while
reading a text to comprehend the story.

Student will engage in reading texts to practice the strategy of questioning and measure
their own comprehension using thin and thick questions.

Instructional Procedures:
Before: Introduction – Introduce the concept of questioning while reading; before,
during and after and explain that active readers are always thinking and asking questions.
Questions before reading give students a purpose for reading and keep them engaged.
Asking questions during reading makes students think about what their reading and
asking questions after the book is read allows students to be reflective. Explain that
questioning is a reading strategy that can help students with reading comprehension.
Introduce the idea that there are two different type of questions, thin and thick questions
by discussing the difference between the two types and reviewing the Anchor Chart.
Model the difference between the two with example questions.

During: Using the book Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord practice the questioning strategy.
Before reading model a question about the title or cover of the book and ask if anyone
has any questions to add. Read the first chapter out loud and when finished, discuss some
thin vs. thick questions as a whole group. Model an example of each type to start the
discussion.

Students will use the handout to cut and paste a summary of the two types of questions
with examples into their writing journal.

Students will read the second chapter of the story with a partner and write down some
thin and thick questions on post-it notes. Have each group prepared to add their notes to a
T-Chart labeled Thin v. Thick questions. We will discuss some of the questions and
answers in a whole group setting.

After: The questions should lead to an in-depth discussion of the characters, setting,
events and theme of the story to this point. Following our discussion, I will summarize
the lesson by letting students know that asking questions while reading will improve their
comprehension of the story by keeping them engaged and thinking about what they are
reading.

Ask students to read their own books during independent reading and use the questioning
strategy in their writer’s journals.

Materials and Equipment:

Book and Copies of Chapter 1 and Chapter 2
Anchor Chart
T-Chart
Handout for Writers Journal
Short Story for Small Group Questioning Practice
Assessment/Evaluation:
In addition to classroom notes and observations, collect writer’s journals to determine the
following for each student:
← Are the questions appropriate to the content area?
Do the questions represent both thin and thick questions?

Differentiation: Individualized Activities:

Using a short story worksheet we will practice thin and thick questions and the difference
between the two in small group.

Technology:
During center time students can play a questioning game on iPads from the website Into
the Book (https://reading.ecb.org/)

Self-Assessment:
Review the students writing journals to determine if they are actively asking questions.
Do their questions demonstrate an understanding of both thin and thick questions and are
the thick questions thought provoking.