Thick and Thin Questions

Questioning our reading is the master key to understanding. Questions clarify confusion. Questions stimulate research. Questions propel us forward and take us deeper into reading. As adult readers, we question all the time, often without even thinking about it. Kids don't grow up knowing that strong readers ask questions. They actully ocassionally think the opposite, they believe that good readers know all of the answers. So now we teach students to think about their questions before, during, and after reading. We encourage them to stop, think, and record their questions during the reading process.

This week we learned the difference between "Thick" and "Thin" questions. This lesson teaches the students that "Thick" questions tend to stimulate discussion and "Thin" questions typically are smaller, clarification questions. During our book club meetings, our work is to try to create "Thick" questions to deepen discussion and listen to different perspectives.