THICK VS. THIN QUESTIONS

• PROUDLY PRESENTED BY MRS. DAVIS TO CLASS 5-315

THE RATIONALE FOR QUESTIONING:

“Without questioning skills, you’re justa passenger on someone else’s tourbus. You may be on the highway butsomeone else is doing the driving.”

Jamie McKenzie

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• Good readers ask questions before reading, during reading, and after reading. Questions are asked of the author or about the content of the reading. Asking questions helps the reader monitor and understand their reading. "When I ask a question, I ask something that can be answered as I read or after I finish reading." Today, we will look at the skill of generating questions and the difference between thin vs. thick questions.

Thick vs. Thin Questions

What’s the difference?

Thick Questions

• Don’t have just one right answer.• They begin with:

• Why...• How come...• I wonder...• “What would happen If?…” • “What does he/she means by…”

THICK QUESTIONSTHICK questions address large,

universal concepts…

For instance, “What is

photosynthesis?”

You could not answer that

question with one word. The

answers are long and involved

and need to be researched.

Thin QuestionsQuestions that can be answered

witha number or a simple “yes, or No” fall in this category.

For instance, “How many planets are there?”

You use thin questions to understand specific details.

IN THE YEAR OF THE BOAR AND JACKIE ROBINSON:

THICK OR THIN?• What is the significance of the title of the story? • Describe the “fork in the road” dream that Shirley had? What was its significance?• How has Shirley changed since she came to America? Why did these changes

sometimes frighten her?• What important life lesson did this story teach you the reader? Why?• Who did Shirley miss most when she moved to America?

YOUR TURN….CAN YOU COME UP WITH SOME THICK AND THIN QUESTIONS FOR THIS STORY?

How do I formulate “Thick Questions” ?

THIS IS HOW WE DO IT—USING QUESTIONS “STEMS”…

READING PARTNERSHIPS:

• AS YOU MEET WITH YOUR READING PARTNERS AND DISCUSS FICTION & NON-FICTION TEXTS, YOU SHOULD START TO FORMULATE SOME GOOD THICK AND THIN QUESTIONS USING THE “STEMS”…

• NEXT STEPS: THINK ABOUT HOW WE CAN TURN THIN QUESTIONS INTO THICK ONES?

• HOW CAN WE INTEGRATE BOOK CLUB PROMPTS INTO OUR CHATS? TRY USING ONE OR TWO.

• EXAMINING & INTEGRATING POHL’S “THINK TO LEARN” QUESTION STEMS INTO OUR CONVERSATIONS-LATER

HOW CAN WE ASSESS OUR LEARNING DURING BOOK CHATS?

• WE CAN ASSESS OUR LEARNING BY USING A BOOK PARTNERSHIP RUBRIC, BY PREVIEWING OUR BOOKS AND BY USING THIN AND THICK QUESTIONS DURING OUR CONVERSAITONS.

• HOW ELSE CAN WE ASSESS WHETHER OR NOT WE HAD A SUCCESSFUL MEETING???