Asking and Answering Questions
Second Grade, Third Grade Reading
by Emily Wakabi August 25, 2015
This lesson helps students learn about asking and answering questions about a text. It also exposes them to
valuable lessons about trying to figure out their dreams and not giving up along the way.
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to ask and answer questions in order to understand the problems and solution of a basic
text.
Materials and preparation Key terms
Sticky notes problem
You Can Do It! by Tony Dungy* solution
Class set of whiteboards and whiteboard
markers
Class set of index cards
Introduction (5 minutes)
Ask the class, “Have you ever felt sad and left out of your class at school or a group of friends?”
Call on a student and ask if they can tell a one minute story about how they felt left out.
Tell the class, “Today we will be learning about a boy named Tony and how he felt left out in his family
and his class. We are going to try to figure out the problem, what is wrong, and the solution, how we
can fix it, in the story.
EL
Beginning:
Offer a visual of being sad or left out.
Create a teacher-led small group for students to explain a time they felt left out.
Allow students to share experience in their home language (L1).
Display a word bank of key terms that are typically used when students feel sad/left out. For example,
recess, friends, ignore, lost, confused, embarrassed.
Intermediate:
Put students into partnerships or small groups as they share a time they felt left out.
Provide sentence starters for the discussion portion:
A time I felt sad/left out was when ____.
My feelings were hurt because ____.
Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling (15 minutes)
Share with the class, "In order to figure out the problem and solution, we need to be like detectives and
learn to ask and answer questions. Asking and answering questions also helps us understand the story
better. I am going to show you how to ask and answer the first few questions, and partway through the
story, it will be your turn to ask and answer questions on your own."
Start reading You Can Do It! by Tony Dungy to the class.
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Stop after page 2. Ask, "What are the problems Tony is having already? Can you think of any solutions for
Tony?"
Read pages 3-4. Ask, "How is Tony’s brother trying to help him fix his problem?"
Tell the students you will keep reading, and the next time you stop, it will be their turn to ask each other
questions about the story. Keep reading until page 11.
EL
Beginning:
Give an example of a problem and solution, and provide images to accompany student-friendly
definitions.
Provide learners with a partially completed who-what-when-where-why-how graphic organizer, and have
them sort phrases/sentences on it in partnerships or teacher-led small groups.
Intermediate:
Provide learners with a who-what-when-where-why-how graphic organizer, and have them sort phrases
and sentences on it.
Have ELs verbally summarize the problem Tony is already having. Provide a sentence stem: The problem
Tony is already having is ____.
Instruct students to talk in partnerships about possible solutions for Tony. Provide a sentence stem: A
possible solution for Tony is ____.
Guided Practice (10 minutes)
Put students into partnerships and explain that they will have a chance to ask questions to seek
clarification and further explanation. Direct them to take out a whiteboard and whiteboard marker.
Instruct learners to ask a question to their neighbor to check for understanding, ask for clarification, or
ask for further explanation of the text.
Encourage them to focus on the problems and solutions in the text. Tell them that each student should
say and write their question on the whiteboard. Remind them that a question mark is the correct
punctuation at the end of a question.
Have partners switch whiteboards to record their answers to the questions.
Call on non-volunteers to share questions and answers.
Finish reading the story aloud, starting at page 12.
EL
Beginning:
Display an anchor chart with the six common question words (who, what, when, where, why, how) for
student reference.
Allow learners to discuss with partners in English or L1.
Intermediate:
Provide sentence frames for class discussion:
My question is ____. I think the answer to your question is ____.
My partner asked me ____. I answered __.
Independent working time (10 minutes)
Tell students to each write down 2 more questions they have about the story on a sticky note.
Allow students to have a discussion to share their questions with partners.
EL
Beginning:
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Have learners use sentence frames in which they answer the question with evidence from the text. For
example, "The answer is ____ because ____."
Intentionally partner students with similar home language, or put ELs with sympathetic non-ELs that
would offer support.
Reduce the amount of questions ELs must write.
Intermediate:
Provide sentence starters with question words:
Who ____?
What __?
When _____?
Where _____?
Why __?
How __?
Have learners complete a cloze paragraph in which they answer the question with evidence from the
text.
Related books and/or media
Find interactive books for each child’s level.
Differentiation
Enrichment: To include higher level questioning, have students make predictions for solutions along the
way.
Support: Help struggling students with guiding questions: How do you think Tony’s dad will help him
solve his problem? What would you do if you were Tony to help solve your problem? Have you ever felt
like Tony did during this story?
Assessment (5 minutes)
Give each student an index card for the Exit Ticket.
Display a short paragraph that contains a problem and a solution.
Instruct students to write down the answers to the following questions:
What is the problem?
What is the solution?
How do you know?
Engage the class in discussing questions they formed about the text. Have learners turn and talk to a
partner about a potential question they could ask. Circulate and observe students' ability to come up with
their own text-based questions.
EL
Beginning:
Provide sentence stems:
The problem is ____.
The solution is ____.
I know this because ____.
Intermediate:
Provide a paragraph frame: The main character solved the problem of ____ by ____. The text states that
____.
Review and closing (5 minutes)
Have students take out their whiteboards and whiteboard markers.
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Display the following question: "Why is it important to ask and answer questions about a fictional text or
topics in general?"
Give students one minute to jot down their ideas independently on the whiteboard. Then, divide the class
into groups of 3. Give them one minute to discuss their answers to the focus question. Then, combine two
groups of three to make a group of six students. Give them a minute and a half to share their thoughts.
Gather the class's attention and call on a non-volunteer from each group to share some key ideas about
the topic they discussed.
Remind learners that it is important to ask and answer questions so you can understand the story better
and become a stronger reader.
EL
Beginning:
Give ELs a concept web graphic organizer to jot down their ideas about asking and answering questions
before beginning the group discussion.
Provide a sentence stem for the discussion:
It is important to ask/answer questions while reading because _____.
Intermediate:
Provide a sentence stems for the group discussion:
It is important to ask and answer questions while reading because ____. It is helpful to me because
_____. Our group discussed that ____.
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