I.                  Overview

a.   Questioning the Author (QtA)

                                                            i.      Developed by Isabel Beck and Margaret McKeown

                                                         ii.      Reminds students that authors are real people

                                                      iii.      Acknowledges the fallibility of the author

                                                       iv.      Not comprehending what the author is trying to say is not always the fault of the reader

b.   All grade levels

                                                            i.      This strategy can be applied across all grade levels.

c.    Content area texts

                                                            i.      This strategy is most useful with content area text and any expository text, but can be utilized for any text in the classroom.

d.   All readers

                                                            i.      This strategy can be used by all levels of readers because it focuses on the collaboration of students and teacher promoting questions to the author about the text, and allows all students a chance to question and think deeper regardless of reading ability.

e.   Teacher previews text

                                                            i.      The teacher should (see reverse side of handout)

1.   Analyze the text

2.   Segment the text

3.   Develop questions

II.               Methodology

a.   Questioning the Author process

                                                            i.      Teacher models

                                                         ii.      Releases to students

                                                      iii.      Be prepared to make discussion moves (see reverse side of handout)

1.   Marking

2.   Turning back

3.   Revoicing

4.   Modeling

5.   Annotating

6.   Recapping

b.   Role of the teacher

                                                            i.      Planner

1.   Teacher planning is an integral part

2.   Goal is to find big ideas

3.   Find potential problems

4.   Segment the text

5.   Develop follow up queries

                                                         ii.      Facilitator

                                                      iii.      Active participant

                                                       iv.      Focus contributions towards building understanding

                                                          v.      Advance students thinking

                                                       vi.      Signal students to further their ideas

c.    Role of the student

                                                            i.      Be an active participant

                                                         ii.      Work collaboratively with peers to construct ideas

d.   Congruency with constructivism

                                                            i.      Teacher is facilitator

                                                         ii.      All levels of students are collaborating

                                                      iii.      Students are active participants

III.            Outcome

a.   Students learn to question and think deeply by going beyond the  text

b.   Empirical evidence

                                                            i.      Somewhat lacking as there has been no control group in studies, so sole credit for student achievement cannot be given to QtA without further research

c.    Recommendations for further research

                                                            i.      Recommendations for more controlled research to verify the level of effectiveness of QtA