Questions for Student Thinking

At CHESS, we want to build metacognition skills- thinking about our thinking - as students engage with the flood of information they encounter in our digital world. This enables them to turn that information into useful knowledge, equipping them for success. We want to do this as we also work to instill them with a strong biblical worldview, so that they have wisdom and discernment along with that knowledge. You can do this at home as well!

Comprehension Strategies

adapted from Mosaic of Meaning by Ellin Oliver Keene and Susan Zimmerman

From the earliest ages, students are thinking about what they know, why they know it, and what they will do with what they know.

Comprehension strategies help to refine these natural habits and increase their understanding as they encounter new information. No student is too young to begin having these disciplines instilled into their learning!

Monitoring for Meaning

Students who monitor for meaning as they read, observe, think, and learn:

Are aware of the purpose of their reading.
Know when what they are reading/seeing/hearing makes sense and when it doesn't.
Know when to skim, scan, slow down, or pause to re-read (or listen/watch again).
Share their thinking with other readers and learners.

Using Background Knowledge (Schema)

Students use schema during their reading/learning when they:

Use their own background knowledge to make sense of new information.
Hear about the background knowledge of parents, teachers, and fellow learners as it relates to new information.
Adapt and change their thinking as they acquire new information.

Types of schema:

personal memories and experiences
knowledge about the world
knowledge about other texts/sources of information
knowledge about their comprehension strengths and weaknesses
knowledge about the specific author/illustrator

Asking Questions

Students ask questions to:

clarify meaning
make predictions
locate specific answers
draw inferences
generate more questions for deeper understanding

Drawing Inferences

Students draw inferences when they:
draw conclusions
make and revise predictions
interpret meaning
make connections
create implicit meaning from information

Using Sensory and Emotional Imagery

Students use imagery during learning:

From all five senses.
To create rich detail in their understanding
To draw conclusions, interpret text, and recall details.

Determining Importance

Students who determine importance:

Know what is important at each level (word, sentence, text)
Know what isn't important (using nonexamples).
Consider their background knowledge, what appeals to them aesthetically, and how their beliefs and opinions affect their reasoning.
Discuss conclusions of importance with other learners, using evidence to support their positions.

Synthesizing

Students show understanding of their reading and learning when they:

can express a summary of what they learned AND how their thinking has developed as they learned
can identify meaning and themes of meaning
can draw information about meaning and themes from various sources into a set of evolving ideas about the topic
are aware of how the elements of the text (or audiovisual media) contribute to the meaning
predict and build meaning continuously
share, recommend, and discuss what they've read or learned

Page updated

Report abuse