Did the teacher create opportunities for students to move from comprehension of text to analyzing text based on evidence and reasoning?

Why does this matter?

“College- and career-ready standards, expect students to use evidence from texts to present careful analyses, well-defended claims, and clear information. A key method to help students develop these skills is the use of text-dependent questions: questions that can only be answered by referring back to the text.” https://achievethecore.org/category/1158/ela-literacy-text-dependent-questions

Why analyze? Analytic reading requires readers to break a text into parts in order to understand its meaning and relate it to other texts or experiences. Research shows that, “readers of all ages must be aware of text structures if they are most successful” (Akondi, Malayeri, & Samad, 2011). This includes being able to recognize individual elements of varying text structures, understanding the components of a writer’s craft, and recognizing aspects of various genres.

What does this look like in a classroom?

In all classes, no matter the subject, this question is about moving from comprehension (understanding the basics of what any text is saying) to analysis (breaking a text into parts in order to understand its meaning and relate it to other texts or experiences)

In any subject, and whether you are teaching in person or remote, asking the right questions is important. It is best to start with the basic comprehension questions and work up. This set of Question Stems can be very helpful.

For help in ELA class, or really any class where students are reading text, check out What Research Tells Us About Comprehension and Comprehension Instruction.

For help in Social Studies, check out Supporting Reading in Social Studies

For help in Math check out Reading and Understanding Written Math Problems

For help in Science check out Strategies for Teaching Science Content Reading

What are some key PD resources related to this topic?

Complete Guide to Creating Text Based Questions

Questioning That Deepens Comprehension

How is this related to CR-SE? (Culturally Responsive /Sustaining Education)

On page 8 of the state CRSE document it states that our vision of a school system that ensures:

Students are prepared for rigor and independent learning. Students understand themselves as contributing members of an academically-rigorous, intellectually-challenging school and classroom community. Students demonstrate an ability to use critical reasoning.

How is this related to the Supportive Environment Framework / Social-Emotional Learning?

The Supportive Environment Framework states that "School leaders and staff effectively communicate expectations connected to a path to college and career readiness and successfully partner with families to support student progress toward those expectations." For our students to be ready for college and/or career, higher order thinking and reasoning skills are essential!