Questioning the Author

Develop deeper comprehension in students by having them consider the person writing to them and what that writer meant to convey. Building on Beck & McKeown’s classic comprehension strategy, "Questioning the Author," Doug Buehl gives step-by-step suggestions on how teachers might model this technique for adolescent learners.

First, shift classroom language from "what the book says" to "what the author says," and emphasize that reading is a communication between the author and readers. Preview the selection you will use and choose places in the text where you will stop students and initiate discussion. Focus discussion during pauses on author queries—questions that are about the author's intentions. "What is the author trying to say?" "What is the author's message?" and so on.

The strength of Questioning the Author is derived from modeling appropriate problem-solving questions that help readers think about their comprehension as they read.

To get the entire Questioning the Author strategy—along with 44 additional valuable strategies—to use in your classroom, buy your copy of:

Classroom Strategies for Interactive Learning, Third Edition
Doug Buehl
© 2009 / 232 pp • ISBN 978-0-87207-686-0
No. 686-000 / IRA Members $21.95 • Nonmembers $27.95

Allow the Text to Guide You When Modeling Comprehension Strategies...

Too often comprehension strategies become part of the curriculum and are taught one-at-a-time, which is inconsistent with how they will be used in real reading. Effective readers draw upon strategies as they are needed and when they are needed. They let the text and their own degree of understanding dictate when they must fall back on a strategy to make sense. Modeling reading comprehension strategies should be no less authentic. Effective modeling uses the text to guide which strategy to model at different points of the reading.

See examples of this in real classroom situations on In a Reading State of Mind's companion DVD. In video clip #2, a teacher uses visualizing, connecting, and activating background knowledge strategies to help her students comprehend a short story. In another video clip, the teacher uses several strategies to make science text understandable to her class.

For more practical information and real-classroom videos of modeling, get your copy of In a Reading State of Mind today!

In a Reading State of Mind: Brain Research, Teacher Modeling, and Comprehension Instruction Book plus DVD
Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, Diane Lapp
A November 2008 Book Club Selection
© 2009 / 160 pp • ISBN 978-0-87207-777-5
No. 777-000 / IRA Members $19.95 • Nonmembers $24.95

For a Limited Time...

Get the resources of both books—a comprehensive toolkit for modeling comprehension—for a special price!

Modeling Comprehension Package:

Classroom Strategies for Interactive Learning, Third Edition
In a Reading State of Mind: Brain Research, Teacher Modeling, and Comprehension Instruction
© 2009
No. 8000-000 / IRA Members $34.95 • Nonmembers $44.95

Join IRA today and pay the member book price!