CLASS DISCUSSIONS

• I pose a question.• You guys talk about it.• Why do we like discussions?

How can we ask questions of the text to find its meaning?

Level 1 Questions: Surface level; the answer can be found directly within the text

Examples from The Outsiders: Who was Ponyboy?

Define, describe, identify, list, name, observe, recite

Level 2 Questions: Inference-based; begin within the text but ask the reader’s opinion.

Examples from The Outsiders: From the context in which it is used, what might Ponyboy mean when he says “Maybe the two worlds we lived in weren’t so different. We saw the same sunset.” – Ponyboy

Level 3 Questions: World based; start with the text and ask a question about a larger world issue. Evaluate, judge, apply a principle, speculate, imagine, predict, hypothesize

Possible Topics for Level 3 questions: What seems to be the novel’s message about innocence, and how is it different from the views of innocence in today’s society?

Which question level is each?•According to the article, how many students were suspended last month at Wilbur Cross High School?

•Looking at the statistics of kids surveyed, do they represent an ACCURATE portion of the United States population? (Is this a realistic article?)

•Based on the voice in the article, do you think the author is FOR or AGAINST cell phones?

•What are the devices that offer applications to use in class, according to the article?

•How detrimental is the media in today’s society?•What will the future of school look like, heading in this direction? Is this a good thing?