Question-Answer Relationships (QARs)

Rashawn GrissomEDUC 585

May 9, 2011

QAR was developed by Taffy Raphael as a tool for clarifying how students can approach the task of reading texts and answering questions.

Development

QARs help students enhance their comprehension by learning to answer a range of questions and understand each questions relationship to the text, to the author, and to themselves (i.e., in the book, in my head). “Where would I find an answer to this question

in the text?” What type of question is this? How do I answer

it?

QARs

Explicitly shows the relationship between questions and answers

Categorizes different types and levels of questions

Helps students to analyze, comprehend, and respond to text concepts

Helps refute the common misconception held by students that the text contains all of the answers

Why use this strategy?

Students need to understand:

What is QAR?

How do you perform a QAR?

When would you use the strategy?

Why would you use the strategy?

Before Independently Using QAR

How do we Teach QARs?

Model the desired behavior Asking questions, finding answers, and then

categorizing the question-answer relationship Guide students as they practice the desired

behavior Gradually release the responsibility for learning to

the students Provide opportunity for students to try the

strategy on their own Observe and evaluate students performance to

inform instruction

Literal Question (right there)

Inferential Question (think and search)

Critical Question (author and you)

Creative Question (on my own)

Types of Questions

For literal questions, the answer is “right there” in the text.

Exact words from the question are in the text.

Literal Question

Answer can be found if the student will “think and search” or “put it together.”

Students will have to bring two ideas together from the text in order to figure out the answer.

Inferential Question

The answer is not directly in the text.

The student will have to combine their own ideas with the author's opinion in order to come up with an answer to the question.

Critical Question

The student will not find a direct answer in the text.

There may be a range of different answers to the question, the student must come to an answer based on his/her imagination or from information he/she already knew about the topic.

Creative Question

Jack and Jill

Jack and Jill went up the hillto fetch a pail of water.

Jack fell down and broke his crownand Jill came tumbling after.

Intro Practice

1. Where did Jack and Jill go?

Answer: Up the hill to get some water

QAR: Right there

Questions

2. Did Jill get the pail of water?

Answer: No, she fell down the hill too.

QAR: Think and Search (Putting it together)

Questions

3. What could have caused Jack’s crown to break when he fell down the hill?

Answer: The pail of water hit him in the

head

QAR: Author and Me

Questions

4. Do you think Jack and Jill ever got the pail of water they went up the hill to get?

Answer: I think they got the pail of water but it all spilled out when they fell down the

hill.

QAR: On my own

Questions

Cecil, N. L., & Gipe, J. P. (2009). Reading comprehension. In Literacy in grades 4-8: Best practices for a comprehensive program (2nd ed.,

pp. 149-151). Scottsdale, Arizona: Holcomb Hathaway.

Jones, R. C. (2006). Strategies for reading comprehension: Question-answer relationships. Retrieved May,

2011, from Reading Quest.org website: http://www.readingquest.org/strat/qar.html

Question answer relationship: Teaching children where to seek answers to questions. (n.d.). Retrieved May, 2011, from Readinglady.com website: http://www.readinglady.com/mosaic/tools/ QARQuestionAnswerRelationshipTeachingChildrenWheretoS eekAnswerstoQuestions.pdf

References