Three Levels of Questioning – A Tool for Maximizing Whole Class Discussion For this activity, students read the assigned text and prepare the following three items to be turned in before class discussion of the text. This can be used to maximize whole class discussion OR to help students practice getting to the level “3” question for the Harkness discussion. 1. Complete the following sentence: “name of the text” is a(n) article/chapter/story/poem/report about . . .” You may write a summary of the purpose, message, plot, theme, etc. in this sentence—but your response should be limited to one complete sentence. 2. Ask three questions about the text using the levels of questioning below. I prefer that these questions be questions that you want to discuss or hear your classmates discuss. Do not ask questions that you know the answer to just to have something down on paper to turn in! There are three “levels” of questions one can ask about literature: Level One Questions: These questions can be answered explicitly by facts in the text or accessible in other resources. For the standard English student, these questions can initially be recall questions ONLY if the student takes the class to a specific part of the text/poem/article. Ex. “What does the author say on page 47 of the novel that lets us how the main character feels about ____________?” or “On page 201 of the novel, upon whom does the author place blame for the poor condition of the farm?” For the honors, seminar, or AP student, these are not mere “recall” or “quick-fact” questions; rather, they establish evidence of basic facts presented in the author’s proof paragraph. Ex. “What evidence does the author use to support his argument that it is man’s responsibility to care for the land?” or “To what does the author compare his boyhood experience on the family farm in order to further his argument that man is forever attached to the land?” Level Two Questions: These questions are textually implicit, requiring analysis and interpretation of specific parts of the text, pointing out what a specific part of the text actually means, or what language was used to create the meaning. It’s not about what happened on page 47 of the novel; it’s more like, “How does the author’s description of the dying horse on page 47 of the novel create a tone?” Ex. “Why do you think the author relies heavily upon visual imagery in this passage to convey his love of the land?” or “How does the heavy use of repetition contribute to the effectiveness of the author’s argument that ______________?” or “What do you think the author means when he says ‘________________________?’” Level Three Questions: These questions are more open-ended and go beyond the text. They are intended to provoke a discussion of an abstract idea or issue, to connect events/themes in the anchor text to other texts, other arguments, or to universal issues of life/society/mankind itself. Ex. “How has man’s attitude toward nature changed over the last 100 years?” or “How has society’s changing perception toward nature been advantageous? Detrimental?” 3. For the remainder of the page, write a brief response to the text. Tell me what you liked about the text, what you didn’t like, observations that you had as you read about the way the author conveyed his/her purpose, connections to other texts that you have read, connections to personal experiences or to current events that the text prompted. You may also answer your level #2 and level #3 questions in this response. Your response must fill up the remainder of the page. It must be written in ink and on loose-leaf paper. Limit your writing to front side of the paper ONLY. Remember: This assignment is due at the beginning of the period in which we will discuss a text —not mid-way through. These responses will serve as the basis for our class discussion each day! Harkness Notes: Students – particularly struggling learners – may have to be guided through this process as a whole class, then write questions like this in small groups, then practice individually before they can be expected to produce “three Harkness-ready questions” on their own.