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Question the Author
Questioning the author is a strategy that engages students actively with a text. Rather than reading and taking information from a text, the QtA strategy encourages students to ask questions of the author and the text. Through forming their questions, students learn more about the text. Students learn to ask questions such as: What is the author's message? Does the author explain this clearly? How does this connect to what the author said earlier?
Why use question the author?
- It engages students in the reading and helps to solidify their understanding of a text.
- It teaches students to form questions to the author while reading.
- It teaches students to critique the author's writing.
| When to use: | Before reading | During reading | After reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| How to use: | Individually | With small groups | Whole class setting |
How to use question the author
Beck et al. (1997) identify specific steps you should follow during a question the author lesson. This strategy is best suited for nonfiction texts.
- Select a passage that is both interesting and can spur a good conversation.
- Decide appropriate stopping points where you think your students need to obtain a greater understanding.
- Create queries or questions for each stopping point.
- What is the author trying to say?
- Why do you think the author used the following phrase?
- Does this make sense to you?
- Display a short passage to your students along with one or two queries you have designed ahead of time.
- Model for your students how to think through the queries.
- Ask students to read and work through the queries you have prepared for their readings.
Read more about question the author in this article from the Florida Center for Reading Research.
Examples
This website shows and example of using the question the author strategy with a common health-related sign that might be read by students.
Language Arts
Here's a simple, clear description of how students can learn to think, "If I were the author…"
Social Studies
Here's a short paper that describes how teachers can use the question the author strategy to help students make sense of social studies. Examples are given for elementary age students.
Children's books to use with this strategy
Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai
Nonfiction/picture book
When Wangari Maathai returns to her native Kenya, she begins to restore the land, winning the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize.
Looking for Miza
Nonfiction
Full color photographs chronicle the search for missing mountain gorillas. It is the gorillas that find the young Miza and restore him to his family.
Differentiated instruction
for second language learners, students of varying reading skill, and younger learners
- Have students of varying abilities work together to determine answers to questions.
- When students ask questions that go unanswered, try to restate them and encourage students to work to determine the answer.
- Have students write or type responses to queries or create some of their own.
- Engage students in a class discussion about responses to questions.
See the research that supports this strategy
Beck, I.L., & McKeown, M.G., Hamilton, R.L., & Kugan, L. (1997). Questioning the author: An approach for enhancing student engagement with text. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
