ELA Guiding Questions

Fiction Features:

Setting

• -How does the setting of the story make you feel?
• -What mood does the author establish in the story?  How does the author accomplish this?
• -What details would you include in a drawing of the setting of the story?
• -Why would the author choose this setting for these characters and this problem?
• -What three question s would you ask the author about the setting of the story?
• -How could your transfer this story to your neighborhood?
• -How do you know when this story takes place?
• -What details does the author provide about the setting of the story?

Characters

• -What do you learn about the main character from what other characters say about him or her?
• -Suppose the main character lived in your neighborhood.  What kids of adventures might he or she have here?
• -At what point in the story do you begin to like or dislike the main character?
• -Which other character in the story is most important to the main character?
• -What do you learn about the main character from what he or she says?
• -How would you describe the main character to someone who has not read this story?
• -What do you learn about the main character from his or her actions?
• -In what ways are the characters in the story important to each other?
• -At what point in the story does the main character do someone surprising?
• -In addition to the main character, how are the other characters important to the story?
• -How does the main character remind you of someone from our class?
• -Would you choose the main character to be your friend?
• -What three adjectives would best describe the main character?
• -In what ways does the main character remind you of other characters from other stories we have read?
• -What advice would you give the main character about something that happens in the story?
• -What characters from this story might you use in your own writing?

Problem/Solution

• -In what other ways might the problem in the story have been resolved?
• -What solution to the problem in the story does the author present?
• -Are you most likely to remember the characters, the setting, or the problem from the story?
• -What details does the author give to introduce the problem in the story?
• -At what point in the story are you sure what the problem is?
• -In what ways does this story seem realistic or unrealistic to you?
• -How does the main character resolve the problem in the story?
• -Choose the three most important events, one from the beginning or the story, the middle, and the end.
• -Have you ever faced a problem like this presented in this story?
• -At what point in the story has the problem been resolved?
• -What is the problem faced by the characters in this story?
• -What message do you believe the author wants you to remember from this story?
• -Is the problem in this story more about a conflict between characters -or- a conflict within a character?
• -What other stories have we read about similar problems?
• -Summarize this story in two or three sentences.

Author’s Purpose

• -What kinds of descriptive words does the author use to make the story seem real?
• -What is your favorite sentence in the story? Why?
• -What does the author seem to know a great deal about?
• -In what ways does this story remind you of other stories we have read?
• -What have you learned about writing from this story that you can use in your own stories?
• -What kind of person do you think that the author is?
• -From whose point of view is the story told?
• -If you could ask this author two questions, what would they be?
• -If you were describing the way this author writes to someone, what would you say?
• -Would you choose to read another story by this author?
• -What makes this author’s writing different from other stories we have read?
• -How does the author make you want to keep reading the story?
• -If you had written this story, how would you have made it different?
• -How would you describe the feeling or tone of this story?
• -What kinds of readers would most enjoy this story? 

NON FICTION FEATURES

Text Features

• -What text feature does the author use most effectively?
• -How do the text features used in this text help you know what the main idea is?
• -What three text features could the author add to help you better understand this text?
• -Which text features are most helpful to you in writing a summary of this text?
• -Looking at the text features before reading the text, what questions probably are NOT answered in this text?
• -If you were editing this text, what print features might you add to help others understand it?
• -Looking at the text features before reading the text, what questions are probably answered in this text?
• -What text features does the author use most to help organize this text?
• -Where in this text could the author add a chart, graph, table, and/or diagram?
• -How does the title of this text help you predict what the main idea or message is?

Text Organization

• -What questions does this text answer well?
• -What questions are NOT answered by this text?
• -Using your prior knowledge, what information in this text do you agree with?
• -What details would you include in a summary of this text?
• -Using you prior knowledge what information in this text do you want to argue with?
• -What information would you NOT include in a summary of this text?
• -How is the information in this text organized to help you to understand it?
• -How did you use your prior knowledge to help you to understand or respond to this text?
• -What evidence suggests that the text is organized by sequence of events?
• -What did you learn from reading this text that surprised you?
• -What evidence suggests that the text is organized by main ideas/details?

Author’s Purpose

• -What clues does the author give about his/her purpose in sharing this text?
• -How does the author establish the tone of the text?
• -How does the author want you to respond to -or- use this text?
• -What words or phrases does the author use to show that he/she knows much about the topic?
• -What was the author’s purpose for writing this text?
• -Where in the text can you find evidence that the author is trying to persuade you to believe or do something?
• -For what audiences do you believe this author is writing?
• -Do you believe that the information in this text is believable?  Why or why not?
• -Where in this text can you find evidence of the author’s opinion?
• -What message does the author want you to remember from this text?