Effective teacher questioning and classroom discussion are interrelated and both have high impact on student learning. Discussion, with an impact size of 0.82 is vital to student comprehension and critical thinking however the ability to implement robust classroom discussions is variable. "The evidence suggests the students who benefit most from classroom discussion are those who are struggling to comprehend text." ( Hattie, Fisher & Frey 2016).
More information on teacher questioning and classroom discussion can be found in the High Yield strategies section of this website: Questioning
Question Answer Relationship Resources
The question-answer relationship (QAR) strategy describes four types of questions: Right There, Think and Search, Author and You (Me), and On Your (My) Own (Raphael, 1986). Rapheal describes QAR as a framework for comprehension that has the potential for closing the literacy gap. Fisher and Hattie suggests that the strategy becomes even more powerful as students use the framework to generate their own questions.
Another useful explanation of QAR with an excellent accompanying video can be found on the Reading Rockets website.
Link to TCS QAR Posters
CLOSE Reading is another comprehension strategy which promotes the close reading and repeated reading of parts of a text. There are aspects of close reading that are very similar to QAR. In the video link below Nancy Frey explains close reading. Close reading can be used in modelled, shared, guided and independent reading
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Resource Links:
Small Focused Group Instruction (not guided reading) on QAR In this video the teacher does a think aloud to explain how QAR can be used when answering questions generated before, during and after reading
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