Question-Answer Relationships

By Janet Stos

Purpose

• The purpose of teaching the QAR strategy is to show students that questions and answers have a variety of sources, and that learning about questions and their answers will help them, as readers become better at understanding and answering questions.

2004 Iowa Department of Education

Question-Answer Relationships

What is it?What is it?By Janet Stos

TWOTWO are text-based QARsQARs

““RIGHT THERE”RIGHT THERE” questions ask

students to respond at the literal level;

the words used to answer the questions

can be found “right there” in the

same sentence of the text.

• Right There questions may begin with words such as:

• Who is…

• Where is…

• List…

• How many…

• What is…

• When is…

THINK AND SEARCHTHINK AND SEARCH

These questions require students to

“think” about how the information or ideas in the text relate to one another,

and to “search” through the entire

passage to find the

information that applies.

Think and Search questions may begin with words like:

Summarize…

What caused…

Compare…

Explain…

Retell…

Contrast…

Find two examples…

TWOTWO are knowledge-based QARsQARs

• Students must use their prior knowledge to answer “Author and You/Me” questions.

• Their answer will include information

that is beyond what is

found in the text. They must

read the text to

understand what the

question is asking.

Author and You/Me questions may begin with statements like:

What motive is there…

Is it valid that…

What beliefs justify…

In your opinion what inconsistencies…

Judge the effects of….

• Example: Author and You/Me

• The topic of the reading was cloning.

In what instances, if ever, do

you think cloning should

be used?

ON MY OWN (2nd knowledge based question)

• These questions can be answered with information from the students’

background knowledge and

DO NOT require reading

from the text.

ON MY OWN

Create a children’s story where

the discovery of a strange new

creature leads the characters on an

amazing adventure.

Let’s Compare:

Bloom’s Taxonomy QAR

Knowledge Right There questions

Comprehension Think and Search

Application Think and Search

Analysis Author and You/Me

Synthesis On My Own

Evaluation On My Own

Question-Answer Relationships

Why use it?Why use it?

• QAR explicitly shows the relationship between questions and answers.

• QAR categorizes different types and levels of questions which helps students analyze, comprehend and respond to text concepts

• QAR helps refute the common misconception that the text

has all the answers.