Text-dependent Questions
The increased rigor in the 2010 English Standards of Learning (SOL) requires students to answer text-dependent questions. Students are required to determine the meaning of complex texts and make logical inferences. Text-dependent questions do not ask students about their prior experience or feelings on a subject, but rather to rely on explicit or implied information from the text. Students are expected to speak and write using evidence presented in texts, and to present analyses based on credible information that is based in the text or research-based.
Teachers can create their own text dependent questions and assignments. Fiction texts should be paired with nonfiction texts on the same topic. Nonfiction texts can be used to provide historical context, to demonstrate author’s purpose, organizational pattern, and format.
The following examples provide a fiction sample text from public domain and offer a series of text-dependent questions, companion nonfiction texts, and writing assignments. The use of these samples should not be considered an endorsement of these authors or specific texts.
Sample Text-Dependent Questions with Text
- Elementary Level (Word)
- Middle School Level (Word)
- High School Level (Word)
Also See English Enhanced Scope and Sequence (ESS) Sample Lesson Plans
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