Transcript Critical Thinking through QAR - Sikeston R-6

Critical Thinking
Question-Answer Relationships
Using Walt Whitman’s
“I Hear America Singing”
By Donna Dea Weaver
Hazelwood Central High School
Hazelwood School District
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This activity covers the MAP Test, Communication Arts
Grade 11 objectives on details, literal comprehension,
deductive and inductive reasoning, and logical conclusions
from read text.
Instructor’s Page
• Students need to keep a writing journal for their answers.
• Extention Exercise: When students answer questions to
other lessons, have them practice classifying the questions
as “right there” (knowledge and comprehension levels of
critical thinking), “think and search” (comprehension level
of thinking), “author and you” (application and analysis
levels of critical thinking) or “on my own” (synthesis and
evaluation levels of critical thinking).
• Extension Exercise: Divide the class into groups. Assign
each group a few pages of a text for which they are to
develop types of questions. Each group then “teaches”
their part of the text by asking their questions to the class.
Instructor’s Page
As the class answers the various groups’ questions, they
must classify the type of question before answering. This
trains students to recognize types of questions which may
not have an “in text” answer.
Continue to have the class practice formulating types of
questions. You may use some of their “think and search”
or “author and you” questions for short answer or essay
questions on your tests as well as the”right there”
questions as objective test questions. The “on my own”
questions might be used for performance based
assessments.
Instructor’s Page
Right There
Author and You
The answer is easy to find.
Words used in the questions and the
answers are directly in the text.
The answer is NOT in the text.
You must apply what you already
know and what the text tells you to
formulate the answer.
Think and Search
On My Own
The answer is in the text, but
one must put together several parts
of the text.
The answer is NOT in the text.
You can answer the questions without
reading the text. You must use your
own experience.
Right There
The answer is usually easy to find.
Words used in the questions and in the answers
are directly in the text.
One can point to the text and find the answer
“right there”.
Think and Search
The answer is in the text, but one must put together several part of
the text to discover the answer.
Author and You
The answer is NOT in the text.
You must apply what you already know and what the text tells you
to formulate the answer.
On My Own
The answer is NOT in the text.
You can answer the question without reading the text.
You must use your own experience.
•Now let’s practice answering the four types
of questions teachers often ask.
•You need to record your answers in your
writing journal.
Walt Whitman was a great American poet who is
known for his courage to go against the
conventional style of writing poetry that was
popular during his time period.
Read the following poem.
Be ready to answer questions about the poem in
your journal.
“I Hear America Singing”
By Walt Whitman
I hear America singing, the varied carols I
hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as
it should be blithe and strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures
his plank or beam,
The mason singing his as he makes ready
for work, or leaves off work,
The boatman singing what belongs to him in
his boat, the deckhand singing on the
steamboat deck,
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his
bench, the hatter singing as he stands,
The woodcutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on
his way in the morning, or at noon
intermission or at sundown,
The delicious singing of the mother, or of the
young wife at work, or of the girl
sewing or washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her and
to none else,
The day what belongs to the day---at night the
party of young fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing with open mouths their strong
melodious songs.
•Now, you need to get out your writing journals to
record your responses to the following questions.
•Be sure to cite specific lines, words, or phrases
from the poem to support you answers.
•Also cite any personal experiences or knowledge
you have from other sources besides the poem to
support your answers.
•Remember to write in complete sentences!
Questions with Right There
Answers
1. What are these people doing besides
singing?
2. What type of people or categories of
people are singing?
Questions that Require
You to
Think and Search
3. Analyze the title and the overall
text of the poem. What is the author
describing as an image of America?
Author and You Questions Require Prior
Knowledge or Intelligent Inferences Based
Upon Clues
4. What time period in American
history do you believe this author lived?
Support your answer by citing the text
and by sharing any previous knowledge
you have about America.
On My Own Questions
Are Your Opinions
5. Do you think Walt Whitman’s
image of a proud, healthy, productive
laboring force is a true image of what
most Americans are today? Explain by
citing specific examples from your
experiences and knowledge about
workers in today’s society.
Answers to slide show questions.
1. The people are working. Citations of the jobs should
be made, such as mechanic, mason, shoemaker, mother,
and wife..
2. The types of people who are working are common
laborers, male and female, young and old, paid and
unpaid, skilled and unskilled workers. (Answers will
vary but should also cite examples of names of jobs).
3. The image of America is of a proud, hard working
country composed of individuals whose unique skills and
jobs make the nation great. It depicts a happy, productive
country. None of these jobs are “professional jobs” such
as lawyers, teachers, doctors, etc.
Answers to slide show questions.
4. Students should cite words such as steamboat,
shoemaker, hatter, wood-cutter’s song, or ploughboy
(note spelling) as clues to the time period of the mid to
late 1800’s. Whitman lived from 1819-1892, and
students may be familiar with some of his other poems
that put him around the Civil War time period.
5. Answers will vary. Students should cite the words
in this poem that point to a democratic spirit of pride
and joy of work such as : robust, friendly, strong
melodious songs, carols, blithe, or strong. The phrase
“. . . What belongs to him or her and to none else. . .”
also emphasizes the proud individualism of the time
period.