Question-Answer Relationships

By Janet Stos

Purpose

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

2004 Iowa Department of Education

Rationale

• QAR gives students the language for talking about the strategies they use to answer questions. It also helps students to develop an awareness of their own cognitive processes when answering questions.

2004 Iowa Department of Education

Question-Answer Relationships

What is it?What is it?By Janet Stos

Question-Answer-Relationship

Four categoriesFour categories of questions

are studied during strategy

use and practice.

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.

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.

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 reason is there…

Is it true 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.

Example: ON MY OWN

Create a children’s story where

the discovery of a strange new

creature leads the characters on an

amazing adventure.