5 Questions You Need to Ask to Build Critical Thinking and Reading Comprehension
There is a general consensus that reading comprehension is in decline. This is believed to be due to shortened attention spans, heavy smartphone and digital device use, and fragmented reading habits. National test data shows that student reading scores have steadily eroded over the past decade, a downward trend that began well before the pandemic.
Given this state of things, what can we do in our homeschools to counter the prevalent trends and foster robust reading comprehension in our children?
What is Critical Thinking in Reading Comprehension?
Poor reading comprehension is strongly related to the inability to engage with a piece of writing critically. Critical thinking in reading comprehension is the process of analyzing, evaluating, and questioning a text rather than just accepting its words at face value. It involves assessing the author’s purpose, judging the strength of evidence, and recognizing hidden biases. It is, in other words, the practice of reading “actively.” The reader is not merely soaking in the text passively like a sponge but is actively thinking about what he or she is reading, evaluating factors like meaning, language, subtext, comparison, and so on.
This “active” aspect of reading becomes muted when we rely too much on short-form media content. Essentially, we are transformed from thinkers into mere consumers of content. Given the prevalence of such short-form content today, the conscientious parent should obviously think about limits to screentime and access to social media for young persons. But while moderated access to digital content is a good start, this alone will not build critical thinking skills. Critical thinking skills are developed through deliberate practice. It requires repeated engagement with a piece of writing guided by a parent or teacher working to intentionally introduce critical thinking skills to the child.
Let’s take a look at some critical thinking questions you can use in your homeschool. These will foster critical thinking skills and build reading comprehension!
Critical Thinking Questions
Parents can enhance critical thinking in children by using a variety of thought-provoking questions that encourage analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of information. There are several categories of critical thinking questions. Some will obviously be better suited to certain school subjects than others.
Open-Ended Questions
An open-ended question does not have a single correct answer. A child cannot answer by merely regurgitating memorized information. Therefore, open-ended questions encourage children to think deeply. Some types of open-ended questions include:
“What are the implications of….?”
“How would you approach….differently?”
“Why is….important?”
Some examples of these sorts of questions are: “What are the implications of a tariff increase on regions that depend heavily on imports?” “How would you approach solving this linear equation differently next time?” “Why is the mitochondria important for cellular function?”
Analytical Questions
An analytical question requires students to break down complex ideas and analyze their components, which is great for demonstrating the constitutive nature of knowledge as comprised of building blocks of other pieces of knowledge—in other words, how the parts relate to the whole. Here are some types of analytical questions:
“What are the key components of…?”
“How do these components interact?”
“How does this affect that?”
Some examples of this would include, “What are the stages of photosynthesis?” “How did the various groups in feudal society work together?” or “How does the protagonist’s main choice change the outcome of the story?”
Comparative Questions
These questions encourage learners to compare and contrast different concepts or theories, which builds analytical reasoning and information organizational skills. Some types of comparative questions you can ask include:
“How are…and…similar or different?”
“What are the strengths and weaknesses of…?”
Examples of this line of questioning include, “Compare and contrast the characters of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer,” or “Explain the strengths and weaknesses of Lincoln’s plan for Reconstruction.”
Philosophical Questions
Philosophical questions are meant to tackle big ideas and encourage children to explore abstract concepts. These sorts of questions explore meaning, value, and
“Is it acceptable to do X if it prevents outcome Y?”
“If you change X about a person, do they cease to be Y?”
“Is…true because society agrees on it, or is it true independently of society?”
There are many examples of philosophical questions, but a few are: “Is it acceptable to give a government bailout to a failing corporation if it prevents a national economic collapse?”, “If the protagonist has lost all his memories, can he still be considered the same person as before?” or “Is there an objective right to life that cannot be violated, or is this conditioned by society?”
Evidence-Based Questions
A question that is evidence-based prompts students to support their arguments with evidence. These are great because they condition students to consider why they believe what they do, instead of simply repeating information they have heard uncritically. Common types of evidence-based questioning include:
“What evidence supports your answer?”
“Can you provide an example to illustrate your point?”
Examples of evidence-based questioning would be, “In The Great Gatsby, is Jay Gatsby a hero or a villain? Use evidence from the text to support your answer,” or, “Can you provide examples of how plate tectonics affects the development of landforms?”
Strategies for Effective Questioning
Obviously, incorporating these types of critical thinking questions requires a bit of finessing. It is best to plan them ahead—be deliberate and plan your questions in advance, not only to prompt critical thinking but also to gauge your child’s understanding. Make sure you tailor the question to your child’s knowledge levels (for example, a child younger than 11 may not be cognitively capable of fielding questions about abstract philosophical concepts). Make sure you use a variety of question types to encourage diverse types of thinking. Finally, what you do after a discussion is important for letting concepts sink in; after a discussion, encourage your children to reflect on what they have learned and how their thinking has evolved.
Building critical thinking skills takes patience and consistent practice, but the payoff is a child who reads with genuine engagement rather than passive consumption. Start small with one or two question types this week, and let the habit grow from there.
What are your thoughts on this topic? I invite you to join other homeschooling parents and me in the Homeschool Connections Community or our Facebook group.
