Questions to Ask During Guided Reading
These questions are for whoever sits at the guided reading table, whether teacher, classroom assistant or tutor, with a handful of children who each hold a copy of the same leveled book. They follow the session from start to finish: introducing the book, what to say when a reader stops at a word, finding answers in the text, reading between the lines, vocabulary and the author's choices, then the talk after the last page. Stories and information books each have questions of their own, and the wording is plain enough for the primary grades that you can read it out as written.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Before reading
What do the title and the cover picture tell you this book might be about?
Why ask it
A secure answer uses both: 'It says Lost and there is a dog on its own, so the dog gets lost.' If a child only describes the picture, point to the title and ask what that adds. Take two or three ideas and move on, because the prediction earns its keep when you return to it at the end.
Is this a story or an information book, and how can you tell before we open it?
Why ask it
Good evidence is a photograph where a story would have a drawing, a contents list, or a title that names a subject and not a character. The answer sets how the group will read: straight through for a story, or section by section for nonfiction.
What do you already know about this subject that might help you read it?
Why ask it
Mainly for nonfiction, and a minute is plenty. What the children offer shows which technical words they will recognize and which you should say aloud before the books are opened. If someone states a firm misconception, ask the group to check it against the text as they read.
Read the blurb on the back. What problem do you think the character is going to have?
Why ask it
A blurb usually sets up the trouble and stops, so the group starts reading with a question in mind. If the book has no blurb, read the first page aloud yourself and ask the same thing.
Flip through the first few pages. What do you notice happening in the pictures?
Why ask it
On the earliest levels this walk through the pictures lets you drop the characters' names and any unusual vocabulary into conversation before a child has to decode them. Stop short of the ending so there is still something to read for. Fluent readers rarely need it and can go straight to the blurb.
I am going to say a word from this book. Can you find it on this page and tell me how you knew?
Why ask it
Choose one or two words the group cannot yet decode with the sounds they have been taught, such as a character's name. A child who says 'it starts with ch and it is long' is using the letters. One who points anywhere and watches your face needs the word shown and said again.
What do you want to find out by the time we finish this book?
Why ask it
Write one question per child on a small whiteboard. It gives nonfiction reading a purpose, and at the end you can ask who found their answer and on which page. With a story, expect questions about how it ends, which is fine.
Look at the contents page. Which section do you want to read first, and what page does it start on?
Why ask it
An information book does not have to be read front to back, and this is how children find that out. Watch whether the child runs a finger from the heading across to the page number and then turns to it. If there is an index as well, ask how the two lists differ.
Stuck on a word
What sounds can you see in that word? Say them, then blend them together.
Why ask it
In schools that teach phonics first, this is the opening prompt. Point under the letters only if the child cannot keep their place. If the sounds are right and the blend still will not come, say the sounds back a little faster and let them finish the word.
Is there a part of that word you already know?
Why ask it
Suited to longer words: 'play' inside 'playing', 'un' on the front of 'unhappy'. Cover the ending with your finger if the child cannot see the chunk. Once they have the known part, ask what is left.
Look all the way to the end of the word. Do the letters match what you said?
Why ask it
For the child who reads 'house' for 'horse' or drops the endings off words. Resist supplying the word. A child who looks again and corrects it has practiced checking, which a word handed over does not teach.
Did that make sense? Read the sentence again and listen to yourself.
Why ask it
Ask it after a misread that changed the meaning, and now and then after a correct sentence too, so it does not become a signal that something is wrong. A reader who stops unprompted and frowns at the page is monitoring their own reading, which is the aim.
Those letters can make more than one sound. Which one gives you a word you know?
Why ask it
For the 'ow' in 'snow' and 'cow', a soft 'c', or the 'ea' in 'bread'. The child tries each sound and listens for a real word, so decoding and meaning work together. Keep to spellings they have been taught, and simply tell them a part that is beyond them.
You went back and fixed that word yourself. What did you notice?
Why ask it
Saying it aloud tells the child that going back to check is part of reading and not a mistake to hide. Any answer that shows checking will do: 'it did not sound right', 'I saw the s on the end'. If the child cannot say, describe what you watched them do.
Now you know that word, can you read the whole sentence again so it sounds like talking?
Why ask it
After a hard word the sentence is usually left in pieces, and the meaning with it. The reread puts it back together and gives fluency practice without a separate exercise. Leave it out when the child is tiring and the book is long.
What does that mark tell your voice to do?
Why ask it
Point to a question mark, an exclamation point, quotation marks or a comma the child read straight through. It belongs with the word prompts because the fix is the same: look again at what is printed. If the reread sounds no different, read the line yourself two ways and ask which one matched the page.
Retrieval
Close the book on your finger. What has happened up to this page?
Why ask it
Two sentences are enough: who it is about, what has gone wrong and where things stand now. A child who starts at the cover and recounts every page needs the limit said out loud. When two children remember it differently, have them find the page that settles it.
Where is this part of the story happening? Find the words that tell you.
Why ask it
The answer is in the text, so ask for a finger on the line and not a memory of the picture. If the setting is shown only in the illustration, say so and accept that. Children who cannot find it often need showing how to scan a page for a place word.
What was the first thing the character did when the problem started?
Why ask it
Retrieval with some sequencing in it. A child who jumps to the ending has the gist but not the order, so send them back to the page where the trouble begins. Follow with 'and what did they try after that?'
Who is speaking in this line, and how do you know?
Why ask it
Early readers often lose track of the speaker once two characters share a page. Listen for 'it says said Mom' or a mention of the quotation marks. If the group gets it wrong, read the conversation aloud together in two voices.
Can you find and read me the sentence that explains why that happened?
Why ask it
Use it straight after a correct answer given from memory. Going back to prove it is the habit that written comprehension work asks for later. It also shows you who can skim back through a page and who starts again from the top line.
What is this section mostly about? Tell me in one sentence.
Why ask it
Ask it after one section of an information book. The sentence should fit under the heading, 'how a frog grows up', and not be a single detail such as 'tadpoles have tails'. When a child gives a detail, ask whether the whole section is about that or whether it is one piece of something bigger.
What are two things this page tells us that we did not know before we read it?
Why ask it
For nonfiction. Take the facts in the child's own words, then ask which sentence each came from. A fact that is true but is not on the page, picked up from television perhaps, deserves a smile and 'does our book say that?'
What does the caption under this picture tell you that the main writing does not?
Why ask it
Captions, labels and fact boxes are easy for a young reader to pass over. If nobody has read this one, that is your answer, and the next step is to read it together. Once it has been read, ask what it added that the paragraph left out: a name, a size, a place.
Which word in this sentence tells you how the character said it?
Why ask it
'Whispered', 'snapped', 'begged'. It is a retrieval question that sets up inference, because the natural next question is why they spoke that way. Leave it out if the book only ever uses 'said'.
Inference
How is the character feeling at this point, and what on the page shows you?
Why ask it
The second half is the real question. 'Sad' is a guess until it is tied to something: he would not eat, her shoulders are down in the picture, 'she said nothing'. If the group only ever says happy or sad, offer a wider word such as 'disappointed' or 'left out' and ask whether it fits.
Have you ever had a day like the one this character is having? What did you want to do?
Why ask it
The child's own experience is a way into the character, so finish by bringing it back: 'So what might she do now?' Keep each turn to a sentence or two, and let a child pass who would rather not share. If the stories from home start to run long, the next question is 'and what does the book say happened?'
The book does not say why the character did that. What do you think the reason was?
Why ask it
The word to wait for is 'because', followed by something from earlier in the story: 'because the others laughed at him before'. An answer that would fit any character in any book means the child is reasoning from life alone. That is a start, so ask what in this story points the same way.
The author does not say what happened while the page turned. What do you think went on?
Why ask it
Gaps between pages and chapters are a common place to lose the thread. A secure answer joins the last thing read to the next: 'She must have gone home, because now she is in her kitchen.' If nobody noticed a gap, reread the sentence on each side of it.
What do you think will happen next, now that we know this?
Why ask it
A prediction made mid-book should be narrower than the one made from the cover, because there is more to go on. Ask which clue the child is using. Wild guesses are welcome from the youngest readers, while an older one can be asked whether the story so far makes it likely.
The character says they are fine. Do you believe them?
Why ask it
Use it wherever what a character says and what they do pull apart. Children reading only the words will say yes. The one who says 'no, because she slammed the door' is reading between the lines, and you can send the others to find that door.
Has your opinion of this character changed since the first page? What changed it?
Why ask it
Works in a book with a grumpy neighbor, a bully or a wolf who turns out differently than expected. The child needs to name the moment, not only the new opinion. If no one has shifted, ask what the author would have to show them before they did.
If this character had a thought bubble on this page, what would be in it?
Why ask it
Young children often find a thought bubble easier than being asked what someone is thinking, and a sticky note stuck beside the character makes it something they can point at. Compare two children's bubbles and ask which fits better with what the character does next.
The book tells us what happens. Can you work out why, using the facts on this page?
Why ask it
Inference in nonfiction: the text says penguins huddle and that the wind is freezing, and the child joins the two. If the reason is spelled out in the next sentence, cover it with your hand first. Say plainly when the book does not give enough to know.
What makes you say that? Show me the part that gave you the idea.
Why ask it
The follow-up to almost every answer in this group, and worth putting to right answers as often as wrong ones. In time children begin to offer the evidence unasked, which is your sign to stop prompting for it.
Why do you think the author wrote 'crept' and not 'walked'?
Why ask it
Swap in whichever verb your book offers. A child who says 'because it sounds better' needs the follow-up: what do you see in your head with each word? Acting out both beside the table settles it in ten seconds.
Which words on this page help you picture what is happening?
Why ask it
Each child points to their own choice, the choices differ, and that difference is the conversation. The reasons worth following up are tied to a sense: what the word lets them see, hear or feel. On a page of plain language, ask which word they would add.
Why do you think the author wrote this book: to tell a story, to teach us something, or to change our minds?
Why ask it
Offering the three choices keeps a young reader from answering 'because she likes dogs'. Whatever they pick, ask for one page that shows it. Some books do two jobs at once, such as a story that also teaches how seeds grow, and a child who spots that should be told they are right.
Why is this word printed differently from the words around it?
Why ask it
Bold, capitals, italics or a bigger size all count. In a story the answer is usually volume or stress, so have the child read the line the way the print asks. In an information book, bold often marks a word the glossary explains, and a child who can tell the two uses apart is reading the layout as well as the words.
Where in this book could you find out what that word means?
Why ask it
The glossary, if there is one, though sometimes a labeled diagram does the job. Have the child turn to it, read the definition aloud, then go back and reread the sentence with the meaning in mind. Without that last step the glossary is only a detour.
What is this heading for, and what do you expect to read underneath it?
Why ask it
Ask before the section is read, then check afterward whether the heading kept its promise. Readers who use headings can find a fact again without rereading everything. A heading written as a question is the easiest kind to begin with.
Why did the author use a diagram here and not just more sentences?
Why ask it
Fits a map, a chart, a timeline or a labeled photograph equally. A strong answer says what the picture does better: shows where the parts are, or lets you compare sizes at a glance. Then ask someone to explain the diagram in words alone, which usually makes the case.
Some words keep coming back in this book. Why might the author have repeated them?
Why ask it
Pattern books and folktales lean on a refrain. Younger readers tend to say it helps them join in, which is true. Older ones may spot that the line changes slightly the last time, and that the change is where the story turns.
Why do you think the author ended the page right there?
Why ask it
Best on a page that stops mid-sentence, on three dots, or just before a surprise. Children usually arrive at 'so you want to turn the page'. Ask what they expected to find on the other side, and whether the author played fair.
After reading
Can you retell the story in order: how it began, what went wrong and how it was put right?
Why ask it
Have each child tell one part and pass it on, so a single confident voice does not carry the whole retelling. A secure one keeps the order and names the problem. A string of events joined with 'and then' has the sequence but may be missing why anything happened.
Was your idea from the cover right, and what surprised you?
Why ask it
This closes the loop opened before the books were read. Being wrong is no failure here, and a child who can say what in the story overturned the prediction has read closely. Go back to the whiteboard questions too, if you wrote any.
What are the three most important things this book taught you?
Why ask it
The nonfiction version of a retelling. Three forces a choice, and the choosing is the comprehension. If a child offers the three facts from the final page, ask what a friend who had never seen the book would most need to know.
How is the main character different at the end from how they were at the start?
Why ask it
Not every leveled story has a character who changes, so check that yours does before asking. The answer needs both ends: 'he was scared of the water and now he jumps in'. Then ask which page the change happened on.
What did the character learn in this story, and who else could use that lesson?
Why ask it
Children tend to give the lesson as a plot event: 'he learned not to go into the woods'. The second half of the question pushes them to say it so it fits someone outside the book, such as 'tell a grown-up where you are going'. Plenty of leveled stories carry no lesson at all, so drop this one before you force a moral onto a book about a lost sock.
What would be a good new title for this book, and why would it fit?
Why ask it
A way of asking for the main idea without using the phrase. A title built on one funny moment shows the child remembers events, and a title that covers the whole book shows they have the point of it. It suits information books as well.
Which part was hard to read today, and what did you do about it?
Why ask it
This hands the word prompts from earlier in the session over to the child. You are listening for a strategy named in their own words, which also tells you what to praise next time. 'Nothing was hard' may mean the book was too easy, so make a note.
Does this book remind you of another one we have read together? How are they alike?
Why ask it
Links between texts: the same kind of character, the same shape of story, one subject handled two ways. If the link is thin ('they both have a dog'), ask how the two dogs' stories differ. A group that has read several books by one author finds this easier.
Who would enjoy this book, and what would you tell them without giving away the ending?
Why ask it
A recommendation needs an opinion with a reason and a summary that holds something back, both at once. A child who disliked the book should say so and say why, and that answer is worth as much as praise.
What question do you still have that the book did not answer?
Why ask it
A good close for an information book, and it shows who has been thinking past the page. Write the questions down and let the children choose one to look up, in the library or in the next book on the subject. An honest 'none' is acceptable.
Fitting the questions into a guided reading session
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Planning which questions to bring
Read the book before the group does
Ten minutes with the text tells you which questions it can answer. A book with no dialogue will not support 'who is speaking', and a story where nobody changes makes the character questions fall flat. Mark two or three pages where you will stop, and write the question for each on a sticky note fixed to that page.
Choose one focus for the day
A session that tries retrieval, inference, vocabulary and the author's choices all at once tends to give each of them a minute and none of them enough. Decide what this group needs, take four or five questions from that part of the list, and add one from Before reading and one from After reading to open and close.
Shift the balance as the level rises
Children on the earliest books need most of your attention on the Stuck on a word prompts, with a few retrieval questions. As decoding becomes automatic, spend less time there and more on Inference and Words and author. Schools set and name their reading levels differently, so ask how yours decides when a group moves up.
Stories and information books
Most of the list works for both, but some questions are written for one kind. The contents page, section, caption, heading, diagram and glossary questions need nonfiction, while the blurb, speaker and character questions need a story. If your groups mostly meet fiction, put an information book on the schedule on purpose so the other questions get used.
While the group is reading
Hear one child at a time
One common way to run the middle of the session is for every child to read the book quietly at their own pace while you lean in to one of them for a page or so. That is where the word prompts belong: with one reader, at the moment of difficulty. If your school runs the reading another way, in pairs or as a shared read, the prompt still goes to the child who is stuck and not to the whole table.
Wait before you prompt
Count slowly to three in your head when a child stops at a word. Often they solve it in that time, and a prompt that arrives too early teaches them to look at your face instead of the print. When you do speak, give one prompt and wait again.
Follow your school's order for word prompts
Schools differ on what an adult should say when a child is stuck. Many teach children to sound the word out first and to use the sense of the sentence only as a check, and some programs ask adults not to prompt from the picture at all. Ask whoever leads reading at your school which prompts they want and in what order, then use the Stuck on a word group that way.
Keep mid-book stops short
A stop in the middle of the text should take a minute or two: one question, two or three answers, back to reading. Save the longer conversation for the end, when everyone has finished and nobody is holding the story in their head while they wait.
What to do with the answers
A secure answer goes back to the page
Across every group in the list, the mark of a secure answer is the same: the child can show where it came from. That might be a finger on a sentence, a word quoted, or a detail in an illustration. When an answer is right but unsupported, ask for the evidence before you praise it.
The one-word answer
'Sad.' 'Because.' 'Don't know.' Try 'tell me more about that', or offer the start of a sentence for the child to finish: 'She is sad because...'. If that fails, narrow the search: 'Look at the last line on page 9 and try again.'
The answer that comes from somewhere else
A child tells you about their own cat for a full minute. It shows they are connecting the book to their life, and it is not what you asked. Thank them, then ask what the cat in the book did, so the group learns that the text settles the question at this table.
When one child answers everything
Ask the question, give thinking time, and only then name who answers. Or have everyone tell a partner first and ask one pair to report. A quiet child can be asked to find the page that proves another child's answer, which lets them contribute without having to produce the idea.
After the group leaves the table
One note per child
Write a few words for each reader while it is fresh: the prompt they needed, a question they answered well, a question that drew a blank look. Schools keep these records in different forms, so use whatever sheet or book yours expects. The notes are what turn next week's choice of questions from a guess into a plan.
Pass on what you heard
If you are a teaching assistant or a visiting tutor, the classroom teacher needs to know what happened at your table. A sentence is enough: 'Three of the five could not say why the character lied.' Ask how and when they would like to be told.
Ask the hard question again on an easier book
A question the group could not manage is worth repeating on a fresh, slightly easier text. Sometimes the difficulty was the book and not the skill, and trying the question twice is how you tell them apart.