Authentic Questions

I think that the components from the book are great and are helpful as a guideline for what authentic questions should contain and they they are important. They are important because we want to push our students to think further and to think outside the box. It is important for them to start this at a young age because it is something that never goes away and they will be expected to do, all the way up until college.

What I think makes a lesson successful is first how it is run. Classroom management is key in lesson planning. You want to make sure that your students are going to be able to sit and listen for the amount of time allotted. You also have to know your class. I know my class cannot sit for more than about 15-20 minutes without needed to get up and walk around or stretch. Second, a lesson is successful when students are engaged in the lesson and they are using higher level thinking. It is important for them to be understanding what you are teaching and is important for them to have their own thoughts, ideas, and opinions about it.

I like how Julie admitted that her students might not be ready to use sticky notes to write on while they are reading, and that's okay! Another idea is to do discussion about the book with someone after. This could be with a partner or a teacher and the students could be asked to give a small summary, their favorite part, the most important part, the authors message, etc. This could help hold them accountable for what they are reading and help them understand that reading is more than just decoding- they want to be able to understand what they are reading and what the point of it is.