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Question Dissection Strategy Guide

The document provides an example of using the question dissection strategy to analyze an essay question about President Eisenhower's strategic reasons for believing Indochina was important for the free world. It outlines the steps of the strategy, including identifying the verb, topic, required list elements, number and order. It then models rewriting the question as the first sentence of an essay response. Finally, it discusses how teaching this strategy can help students learn to organize knowledge and support arguments in their writing.

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869 views2 pages

Question Dissection Strategy Guide

The document provides an example of using the question dissection strategy to analyze an essay question about President Eisenhower's strategic reasons for believing Indochina was important for the free world. It outlines the steps of the strategy, including identifying the verb, topic, required list elements, number and order. It then models rewriting the question as the first sentence of an essay response. Finally, it discusses how teaching this strategy can help students learn to organize knowledge and support arguments in their writing.

Uploaded by

Diego
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Question Dissection Strategy Example

Here is an example illustrating the question dissection strategy. For the


essay question:
Q: List and evaluate the three reasons why President Eisenhower believed
Indochina was of strategic importance for the free world.
Question Dissection Protocol (Buehl, 2000; adapted from Williams, 1986)
1. Verb(s)? List and evaluate
2. Topic? Containment of communism/Vietnam War
3. List? Reasons why President Eisenhower believed Indochina was
strategically important
4. Number?
- single or multiple? multiple
- set number or open number? Set number Three
5. Order?
- flexible or sequence? Flexible
6. First sentence rewrite the test question:
The three reasons why Eisenhower believed Indochina was
strategically important to the free world were (1) the value of the
locality to the world with respect to the materials produced there
(for example, tin and tungsten), (2) the number of people under
the rule of Communist dictatorships that are unfriendly toward the
free world, and (3) the falling domino principle...
Buehl (2001, pp. 110-111) recommends that teaching this strategy be used
as an opportunity to analyze the kinds of thinking suggested by different test
verbs. For example:

Identify Similarities and Differences show how things are alike


or different (verbs often used: compare, contrast, distinguish)
Outline a Cause/Effect Relationship tell how or why something
happens or happened (verbs often used: explain, relate, interpret,
discuss)
Support an Argument use information to back up statements or
ideas (verbs often used: criticize, evaluate, defend, justify, prove)

PSLC Curriculum & Instructional Procedures


Lesson 4 Question Dissection Strategy Example

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Organize Details and Examples use language to help us visualize


something (verbs often used: describe, illustrate, define)
As you teach students this strategy, model for them how to organize
knowledge in a coherent essay answer by brainstorming related terms and
placing them relationally on a graphic to use as they write their essay. The
question dissection strategy helps students learn how to tackle essays,
improve their expository writing skills, see connections and relationships
between concepts, facts, and events, and use the higher level thinking skills
of analysis, evaluation and synthesis to support arguments and define
relationships.
References:
Buehl, D. (2000). Breaking it down: Understanding the question leads to a
better answer. WEAC News and views, 35(6), 14.
Buehl, D. (2001). Classroom strategies for interactive learning. (2nd ed.).
Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Williams, D. (1986, May). Unlocking the question. In H. Carr (Chair), Using
research to support teacher change and student progress in the
content areas. Paper presented at the 31st Annual Convention of the
International Reading Association, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

PSLC Curriculum & Instructional Procedures


Lesson 4 Question Dissection Strategy Example

Page 2 of 2

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