Language Comprehension Interventions

Students who have trouble remember which type of questions to ask and answer may need visual supports. Mnemonics are one type of visual support that can help a student carry out this process. The following pages include strategies that you can use to support your students' ability to ask and answer questions independently. As you read, consider which of these interventions best aligns with your students' strengths and needs in the whole-learner domains.

Explicit Instruction

To support your students' ability to ask and answer questions using mnemonics, you should start by explicitly teaching the concept. This sounds like:

Explain the Skill/Concept. Define mnemonics and explain the activity. ("A mnemonic is a word which has letters that stand for something else. This word helps us remember a process we should take to ask the right questions so that we can understand a text." "Today you will be learning a new trick to help you determine the main idea and supporting details in a text. This mnemonic is called RAP, and it stands for Read, Ask, and Put.")
Model Skill with Examples. Think aloud about how you use the mnemonic as you read. ("Watch as I show you what RAP looks like when I use it. What is my first step? R. That's right, R. I need to read the paragraph. I'll do that now, and then check that off my RAP list. (Reads paragraph.) Okay, I'm going to check my RAP list again. I've already completed R. Now, on to A. I have to Ask. I'll ask myself the question: What are the main idea and two details of the paragraph. I remember that I first ask myself what this paragraph is about. Well, this paragraph is about the Shortfin Mako shark. It tells me about how fast the shark swims. It also tells me that it is faster than any other shark in the water, swimming at over 35 mph! Okay, now I want to do the final step, P. Put it in my own words. This paragraph is about the Shortfin Mako, which is the fastest shark in the world! Let's see I did all three steps. R, A, and P. That's how you do RAP.")
Model Skill with Non-Examples. Think aloud about what happens when you don't use a mnemonic. ("What might happen if I didn't use a mnemonic to get the main idea and supporting details? I might not remember what I was looking for as I read, and I might not be able to accurately find the main idea!"). 
Practice the Skill. Engage in the activity below to practice the skill with your student, providing feedback as necessary. ("Now you try to RAP!") 

Activity A: Read-Ask-Put (RAP)
RAP is one example of a mnemonic that supports a student's ability to ask and answer questions independently. It includes a three-step intervention strategy to teach students how to paraphrase a paragraph, short story, or chapter book:

1. Read the paragraph.
2. Ask, “What are the main idea and two details of the paragraph?"
   • This paragraph is about ____
   • It tells me about ____
   • If I need more information, look at the first sentence of the paragraph OR look for repeated word(s)
3. Put the main idea and details into my own words. 

Optional Deep Dive: Click this link to read an article about RAP. 

Activity B: Question-Answer Relationship (QAR)

QAR is another mnemonic that supports a student's ability to ask and answer questions. This strategy teaches students to ask and answer four types of questions:

• In the Book Questions:
  • Right There.The answer is in one place in the text. Words from the question and words that answer the question are often "right there" in the same sentence
  • Think & Search. The answer is in the text. Readers need to "think and search," or to put together different parts of the text, in order to find the answer. The answer can be within a paragraph, across paragraphs, or even across chapters and books
• In My Head Questions:
  • On My Own. The answer is not in the text. Readers need to use their own ideas and experiences to answer the questions
  • Author & Me. The answer is not [explicitly] in the text. To answer the question, readers need to think about how the text and what they already know fit together

QAR Artifact 

Download a graphic organizer that supports QAR.

QAR. (n.d.). Copyright at Relay GSE. New York, NY:  Relay Graduate School of Education.

QAR in Action
Click on this link to see examples of two examples of QAR using narrative and informational text. 

Right There with Emily Hoefling-Crouch

 In this clip, Emily Hoefling-Crouch conferences with a student during a guided reading lesson. She asks the student a Right There question: a question with an answer that can be found in one sentence in the text.

The Author and You with Yasmin Vargas

In this clip, Yasmin Vargas integrates reading comprehension during a social studies lesson. She asks an Author and You question: a question with an answer that requires students to integrate information from the text and prior knowledge and/or personal experiences.

Hagaman, J., Luschen, K., Reid, R. (2010). The RAP on reading comprehension. Teaching Exceptional Children, 43, 1.
Raphael, T., Highfield, K., & Au, K. (2006). QAR now: Question answer relationships. New York: Scholastic.
Wilson. A. (2016). QAR Examples. Copyright at Relay GSE. New York, NY:  Relay Graduate School of Education.

Think about the following scenario, which takes place after a teacher has explicitly taught students to use the RAP strategy and given them multiple opportunities to practice.
     Teacher: "What is the main idea in this paragraph? Use the RAP strategy to figure it out."
     Student: "Well, it looks like a shark, so my guess is that the main idea is that sharks are dangerous." 

In such a case, what might you do? 

When you are planning your lessons, you should anticipate that your student will make errors throughout. Here are a series of prompts that you can use to respond to errors. Keep in mind that all students are different, and that students might respond better to some types of feedback than others.

If your student struggles to meet your objective, there are various techniques that you might try to adjust the activity so as best to meet your student's needs.