• ELA / Literacy: Text-Dependent Questions

    College- and career-ready standards, including the Common Core, expect students to use evidence from texts to present careful analyses, well-defended claims, and clear information. A key method to help students develop these skills is the use of text-dependent questions: questions that can only be answered by referring back to the text.

    On this page teachers can find tools to help write and evaluate text-dependent questions. Go to Classroom Resources to find lessons and writing samples with text-dependent questions and tasks.

  • Learn more about text-dependent questions.

    Professional development session guiding educators through the process of creating text-dependent questions

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  • Short Guide to Creating Text-Dependent Questions

    Seven simple steps to create your own questions for close analytic reading.

  • Complete Guide to Creating Text-Dependent Questions

    Thorough explanation of the how and why of text-dependent questions for close, analytic reading. Includes examples.

  • Checklist for Evaluating Question Quality

    Clear checklist for evaluating the quality of text-dependent questions.

  • Generating Questions from Qualitative Dimensions of Complexity

    Handout to help teachers write high-quality questions based on the elements of text complexity.