Question Answer Relationships

QAR ( Question Answer Relationship) is a questioning strategy that can help students improve their reading comprehension. This strategy introduces students to four types of questions. Each type of question addresses a different level of comprehension. The four types of questions are labeled:

Ø Right there- literal questions, the answer to the question is explicitly stated in one location in the text

Ø Think and search - low level inferential questions, the answer is in the text, but may be located in more than one location, or may use different wording.

Ø Author and me- high level inferential questions, to answer the question, the reader must read between the lines or make inferences.

Ø On my own- beyond the text questions, apply prior knowledge or connect to person experience.

The rational for using this strategy is that students will become able to recognize the relationship between questions the teacher asks and where to find the information needed for the correct answer. As they become more familiar with QAR, they will begin to self-question during independent reading. Studies conducted using this strategy reported significant gains in comprehension.

Johns and Lenski (1994) give these four principles of instruction for using QARs.

v Give immediate feedback.

v Progress from longer to shorter passages.

v Build independence by guiding students from group to independent activities.

v Provide transitions from the easier to more difficult tasks.

The following instructions were taken from Teaching in the Content Areas by Billmeyer & Barton.

Step 1	Introduce the strategy by giving students a written and verbal description of each question-answer relationship.
Step 2	Assign short passages to be read from the text book. As students finish reading each passage, ask them one question from each QAR category. Point out the differences between each question and the kind of answer it requires.
Step 3	After students demonstrate they understand the differences among the four QAR levels, assign several more short passages to be read. Again, ask one question for each category of QAR per passage, provide students with answers to the questions, and identify each question’s QAR type. Discuss why the questions represent one QAR but not another.
Step 4	Next, assign short text passages, and provide the questions and the answers. This time, however, have students identify each question as a particular QAR and explain their answer. Repeat the reading and questioning process, but have students work in groups to determine which QAR each question represents and write out their answers.
Step 5	At this point have students read a longer text passage. Give them several questions, not necessarily one per QAR level. Have students individually determine the QAR and write their answers.
Step 6	Eventually, when reading is assigned, students should generate various QARs on their own to present to the rest of the class for identification and answers.

References:

Billmeyer & Barton. (1998). Teaching Reading in the Content Areas. McRel, Colorado
Helfeldt & Henk. (April, 1990). Reciprocal Question Answer Relationships: An instructional technique for at-risk readers. Journal of Reading.
Johns & Lenski. (1994). Improving Reading: A handbook of strategies. Kendall/Hunt, Iowa.
Thistlewaite. (1997). Literacy Resource Series Book B: Comprehension strategies. CIAESC, Illinois.