Frequently Asked Questions

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About Junior Great Books and Leading Shared Inquiry Discussion

Junior Great Books Outcomes

Junior Great Books Practice

Leading Shared Inquiry Discussion

Will this program teach my students how to read?
The Junior Great Books program helps students develop reading comprehension strategies and critical-thinking skills that are essential for effective reading. The Shared Inquiry method motivates students to read because they look forward to participating in an exciting discussion. Student learning is enhanced when students have a stake in what they are learning. Shared Inquiry fosters this sense of ownership by giving students responsibility for developing their own ideas during a discussion. We recognize that students need a variety of reading experiences. A Great Books consultant can help you plan a program implementation that will support your student learning objectives in a way that complements other components of your language arts curriculum. See a list of student learning objectives.

I had a lot of fun in Shared Inquiry discussion, but what will it do for my students?
Your students will have fun, too, and achieve key educational objectives along the way. By asking questions and supporting answers with evidence from the text, students are internalizing the habits of lifelong learners—reflective reading, thinking, listening, and speaking. During a Shared Inquiry discussion, students help one another look through the text for evidence to bolster their ideas, and they forget that reading is hard work. Students learn to listen to one another respectfully and develop the confidence to express their own ideas. At the same time, they are learning critical thinking, an invaluable skill not just for academic success but also for life. See a lsit of student learning objectives and compare them with the standards for your state.

Will Junior Great Books help prepare students for standardized multiple choice reading tests?
Yes. Research on Junior Great Books shows that students who regularly participate in the program make significant improvements in reading comprehension as measured by commonly administered achievement tests. Great Books and the Shared Inquiry method help students learn to comprehend and interpret what they read. By participating in interpretive reading activities and discussing interpretive questions, students learn and practice important reading skills. As they respond to questions and support their answers with evidence from the story, students monitor their comprehension and use a variety of reading strategies. They ask questions, reread, review the story for specific information, make inferences, summarize passages, relate text to personal experience and knowledge, and draw conclusions about cause and effect, character and motive, and the author’s point of view. In addition, Junior Great Books Series 3–5 includes explicit instruction in reading comprehension strategies. Because students get intensive practice in reading comprehension skills in Great Books, they are ready to use them flexibly and confidently on a test.

Will my struggling readers benefit from Shared Inquiry?
To help struggling readers actively participate in Shared Inquiry discussion, Great Books emphasizes the importance of multiple readings, as well as reading aloud to students. To enable all students to participate in discussion, the Foundation strongly recommends full use of the sequence of prediscussion activities provided in the leader’s editions. Each activity is designed to take students to progressively deeper levels of comprehension as a firm foundation for critical thinking. During a discussion, students learn to collaborate to solve problems of meaning and develop their understanding of the text. Reading becomes less lonely and difficult, and more exciting, as they experience the joy of shared discovery. For Research on Junior Great Books and Shared Inquiry, see Research and Effectiveness.

Can I use Shared Inquiry to help prepare my students for the AP exam?
The Shared Inquiry method helps students prepare for all exams that require reading comprehension and critical thinking, including the AP. The reading and critical thinking strategies students learn help them identify themes and issues; distinguish between important facts and trivial information, and distinguish valid ideas from subjective opinion. Students also learn to use and explain evidence, drawing on available information rather than on speculation, and to frame coherent, cohesive explanations and arguments. Helping students make connections between several documents teaches them to compare and weigh ideas and build arguments that reflect more than one perspective.

Does Great Books prepare students for the SAT?
Two parts of the SAT—the Critical Reading Test and the Literature Subject Test—have the same major objectives as Great Books programs:

Critical thinking, or the ability to support ideas and weigh support for ideas
Interpretive reading, or the ability to draw inferences and synthesize conclusions about he meaning of a text.

In the Critical Reading Test, the largest category of questions requires students to synthesize and analyze meaning in challenging passages in a variety of ways, including identifying cause and effect, making inferences, and following the logic of an argument. In the Literature Subject Test, students must offer interpretations in response to questions about various aspects of a piece of literature. The test does not call for students to recall specific works or authors, or to label literary elements in a work (image, narrative voice, theme, etc.).

Among the sample questions for both tests are many that would be asked in a Shared Inquiry Discussion and Great Books interpretive activities. Here are some examples:

Who is the speaker of the poem addressing? (narrative voice)
Why does the narrator call the tree limbs “choirs”? (imagery)
Why does the character’s hands begin to shake? (inference)
What attitude is the author expressing in the final sentence? (tone)
Why does the author recount the story of the birds? (purpose or main idea)

Like interpretive questions in Great Books, the above questions require students to read “between the lines” but with attention to specific words and sentences in context.

To strengthen students’ critical thinking and interpretive reading skills, teachers should consider extending interpretive questioning strategies to a variety of subject-area readings. Also, teachers might lead their students in Shared Inquiry discussions comparing two or more texts they have already discussed separately.

Can I use the Shared Inquiry method with any text?
Only texts that raise genuine questions of meaning will sustain extended interpretive discussion. The process of choosing a text entails awakening one’s own curiosity in response to something puzzling in the text. This is where the impetus for discussion lies.

Of course, students should have many kinds of reading experiences with a wide range of literature. Great Books anthologies and Shared Inquiry discussion offer an especially enriching and enduring kind of experience, one that excites the mind as well as the heart. For more information on how the Foundation chooses texts that are suitable for Shared Inquiry discussion, see Choosing Selections for Junior Great Books.

How do I assess my students’ progress?
Two major learning strands in Junior Great Books are reading comprehension and critical thinking, developed in discussion and in written responses on the Building Your Answer page. To assess critical thinking, use the critical-thinking rubric, available in the Leader's Edition Junior Great Books Series 3–5 and on this website. The evidence students give for their responses during Shared Inquiry discussion and in writing will also reflect their comprehension of the selection.

You and your students should gain some experience with Shared Inquiry before formal assessment takes place. The Foundation’s course on assessment (Course 204 Assessing Student Progress) is recommended for teachers who have some experience using the Shared Inquiry method in the classroom. The course will provide you with strategies for collecting students’ responses and with practice in applying the rubric. Junior Great Books Series 3–5 includes mini-rubrics for key activities, and an assessment kit with critical-thinking and writing rubrics, as well as reading comprehension tests for each stage of learning. For more on assessment, visit Assessment Tools.

Must I always read aloud for the first reading? Do I need to do the Think-Alouds? When should I use the audio recordings?
The Foundation strongly recommends that the story be first read aloud by the leader so that students can listen to it without concern for decoding. Reading aloud will model fluency for students who may still find it challenging to read the story on their own.

Junior Great Books Series 3–5 provides suggestions for leader Think-Alouds to be used during the first reading. These Think-Alouds are linked to the targeted reading comprehension strategy for each stage and provide an opportunity for the leader to model how a good reader uses these strategies. Whether and how you use the Think-Alouds depends on your goals for using Junior Great Books and how the program fits with the rest of your reading curriculum.

You can use audio recordings for the second reading, for students who need the additional support of a third reading, and for those who have been absent.

If students have to share their notes after a second reading, won’t they run out of things to say in the Shared Inquiry discussion?
Great Books selections are so rich, there will still be significant questions and issues to explore in Shared Inquiry discussion. Working closely with specific passages during Directed Notes actually prepares students to offer ideas and evidence in answer to more comprehensive interpretive questions during discussion. We recommend that you limit the amount of sharing time so that sharing notes does not turn into a premature Shared Inquiry discussion. You can also conduct this activity in small groups or in pairs so that students still have an opportunity to hear and engage with the ideas of other students in the Shared Inquiry discussion.

How much vocabulary work do students need to do in Junior Great Books?
The selections in Great Books have not been altered or abridged to control vocabulary; they are presented as the author wrote them. Encourage your students to be curious about the meaning of new words, but help them learn to distinguish between words that are important to the meaning of the story and those that are not. Many vocabulary questions will be addressed during the Sharing Questions activity, and questions about the meaning of important words will often be among the questions you ask during discussion. The Reader’s Journals for Series 3–5 also contain a glossary to help students explore the meaning of words in the Junior Great Books stories.

The vocabulary activity in Junior Great Books Series 3–5 is designed to help students understand and use new words in a variety of contexts. The focus for vocabulary is on three target words from each story that are valuable to an understanding of the story and are appropriate for grade-level vocabulary development. Students investigate the meaning of these words by drawing on their own knowledge and the story context. This focused approach enables students to retain and apply the new words more readily.

Suggestions for an Interpreting Words activity are offered in other Great Books series. Depending on your students’ interest and the time you have available, you may want to plan a session specifically to focus on interpreting vocabulary words that are important to the meaning of the selection. Sustained attention on a few key words that are relevant to the meaning of each selection will provide students a stronger model for acquiring new vocabulary than trying to define many new words superficially.

Do I have to use the stories in the order they appear?
While not required, following the sequence will ensure greater program success for both you and your students. The stories in Junior Great Books Series 3–5 have been arranged to progress in difficulty, as have the activities that accompany each story. As students gain more experience with Shared Inquiry discussion, they will be better able to tackle longer, more complex stories. Each unit also contains support for you as a leader of Shared Inquiry, and this support progresses throughout the series as well.

For those using other Great Books anthologies, we have generally placed shorter, more accessible selections earlier in the book and longer, more complex selections toward the end of the book and in the second semester series (when available). You may use the stories in any order you choose, but keep in mind that students will be better able to handle more complex texts once they have had some experience with the Shared Inquiry method.

What makes a book great?
The relationship you cultivate with it. Readers add their own intelligence to a text. As Virginia Woolf writes, “We are doing our part as readers to help masterpieces into the world. We are fulfilling our share of the creative task.” There is no definitive list of great books. Over time, some books inevitably fall by the wayside and others are added. The works that endure are those to which generations of readers want to return, again and again, because they raise issues that have preoccupied humans throughout time. Shared Inquiry provides a way for readers to discover with others what makes a particular work of literature great.

What's the optimum group size for Shared Inquiry?
Groups that are sufficiently large are able to generate diverse answers to the basic question, and that's good. If your group is very large, though, more than 20-24 students, for example, and you feel that not enough students are participating, try dividing the group in two. Some teachers conduct two discussions using different basic questions, or they have students take turns observing, taking notes, and summarizing the ideas they hear. Observing and commenting on discussion can help students develop metacognitive awareness of what discussion is all about.

Very small groups (4-6 students) sometimes have trouble generating enough ideas, or enough divergent ideas. Usually, we recommend 8-12 students as a minimum, but a lot depends on how talkative your group is and whether, as a group, the participants tend to agree. If you have several shy students, a slightly larger group can give them time to feel more comfortable to talk. Sometimes, of course, you can’t avoid having a small group. To increase divergent thinking, leaders of smaller groups often ask more questions to test the consistency of participants’ opinions. This helps participants see alternatives to their point of view, or evidence that may contradict their point of view. Because smaller groups often have shorter discussions, it’s a good idea to come prepared with more than one basic question.

Can I make a group with students of different ages who all read the same stories? If so, which series should I pick?
It is not uncommon at all to have different ages in a group, but because of the themes and issues in any given work, it’s a good idea to keep the ages close. So, 2nd and 3rd graders are usually fine together, for example, or 6th and 8th graders. But 3rd and 7th graders probably would not be advisable. In selecting a series, choose the one that is appropriate for the younger students. Junior Great Books selections are rich and challenging, and our selection criteria ensure that even adults will find the stories interesting and thought provoking, regardless of the grade level.

How can I lead a discussion if I don't have time to prepare?
The beauty of the Shared Inquiry method is that you and your students prepare for the discussion together. Course 103: Shared Inquiry in Your Classroom, focuses on how the classroom activities help you do this. Of course, you will want to read the selection and take your own notes, but as you guide your students through the predisccussion activities described in the leader’s materials, you will become more familiar with the selection and more aware of its interpretive possibilities for discussion. During the prediscussion activities, students will raise their own questions about the selection and often will present you with a question that genuinely stimulates your curiosity as well as theirs.

How can I lead a discussion if I can’t think of a question I have doubt about?
Try leaving a day or two between your first and second readings, and let a little time go by after you have written some questions. Often, a little time is all that is needed to see things in a new light. If you still find it hard to think of genuine questions, identifying the stumbling block will ease you over it and may provide the source of your question. For example, if you don’t like the story “Thank You, M’am” because you think Mrs. Jones should have hauled Roger off to the nearest police station instead of bringing him home with her, use your disapproval as a springboard for a question, like Why does Mrs. Jones take Roger home instead of reporting him to the police? You can also try the following:

Consult the suggested interpretive questions for discussion in your leader’s materials. Try to write two or more answers to as many as you can. By trying to answer some of these questions you will become familiar with the story’s interpretive possibilities.
Let your students help you. In Course 103: Shared Inquiry in Your Classroom, you will learn how to use the prediscussion activities and encourage students to ask questions about what puzzles them.
Ask a colleague, family member, or friend to read the story and discuss some questions with you (see Prepare with a Colleague! on page 26).
Many leaders enjoy preparing for a discussion by reading and discussing the story at home with their children or partners.
Choose a different story. Great Books anthologies offer a diverse range of engaging writers from which to choose.

Do I always have to organize my questions into a focus question and cluster?
No, but it helps if you do. A cluster of questions is not an agenda, but a helpful way to explore possible links and connections to the focus question. Simply organize a few of your questions in a way that makes sense to you. You may or may not use them. If you do, you will only use them according to the ebb and flow of discussion. Also, some students, and especially very young students, may have difficulty responding to a comprehensive focus question. Emerging or struggling readers may need support in the form of questions that allow them to focus on short, key portions of the selection. Cluster questions can often serve this purpose.

How can students take notes as they read if they are not allowed to write in the book?
Students can still take notes, even if they cannot write in their books.

Teach your students how to use sticky notes by showing them a place that you have marked with a sticky note and explaining why you marked it.
Give students only one or two sticky notes at first, and then ask them to do what you did—as they listen to or read the selection. As they learn to use the sticky notes, you can give them a few more as appropriate.
Have older students take notes directly in the Reader’s Journal or a notebook. Or have students place a clear transparency over the page on which they can write their notes.

What should I do about students who won't say anything in discussion?
Be patient. Creating an environment in which students feel comfortable sharing ideas may take some time. Some students are naturally more open and talkative than others. Students who are reticent may need some practice speaking in front of others.

Students who are usually outspoken during other classroom activities may be quiet during Shared Inquiry discussion because they are used to finding the “right” answer. Allowing these students to answer factual questions that come up in the discussion or to read passages (if they are good readers), may give them the security they need to begin to answer interpretive questions. Often, students will begin to volunteer more in-depth answers after they have had a few successful experiences in discussion.

Students sometimes remain silent because they need more time to collect their thoughts. Having students fill out the Building Your Answer page allows them time to compose their thoughts. Asking a student to read from the Building Your Answer page is also a good way to involve a shy participant. If a student will not read from the page, collect these pages at the end of the discussion. Write encouraging comments on the reluctant person’s paper and ask that student to share his or her ideas next time.

Students may also remain silent if they are confused by the leader’s question. If you suspect this may be the case, try rephrasing your question or directing the group’s attention to the passage that led you to ask the question in the first place.

Finally, the leader’s attitude in asking questions can also help to establish the tone of the discussion. Gradually, students learn that it is acceptable to have different opinions and that, even if their opinion is not supported by the majority, it is still a valid opinion as long as it is supported by evidence from the text. And remind yourself that speaking in a discussion is only one form of participation. Quieter students are often very effective listeners.

Why shouldn’t I praise my students for giving good answers? I like to give my students a lot of feedback.
It is necessary to distinguish praise from encouragement. Praise is judgmental—the flip side of blame—while encouragement gives students the confidence to keep trying. Praise is fine for teaching memorization and for reinforcing good behavior, but it is not effective for encouraging higher-level thinking. Very young children need praise, but they also need to move from dependence on the external judgments of others to a greater reliance on their own thinking abilities. As a discussion leader, encourage students to think and participate by showing your genuine regard for their ideas without judging the value of their comments. You can do this in the following ways:

Sit with your students and look at them when they make comments to let them know that you are listening intently to what they are saying.
Record students’ comments on your seating chart and show the class your notes after the discussion to show that you want to remember their ideas.
Use follow-up questions to indicate your strong interest in helping them develop their ideas and deepen their understanding of the story.
Give students plenty of time to answer your questions, or repeat your question, to allow them to think carefully and make comments that accurately reflect their thoughts and opinions about the selection.
After the discussion, point out instances where everyone worked well together and praise the efforts of the group.

Responding in these ways will help students know that you recognize and respect their abilities to think about and understand challenging literature. Praising the group lets all students see progression in their own interpretive skills, reinforces positive attitudes regarding their capabilities, and generates enthusiasm for the discussion.

How can I generate a good discussion if my group doesn't disagree about my opening question?
Disagreement is not a goal of Shared Inquiry discussion; rather, it is a tool you can use to help your group fully explore a text’s meaning. Even if your students seem frustratingly like-minded, you can still lead a fine discussion by using follow-up questions to identify shades of difference among their responses. Almost certainly, as students explain their ideas and you lead them to look more closely at the text, they will discover areas in which their interpretations differ or hear ideas that they have not thought of before.

Asking for evidence is another way to help students discover differences between individual responses. Students might agree that Kuo Ming loves White Wave but may use different evidence to support their claim.

You can also help your students identify their differences and think more deeply about the story if you are clear about what you are asking them to agree or disagree with during the discussion. For example, suppose Yvonne says, “I think White Wave’s soul is in the rice, so in a way she comes back to him.” If you follow up by asking, “Joshua, do you agree?” Joshua might simply nod his head because he does not know which part of Yvonne’s idea you want him to address. But if you question him on a specific part of her response, such as, “Joshua, do you agree that White Wave’s soul is in the rice?” it will be much easier for him to respond.

How can I help students who are new to Shared Inquiry get better at it?
First, use Starting Off Strong to introduce Shared Inquiry to your students. Explain the five guidelines of discussion and repeat them as needed, especially in the first few discussions. Participants in a Great Books program will have a clearer idea of what is expected of them if, from time to time, you guide them in assessing how well they listened and responded to each other during Shared Inquiry discussion.

They will also value the activity more when they pause to consider how their own thinking has developed over the course of the discussion. After Shared Inquiry discussion, call attention to the times when a tentatively offered opinion triggered an important insight for someone else. Ask how certain ideas were reevaluated and developed. Remind students that in a discussion many ideas are put forward and that it is necessary to be open to change if the evidence demands it.

A good sign that students are starting to feel comfortable with Shared Inquiry discussion is that they no longer respond exclusively to you; instead, they talk directly to one another. They suggest relevant evidence or lines of reasoning to support classmates’ answers. Perhaps they will even anticipate some of your follow-up questions by asking each other for clarification or evidence.

How can I listen, ask questions, and take notes at the same time?
Don't try to do too much too soon. Relax and activate your curiosity about participants’ ideas, and let the rest follow at your own pace.

Listening comes first. Focus on what the group is saying instead of thinking, “What should I ask next?” In your first few discussions, concentrate on listening, even if you only use the seating chart to track participation with check marks.

Asking questions is an expression of your natural curiosity. Listen to yourself in everyday conversation. When you are trying to understand what someone is saying, you probably ask, “What do you mean by that?” or “Where did you get that idea?” or “What do you think about that?” In essence, when you ask these sorts of questions, even in casual conversation, you are asking for clarification, evidence, and additional opinions. You are listening and asking questions at the same time, just as you do in Shared Inquiry discussion.

Taking notes during the discussion should aid listening, not hinder it. Keep your notes simple at first and go slowly. If your head is buried in your seating chart because you are trying to write down everything, you cannot listen actively. Listen for and jot down key words that resonate for you—perhaps a jarring word or phrase, slang that needs refining, or a sweeping generalization that obscures more than it reveals. This also helps you refer back to ideas later.

Finally, if the discussion moves too fast for you, it is probably moving too fast for everyone else. Stop and ask someone to repeat an idea so you can jot it down and think about it. By doing so, you are demonstrating the most effective listening and learning behavior for your group.

How much background information about the author or the story should I give my students?
Let your students’ questions be your guide; if they ask, encourage them to answer their own questions, using either the story or other resources. The Leader’s Editions for Junior Great Books Series 3–5 contain a brief note about the author for each story, so the leader can answer questions that students may have about the author. A story synopsis is provided to help leaders plan for work on a unit, particularly with respect to cross-curricular connections. This information is brief because the central focus of the unit is always on exploring the deeper levels of meaning in the story. We recommend that you do not share this information before students read the story and that you use it sparingly. Excessive details about the author or a story’s historical background can limit the students’ discovery of the story’s deeper meaning.

Should students have to raise their hands to speak in Shared Inquiry discussion?
Ideally, you are helping students move towards having a genuine conversation, and people don’t normally raise their hands for those. But use your best judgement. If you have a group of more than 8 – 10, or if students are very new to this kind of discussion, very verbal, or can’t easily see each other, then you may need to ask them to raise their hands. If the group is not very large you might try a discussion without raising hands and see how it goes. Afterwards, talk about it with your students. They may even have suggestions for how to get better at it next time.