Ask the Author
Goal
Practice directing questions at a text's creator.
After reading a text (article, textbook chapter, novel excerpt), students write a letter to the author containing 5 questions. These cannot be factual questions answered in the text — they must be que...
How It Works
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After reading a text (article, textbook chapter, novel excerpt), students write a letter to the author containing 5 questions. These cannot be factual questions answered in the text — they must be questions about choices, intentions, omissions, or implications: Why did you start with that image?
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What did you decide to leave out?
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Who were you writing this for?
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Share letters in groups and discuss which questions would make the author think the hardest.
Why It Works
Teaches students that texts have human authors who made choices — and those choices can be questioned.