ABSTRACT
The Better Questions Menu and the Petition Framework give students a broad range of question and petition options. Once students have experience creating prompts, the activity can be used as a postreading activity. Sometimes when they use a closed restatement, responders feel bewildered as to how to approach the gist. The Petition Framework offers students a head start in developing evidence for their sandwich middle. A key comprehension strategy involves discerning important from unimportant details. Many students think everything they read is important. Students are also prone to over-elaborate and get off the topic as their confidence builds. Most students move easily through restating the question and constructing a gist answer, and with regular teacher modeling, they also learn where and how to gather the details to support their answers, lengthening and strengthening their responses.
