Social Studies Middle School Guide

Scaffold for Writing Text Dependent Questions Grade 6-12

Craft and Structure

Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone. • What does ____ mean? What is your evidence? • Let’s take apart this sentence. Who is “you”? Explain your thinking. • How do you know? • Any other phrases that are confusing? • What is the difference between (2 vocabulary words)?Define _____. apostrophe) used in this book? Where does it represent a contraction / possession? • Where is (an

Analyze the structure of texts including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole. • How is this narrative different when the author used dialogue versus when the narrator just spoke / told the story? What do you learn when there is dialogue? • How is dialogue used in this book? • When there is dialogue, is the narrator speaking? Who is speaking? • What point of view does the author use? How does that contribute to the story? • How does the sequencing of the text add to the meaning? • Is the character good or bad at the end of the story? Why / why not? • How does the author’s use of__________ impact the (central idea/ theme/ characterization etc.) of the text? • How does the use of foreshadowing affect the impact of the piece?

Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

• When does our author use humor? Why did the author do that? • What tone does the author use? Why? • How do we learn the character’s name before the author told us? • Why do you think the author chose (character) to be the smartest? • How do the pictures tell the story? • What is the symbolism of ____________? • How does the author use descriptive language to influence the tone • When the ________ speaks directly how does this influence the reader? • What rhetorical devices does the author use, and what is their impact? • What is conveyed through __________?