Help for writing effective discussion questions

For your literature circles you are expected to write discussion questions to bring to your group meetings. This post is to give you some ideas and suggestions for how to go about writing effective questions for discussion.


Good Discussion Questions:

• Are open-ended
• Are specific to the story
• Are not generic
• Are not comprehension/recall questions (this is not a test!)
• Encourage debate and critical thinking 

 Examples of effective discussion questions from Wonderstruck:

• Do you think Ben will find his dad? Why or why not?
• How do you think Ben and Rose's stories are related?
• Why do you think Ben ran away to NYC even though he was deaf and couldn't communicate with people?
• If you were Ben, would you have run off to NYC?

Examples of questions that are too general:

• Who is your favorite character?
• What was your favorite scene in the story?
• What did you think of the ending?

Examples of ineffective discussion questions:

• Where does the story take place?
• Where does Ben run away to after he discovers he's deaf?
• Who does Ben meet at the Museum of Natural History?