FQR Chart

By Doug Buehl

What do we need to know about concussions?

Initially, it is the arresting title that captures your eye, as you shuffle through the sections, browsing the morning newspaper: “Hard-Knock Lessons from the Concussion Files.” Concussions? What “hard-knock” lessons is this author, Jane Brody, going to tell me about? And what had I better find out about these problematic clunks on the head?

Clearly, you are curious enough to explore this topic some more, and you begin digging into the meat of the article. An array of factual information starts popping out of the paragraphs. You discover that 50 out of every 100,000 people in the United States undergo a concussion each year. You wonder how this compares with other kinds of injuries people might encounter. You are startled to read that an ex-NFL football player who recently died at age 44 had a brain similar to an 85-year-old Alzheimer victim’s. How typical is this condition, you pause to consider, for athletes who once played high contact sports. You are then stopped at the statement that most concussions are experienced by youngsters between 5 to 14. You think of your own children, as they bumped and banged their way into adulthood, zipping around on their bicycles, falling off playground equipment, diving full-force into soccer games or other sporting endeavors.

You bubble with questions and ruminate with concerns. It’s natural that you interject your own life and perspectives into the thinking sparked by this author. And when you are done, you summarize what you have learned into a few “need to know” facts that crystallize what you now understand about concussions.

Finally, inevitably, you lean toward your spouse to share your new insights. When a text piques your interest and changes the way you think about the world, you invariably want to talk about it. The morning newspaper, with two readers sitting side by side immersed in stories, is a daily conversation starter.

This opening scenario illustrates a host of proficient reader traits that make a meaningful comprehension of a text possible. As an accomplished reader, you focus on gleaning only the most critical slices of information, recognizing that most of an article will comprise background details. You activate an inquiring mind-set that constantly surfaces a variety of questions about the topic and you then probe the text to ascertain if the author will satisfy your curiosity and need for clarification. And you react personally to what you read, considering the implications for you and others, weighing your previous understandings that may now need alteration and refinement, and coming to some conclusions about what this text means.

The Strategy

The FQR Chart (Harvey and Goudvis, 2000) guides students through these thinking phases as they construct an understanding of a written text. FQR is an acronym for “Facts, Questions, and Response,” which are outlined in a graphic organizer that students use to monitor their comprehension (see concussions example).

Step 1: The first column is designated for significant factual information from a text students are reading. Students are limited to only a chosen handful of facts during this phase of the activity. However, not everything from an article is worthy of being included in the “Facts” column.

Students may display a tendency to write down facts that are not of utmost importance, without pondering whether this information is truly significant or merely background details. In a think-aloud, model how to decide upon the most transcendent information. Display the opening segment of materials students will read. Observe that while the text may be jam-packed with information, most of these details are presented to build a foundation for understanding, but are not likely to be long remembered.

Instead emphasize choosing factual information only on a “Need to Know” basis. Challenge students to consider what are the six “facts” from the text that a person would “need to know” if someone is knowledgeable about the topic.

In our concussions example, the author tells us that “A concussion is an immediate and short-lived loss of consciousness, resulting in brief amnesia, caused by blow to head.” Make the case to your students why you believe this statement is a “Need to Know” fact:

I thought the part about the two football players with brain damage was interesting, but these stories were just examples of concussions. This statement explains exactly what a concussion is, with two important characteristics: loss of consciousness and brief amnesia. This fact clarifies what we mean by the term concussion.

Step 2: Next, model some issues related to this fact that you might be wondering. Perhaps you might wonder if at any time you have personally experienced a concussion. You might wonder how long “brief amnesia” lasts—a few seconds or could it be a minute or more? You might wonder how powerful a blow to a head must be to induce a concussion. These are entered in the “Questions” column.

The point to this phase is to underscore that facts do not merely exist as “stand-alones;” once we know something is true, we are likely to have additional questions. “If this is true, then what about . . .” Stress that proficient readers think about important facts and want to know more.

Step 3: The third phase allows readers to weigh in with what’s on their minds. What connections might you have to this information, what ideas occur to you, what is your “take” on what this means. The “Response” column prompts readers to interject their background experiences into the chart and engages them in synthesizing new learning. Model some of your thinking related to this factual information:

I was thinking about being ”knocked out,” which I now understand is a fairly serious concussion. Most concussions have short-lived loss of consciousness, but being “knocked out” lasts longer. I also think of boxers who basically are trying to give their opponent a concussion every time they fight. I know some boxers have been knocked out many times, which is very dangerous damage to the brain.

Step 4: Students are now ready to read the rest of the article and complete the chart for themselves. One method is to ask students to put check marks in the margins next to any statements they feel are candidates for “most important facts.” They will likely have more than six marks when they have finished reading. This mandates that they revisit the text a second time to select those six facts so special that they qualify as “Need to Know” information.

Students will likely have some disagreement with each other on which information is most significant. What is most critical during this activity is for students to verbalize their justification as to why certain information deserves to be remembered.

Advantages

The FQR Chart walks students through highly productive thinking as they construct an understanding of written texts.

Students must pinpoint factual information that truly stands out from the dense background of details;
Students learn to entertain their personal questions about material they are reading;
Students are encouraged to personalize their learning by integrating new ideas into previous understandings and respond to what an author has shared with them.

Further Resources:

Brody, J. (2007) Hard-Knock Lessons from the Concussion Files. The New York Times. February 13.

Harvey, S. & Goudvis, A. (2000) Strategies That Work: Teaching Comprehension to Enhance Understanding. York, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.