Reflexive Questioning

Reflexive questioning is a skill I learned in an executive functioning course by Tera Sumpter. If you are not already following her on social media, you should!

What I have observed so many times in my sessions is a child who guesses at a word because it looks visually similar (e.g., reads "cup" for 'cap'). This student knows the sounds that each of these letters makes when asked and reads many words correctly, so why was an error made on such a simple word? Moreover, why didn't the student realize they read the wrong word?

I also see students who make errors on many of the little words in sentences (e.g., if, it, on, in, at, etc.) while they are able to read much longer words. Yet if I point it out, they can go back and read the word correctly. Unfortunately, what these students experience is a lot of correction while reading.

Reflexive questioning is a strategy used to develop a student's awareness of their errors (we can't correct it if we don't know it happened), help improve their monitoring and then encourage them to correct their errors with lots of positive feedback.

How does it work?

Very generally, we respond to what the student says and ask guiding questions to help the child reach success.

Example of how I use it in my sessions

The child reads "cup" for 'cap'

Cover up the word and ask the child to think about the piece that was not correct (e.g., What sound do you hear in the middle of "cup"? ("u").

Praise their answer when they get there: That's right!

Follow up: What letter would we use to write that sound? "U"

Praise their answer again: That's right!

Uncover the word and ask, "Does that match?" ("no")

Praise again: You're right!

Ask for correction: Can you fix it? ("cap")

Praise again: Great fix!

I don't tell kids "You know how to read that word" or place judgment on the error. Rather, I praise the correction. We all make mistakes and need to go re-read things sometimes! The child received praise 4 times for that one word they fixed, which helps keep the experience positive.

More Guided Question Examples

Error type	Question
b/d reversal Example: "big" for 'dig'	What sound do you hear at the beginning dig? /d/ Did you tap your tongue like a drum to make the sound or put your lips together in a line? tapped the tongue So what would we see first for that letter, the circle (like a drum) or the line? the circle
Long/short Example: Says "coat" for 'cot'	I know this gets more complicated when we talk about open and closed syllables, but to start I use this... How many vowels do we see when a vowel says its' name? 2 How many do you see here? 1 Will it say its sound (/aw/) or its name /o/?
The child added a sound to a word Example: Says "mant" for 'mat'	What is the 3rd sound in the word 'mant'? /n/ Does that match?

Do you have questions about how to use reflexive questioning for your child's error? Let's figure it out together! Comment on this post with what you noticed!