These two activities are designed to engage students with complex ideas and encourage critical thinking before and during reading.

The first activity presents students with thought-provoking statements about life, choices, and values. Students decide whether they Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree with each statement and then provide a written explanation. This promotes reflection, opinion-supported writing, and helps connect personal perspectives to larger issues, while also laying the foundation for class discussions and analysis.

The second activity focuses on generating essential questions. Students are invited to develop their own open-ended questions connected to broad concepts. These questions stem from their personal experiences, curiosities, and observations. As they read, students can revisit their questions to see how their thinking develops, deepens, or changes.

Together, these activities serve as both pre-reading and ongoing engagement tools. They activate prior knowledge, spark curiosity, and provide an inquiry-based framework for exploring texts. By combining personal reflection with question generation, students strengthen their ability to think critically, make meaningful connections, and participate in richer discussions.