COMMON CORE Question Stems for Secondary ELA-- 200+ Stems & Essay Prompts

In this document, you will find over 200 sample question stems to use as templates for close reading that will target the Common Core while simultaneously encouraging critical thinking about fiction and non-fiction. These question stems target skill such as:

Text Purpose, Structure, and Audience
Literary Elements
Literary Techniques
Rhetorical Devices
Non-fiction & Informational Texts
Textual Evidence
Word Meaning in Context
Drawing Conclusions
Making Inferences
Summarizing

and MORE!

For the high school PARCC exam, students must write both a literary analysis essay and synthesize an argument using various pieces of foundational non-fiction. The sample essay prompts included in this packet will enable you to focus your essay prompts on writing tasks for college readiness.

However, these question stems are not just for PARCC! Use them for prepping students in Advanced Placement as well as other non-Common Core state exams where close reading and writing are assessed for graduation.

Sign up for the Bespoke ELA newsletter and find more lesson ideas at: www.bespokeclassroom.com.

Also, follow my broadcasts on Periscope @bespoke_ela