Comprehension
Before a child can begin to understand what has been read, the words must be unlocked. There are three systems for doing this: the use of meaning, syntax, and visual cues.
Meaning - The child uses the story to make a good guess at the word, then cross-checks for syntactic and visual cues.
There are many levels of comprehension. The most basic ones involve being able to talk about the setting, characters, problem, and solution. This is an excellent and necessary way to start; however, we need to help our children draw more deeply from the text. Predictions are guesses about what will happen next based on what has happened in the text up to that point. The children should be able to substantiate or justify their predictions based on actual textual happenings. Inferences are guesses about what is happening "behind the scenes". Usually these are in reference to why a character behaves in a certain manner or what has happened that the story doesn't explicitly say. Again these guesses are based on textual happenings and should be justifiable. Both predictions and inferences may change as we read more of the story and gather more information. As they are reading, children need to be detectives looking for clues and making connections to previous parts of the story.
General Questions and Discussion Starters
Specific Comprehension Questions
Imagery
Connections
Asking Questions
Important Ideas
Prediction
Meaning - The child uses the story to make a good guess at the word, then cross-checks for syntactic and visual cues.
- If your child is failing to use meaning to help guide his/her reading, prompt with "What would make sense?"
- If your child uses meaning without cross-checking, ask "Does that sound right? Does that look right?"
- If your child is not using syntax prompt with "Can we say it like that? Does that sound right?"
- Model correct usage of English during conversation.
- If a book is written with a dialect, point it out and discuss it with your child.
- Identify the vowel(s) and the most likely sound.
- Identify any letters that go together to form unusual sounds (sh, th, tch)
- Blend the word from the beginning.
- If there is a problem, help your child by correcting the part that is incorrect.
There are many levels of comprehension. The most basic ones involve being able to talk about the setting, characters, problem, and solution. This is an excellent and necessary way to start; however, we need to help our children draw more deeply from the text. Predictions are guesses about what will happen next based on what has happened in the text up to that point. The children should be able to substantiate or justify their predictions based on actual textual happenings. Inferences are guesses about what is happening "behind the scenes". Usually these are in reference to why a character behaves in a certain manner or what has happened that the story doesn't explicitly say. Again these guesses are based on textual happenings and should be justifiable. Both predictions and inferences may change as we read more of the story and gather more information. As they are reading, children need to be detectives looking for clues and making connections to previous parts of the story.
- Talk with your child while s/he is reading, not only asking the "right there" questions of who, what, and when...but the "thinking" questions of why, what if, and what next?
- Create a "story board" as you read. Stop every paragraph or two and talk about what happened, then sketch in the story. Retell it from the beginning as you go.
General Questions and Discussion Starters
- What was your favorite part? Why?
- Summarize the book in one or two sentences.
- · Would you recommend this book to another person? Why or why not?
- · Which character can you identify most closely with? Why?
- · If you could change any part of the story, what would you change? Why?
- Come up with a new title. Explain why you named it that.
- You are going to change places with one character in the book. Who would you be? Why that character?
- Select two characters in the book. What are two ways they are alike and two ways they are different?
- What are some of the turning points in the story?
- Which character in the story did you like the least? Explain why.
- Which character in the story did you like most? Explain why.
- Which one color represents the story? Explain your answer.
- Ask a summary question. For example: “What do you see in your mind after reading this much of the story?”
- Ask a prediction question. For example: “What do you think will happen next?”
- Ask a thinking question. For example: “Are you wondering about anything?”
Specific Comprehension Questions
Imagery
- Where does the story take place?
- Who are the characters?
- What time of day do you think it is in the story? Why do you think that?
- What would you smell if you were a character in the story?
Connections
- What have you done that is like this story?
- How does this story remind you of another story?
- What have you heard about that is like this story?
Asking Questions
- If you could ask one of the characters a question, what would it be?
- What else would you like to know that the story didn’t tell you?
- What question does this story answer?
Important Ideas
- What is the problem in this story?
- What is the solution in this story?
- Is this story fiction or nonfiction? How do you know?
- What is the main idea of this story?
Prediction
- What do you think will happen next?
- What title would you give the sequel?
- What evidence do you have from the story to support your opinion?