An oldie but goodie post...

Aiding your child's understanding of Literature

During conference I spoke to many families about how to help increase their child’s comprehension (understanding) of what they are reading by asking questions about what they read. I thought this information might be important to shall with all of you!

These are some quality questions that provide different levels of understanding you can ask while they are working on their homework or after reading together for fun.

At the beginning of the book-

What does the title tell you about the story? Have you read any other books by this author?

What do you think will happen in this story?

What background knowledge do you already have about the character or setting?

Have you read any other books based in this time period?

How might the story relate to you?

Middle of the book:

What questions do you have about the story?

Why did the character act the way they did?

Predict how the story will end. What clues did you use to make your prediction?

How would you have solved the problem?

How could the character have avoided the problem?

End of the book:

Summarize the story

How was the problem solved?

How would you end the story differently?

If you could re-name the story- what would you name it?

What lesson can you learn from the story?

Compare and contrast you and the main character.

What is the main idea of the story?

Retell just one main event of what we read.

Thank you so much for your support and reading with your child at home!!!

Tara Whalen