Life is an unanswered question, but let's still believe in the
dignity and importance of the question.
- Tennessee
Williams
Questions, questions, questions! Skillful readers ask themselves questions as they
read to build understanding. Often
children read and save the questions for the end. To better understand a text a
reader needs to ask questions before, while, and after they read. As a parent
you can help your child become a more proficient reader by modeling this
process and encouraging your child to use this technique when reading
independently.
As our young readers begin, encourage them to examine the
book’s cover. Talk about the title,
browse through and discuss the pictures, and make some predictions about what
might happen.
While reading together model questions - “What do you think the problem might be in this story? Often characters
have a problem they have to solve. How
do you think they will solve it?”
Encourage children to use prior knowledge (what they know about the
world around them) and think about what they would do in a character’s situation. After reading on, model how you use evidence
from the text to show what the character actually did in the story. Children love to talk about stories and share
their insights. This practice helps the
text become more meaningful and promotes better understanding.
Here is a list of just a few discussion items you might use
while reading together:
- Do you think
this story is fiction (make-believe) or nonfiction (fact)?
- Describe the
character using details from the story.
- Where does the
story take place? Describe the
setting.
- Where did that
happen? How do you know?
- Using a
picture on a page describe how you think a character feels.
- Why do you
think he/she feels like that?
- What was the
problem? Why is that a
problem?
- What would you
do if that happened to you?
- What do you
think will happen next?
After reading you might ask some of these questions:
- Did the story
end the way you predicted?
- What would you
have done if you were that character?
- How did the
character change throughout the story?
- If you could
rename this book, what would you call it?
Why?
- What lesson
did this story teach?
- What did you
learn from this story?
- Does this
story remind you of anything that has ever happened to you?
- How did you
feel at the beginning of the story?
- How do you
feel at the end of the story?
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