According to Scholastic, your child will learn a variety of literacy skills that will enable her to comprehend what she reads. Building your child's comprehension happens through writing, phonics, letter knowledge and vocabulary. You can play a powerful role in helping your child learn comprehension skills. The questions you ask her while reading together will help her make connections with the story, make comparisons and notice things about the text.
What Did You Learn About...?
Phrase reading comprehension questions so that your child cannot answer with a mere yes or no. Asking your child what he learned from the story involves answers that will require him to explain what the book was about. According to John T. Guthrie, Allan Wigfield and Kathleen C. Perencevich, authors of "Motivating Reading Comprehension: Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction," factual and description questions will boost your child's comprehension of what he is reading. Factual questions about what he learned require him to recall what he has read, which is only possible if he comprehends what he is reading. Description questions require him to describe what certain scenes or characters were about, which also ensures that he understands what he has read.
What Do You Think Will Happen Next?
Asking your child questions while you read together will ensure that you know she is understanding what she is reading. Asking her what she thinks will happen next requires that she understand what has already happened in order to make a prediction about what is going to happen. Scholastic reports that asking questions in the middle of a book requires your child to remember and think about the story so far. Even if she is not correct in predicting what will happen next, she will be able to recall what has already happened so that she will be able to comprehend the rest of the story.
What Does This Story Remind You Of?
Making comparisons is an important skill required to comprehend text, says Susan E. Israel, author of "Metacognition in Literacy Learning: Theory, Assessment, Instruction, and Professional Development," because it allows your child to recall memories or experiences from her past and apply them to what she is reading. Relying on real-life examples can boost comprehension because if your child can relate to what she is reading, it is more likely that she will understand what the story is about. This question also encourages your child to interact with the story she is reading, which Israel suggests will enable her to remember what she has read and apply it to her own life.
References
- Scholastic: Making Reading Meaningful
- "Motivating Reading Comprehension: Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction"; Allan Wigfield et al; 2004
- Scholastic: 6 Ways to Improve Reading Comprehension
