One of the key strategies in assuring that students are understanding the texts they read is questioning. Questioning is effective in that it helps students take the time to think about the words they are reading and what those words mean together. Further, questioning is an easy tactic for parents to implement at home—all you have to do is take a short bit of time discuss and question what your student reads!
What kind of questions are most effective you ask? Read on to find out questioning points proven to aid in comprehension!
- Summarize: Ask your student to summarize what she has read. This can be at the end of a reading session, chapter or book or it can be at the start of a new session with the same book. Examples of questions that will prompt your student to summarize:
- What was the book about?
- What was your favorite part? Why? Least favorite part?
- Tell me what happened.
- Do you remember what happened when we read last night?
- Predict: An easy follow-up to a mid-book summary, ask your student to predict what she thinks will happen next. You can also prompt predictions at the start of a book or in the middle of a reading session. Examples:
- What an interesting title/cover/etc! What do you think this book will be about?
- What happened last week? What do you think is going to happen next?
- Wow! This is getting so exciting! What do you think will happen to this character?
- Key Details: Closely relating to summaries, ask your student about the key details of a text, or what the most important parts of the text are. Key details are a primary focus of Teton County School District and bringing the concept up at home is a great way to reinforce it for your student! Examples:
- What were the most important parts of the story? Why were they important?
- What key details helped you understand that character? Or situation?
- When did you know things were changing in the story? Or for the character?
- How did you know what the problem was? When did you know the problem was solved? What key detail let you know?