Your child can read every word on the page and still miss what the story is about. Comprehension, understanding and thinking about what you read, is the whole point of reading, and it's a skill that can be practiced.
The easiest way to practice is simply to talk about books. You don't need a worksheet. Pick two or three of these questions after story time. Keep it a conversation, not a quiz.
Before reading
- Look at the cover and the title. What do you think this book will be about?
- What do you already know about this topic?
- Why do you think the author wrote this book?
Remembering what happened
- Who are the main characters?
- Where and when does the story take place?
- What happened first, next and last?
- What was the problem in the story? How did it get solved?
Thinking deeper
- Why do you think the character did that?
- How do you think the character felt at that part? What clues tell you?
- What do you think will happen next? Why?
- Was there a word you didn't know? What do you think it means from the sentences around it?
Connecting and judging
- Does this remind you of anything in your own life, or another book you've read?
- What was the most important part of the story?
- If you could change the ending, how would you change it?
- Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
Tips that make a difference
- Ask "why" and "how" more than "what." "What color was the dog?" checks memory. "Why was the dog hiding?" builds thinking.
- Share your own answer too. Modeling how you think about a story teaches more than any question.
- Let them flip back to the page. Finding evidence in the text is a skill teachers look for on every reading test.
- Use nonfiction too. Comprehension questions work great with books about sharks, space or sports.
When to get help
If your child can retell the events but struggles with "why" questions, or if they read fluently but can't tell you what a page was about, a few focused sessions on comprehension strategies can help a lot.
How Mighty Minds can help
Our comprehension sessions teach children to find the main idea, make inferences and talk about what a story really means, the same skills tested in class and on the STAAR reading test.