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Wondering how you can
help your child improve in their reading and their understanding of what
they read? You are not alone. Many parents read with their child but often
don't take the time to talk about what has been read to see if the text is
actually being understood. In the classroom we spend a lot of time focusing
on reading strategies that can help us to better understand what we read and
to become critical readers as well. Four of these strategies are listed
below... |
Making
Connections |
We want students to connect to what
they read. When children "connect" with the text it makes it become more
meaningful. When we think about how something we read is like our own lives,
we understand it better. When we relate to the characters or the author, we
understand on a deeper level. You can help your child to "connect" to what
they read by asking these questions and talking about the answers
together... - How is the main character like you?
- Does this book remind you of any other books that you have read? How?
- Have you read any other books by this author? By this illustrator?
- Have you had a problem like the one the character faces? |
Asking
Questions |
We want children to ask questions
while they read. It helps them to check their understanding as they go. You
can help your child to ask questions while they read by reading together and
sharing the questions that you have during the story...
- I wonder why the
character did that?
- I wonder why the author chose to make that happen?
- I wonder why the illustrator used these colours to represent this page?
- I wonder if the character will______________ to solve the problem? |
| Visualizing |
Strong readers form a picture in
their mind as they read. It is the reason by many people prefer a book to a
movie version of a story. Once the movie is created, the vivid picture you
had in your mind of the characters, the setting, etc. is taken over by the
director's images. As adults, we often don't realize that we are
visualizing. We can help children visual by watching for those descriptive
passages that create amazing mind pictures. Why not stop and ask your child
to draw a picture of what they see in their mind? You could also do this and
then you can compare each other's drawings. What are the similarities? The
differences? |
| Inferring |
Inferring or making inferences is
basically "reading between the lines". By looking at a picture or reading a
passage, we can figure out what the author/illustrator wants us to know.
Often, messages are there but aren't explicitly stated in the text. You can
help your child make inferences by talking about these things...
- What is
the most important thing that you learned from reading this?
- What message do you think the author wanted you to learn from this?
- How do you think the character is feeling?
You can also look at images/photos in magazines and talk about things
like... How is this person feeling? What is he/she
wondering/thinking/wishing? What do you think has happened? What makes you
think this? |
