To help our first graders become great readers, we are
teaching comprehension skills to help them understand the text. These are
the strategies that we have taught, along with an explanation. As new
skills are taught, they will be added to this list.
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING:
With this strategy, children are able to tell "Who" "did what" during the story. This is a quick "check-in" to see if your child has a general grasp of the book.
RETELLING FICTIONAL STORIES:
With this strategy, children are able to give a detailed retelling of the Beginning, the Middle, and the End of the story. We call this the "B/M/E"!
Beginning: usually introduces the main characters (who) and the setting (where and when the story takes place)
Middle: usually introduces the problem
End: tells the solution to the problem or how the story ends
MAKING CONNECTIONS:
Readers who connect to the stories they read have an easier time understanding the characters in the story or the story itself. There are several different kinds of connections.
Text-to-self Connections: "When I heard the part about..." "it reminded me of..."
With this type of connection, readers are able to relate something from the story to his/her own life.
Text-to-text Connections: "This book reminds me of the book __________ ..."
Some books or characters can remind readers of other books they have read or heard. When children compare and contrast stories, they can create Venn diagrams to jot down their thinking.
PREDICTING or "Thinking Ahead":
This strategy can be used before reading a story. Using picture clues and the title of a book, students can make predictions about what will happen during the story.
This strategy also works in the middle of a book. Based on the text that has been read, as well as the pictures, children can predict what will happen next.
If your child is reading a series of books, children can predict what will happen in the next book.
Predictions can be confirmed as correct of incorrect by checking them against the text.
INFERRING or "Looking Back and Reflecting":
Use what you know (your background knowledge) and the clues in the text (both words and pictures) to help you figure out what the author is telling you. This is reading "between the lines". You can infer the meaning of words, how characters are feeling, and why events happen. Confirming whether or not inferences are correct or incorrect is more difficult than confirming predictions.
QUESTIONING:
Readers ask questions about books. This questioning strategy can be done before starting a book, in the middle of the book, and at the very end. Readers who ask questions can go back into the story to locate the evidence that answers their questions. Sometimes the questions do not have answers stated in the text; the reader may have to infer the answer or go to an outside source to learn the answer.
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING:
With this strategy, children are able to tell "Who" "did what" during the story. This is a quick "check-in" to see if your child has a general grasp of the book.
RETELLING FICTIONAL STORIES:
With this strategy, children are able to give a detailed retelling of the Beginning, the Middle, and the End of the story. We call this the "B/M/E"!
Beginning: usually introduces the main characters (who) and the setting (where and when the story takes place)
Middle: usually introduces the problem
End: tells the solution to the problem or how the story ends
MAKING CONNECTIONS:
Readers who connect to the stories they read have an easier time understanding the characters in the story or the story itself. There are several different kinds of connections.
Text-to-self Connections: "When I heard the part about..." "it reminded me of..."
With this type of connection, readers are able to relate something from the story to his/her own life.
Text-to-text Connections: "This book reminds me of the book __________ ..."
Some books or characters can remind readers of other books they have read or heard. When children compare and contrast stories, they can create Venn diagrams to jot down their thinking.
PREDICTING or "Thinking Ahead":
This strategy can be used before reading a story. Using picture clues and the title of a book, students can make predictions about what will happen during the story.
This strategy also works in the middle of a book. Based on the text that has been read, as well as the pictures, children can predict what will happen next.
If your child is reading a series of books, children can predict what will happen in the next book.
Predictions can be confirmed as correct of incorrect by checking them against the text.
INFERRING or "Looking Back and Reflecting":
Use what you know (your background knowledge) and the clues in the text (both words and pictures) to help you figure out what the author is telling you. This is reading "between the lines". You can infer the meaning of words, how characters are feeling, and why events happen. Confirming whether or not inferences are correct or incorrect is more difficult than confirming predictions.
QUESTIONING:
Readers ask questions about books. This questioning strategy can be done before starting a book, in the middle of the book, and at the very end. Readers who ask questions can go back into the story to locate the evidence that answers their questions. Sometimes the questions do not have answers stated in the text; the reader may have to infer the answer or go to an outside source to learn the answer.
GENERAL READING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS:
Here are some general questions you can ask your child to
help check how well he/she understood what was read. These are the same
questions that were given out during the Parent/Teacher Conferences.
1. Who were the characters in the story?
2. Where did the story or event take place?
3. When did the event take place?
4. Which character felt the emotion __________ ?
5. What was the story about?
6. Why did this event happen? or Why did the
character feel this way?
7. How do you know that this event happened or that a
character felt this way? Tell all the clues the author gave.
8. What was the sequence of events in the story?
Could the events happen in a different order and the story still end the same?
9. Compare and then contrast the characters in the
story.
10. Compare the events in this story to another story
you have read. Then, contrast the events.
11. Talk about cause and effect relationships.
Why did an event happen? Could there be other reasons why this event may
happen in real life?
12. Talk about facts and opinions that may be stated
in the book.
13. Did the author of a story have a purpose in
writing this book? What was it?
14. How would you change the ending of the story to
make it better?
15. If you could write a sequel, what would happen in
the next book?
16. What does the word _____________ mean? Are
there clues in the story that help you understand the word? For multiple
meaning words: Do you know any other meanings for this word?
17. How would you rate this book? Would others
like to read it? Why or why not?
18. Can you predict what will happen in the next
chapter or in the next part of the story?
19. How would you feel if you were this
character? Have you ever known anyone who was in this same
situation? How did this person solve the problem?
20. Is there a lesson in this story? (Try to
have the child generalize what they read to their own experiences.)
