Asking children questions about the story builds comprehension skills.
Reading comprehension is an important part of students' lives. They are constantly asked to read passages and provide meanings and ideas and to solve problems based on the information. Comprehension activities can be completed before children can even read. Activities can be used before, during and after reading the stories to build reading comprehension.
KWL Charts
KWL charts are created in three sections. The first section is what the children know. The second is what they want to know. The final section is what they have learned. These charts are helpful for teaching young children about subjects like animals. For example, before reading a story, ask children what they know about sea turtles. List these in the "K" section of the chart. Ask the children what they want to know. List these items under the "W" section of the chart. Read a story about sea turtles. At the end of the story review, have the children tell you what they learned and list this in the "L" section of the chart. Review the "K" and "W" sections to add information.
Sequencing
Sequencing is the ability of children to tell what order events happened in a story. Create a number of flashcards detailing important aspects of a story that is to be read to the children. Read the story. Provide them with the flashcards and see if the children can put the story in order based on just the cards. Other sequencing activities can be simple questioning strategies, such as, "What happened after the cow jumped over the moon?"
New Words
Building vocabulary is an important aspect of reading comprehension. Select seven to 10 words out of a story that will be read to students. When one of these words comes up in the story, ask the children if they know what that word means. For example, "The baby sea turtles scuttled to the sea." Ask the children if they know what "scuttle" means. Have the children scuttle around. Read the story again later and, without asking what it means, tell the students to "scuttle" around in a circle.
Reading Review
Young children love to have the same story read over and over to them. Before reading the story, tell them that you can't remember what happened in the story. Have the children detail what happens in the story before you read it to them. Once you read the book, ask the children questions about the story to check their understanding. For example, "Why did the friends clean the beach for the sea turtles?" These probing questions will demonstrate that the children comprehended the ideas within the story.
Tags: what they, Read story, section chart, they know, about story, about turtles, children questions