Home Reading Questions: This page contains answers to commonly asked questions about how to help your child with home reading practice. How can I increase enjoyment and comprehension while reading to my child? This is a tall order for me. How can I do all this and still have fun reading ? What kind of books should I be reading? Should I be reading every night? Should we be reading the classroom read aloud selection at home? What are some good questions I can be asking my child while reading with them? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - How can I increase enjoyment and comprehension while reading to my child? Research has shown that active, thoughtful, proficient readers construct meaning by using the following strategies: - activate prior knowledge (schema) before, during, and after reading - create visual and other sensory images from text while reading - draw inferences from text to form conclusions, make critical judgments, and create unique interpretations - ask questions of yourselves, the authors, and the text while reading - determine the most important themes in the reading - synthesize what is being read (revising predictions and forming new impressions as you gather more information from what is being read) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - This is a tall order for me. How can I do all this and still have fun reading? While you are reading, model the conversations you as a good reader have with yourself on a daily basis. Do not take for granted that your child is having these thoughts. For example: As I am reading aloud to the children, I often come to a part that confuses or surprises me. The prediction I made earlier in my head is no longer valid due to additional information that has just been read. I put the book down and think aloud, "Oh my gosh, I never expected this to happen in the story. As I think aloud, I engage the students by asking them to either agree or disagree with my conclusion. This gets the dialog going that eventually causes us as readers to clarify some misconceptions made thus far. As you are reading together be sure to begin your discussions by saying that these are just your opinions and based on information yet to be read, your opinions may change. This creates a risk free environment for dialog. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - What kind of books should I be reading? Read aloud time with a parent should include books at a higher level than those your child can read independently. Chapter books with a more complex plot allow for more dialog, although there are many "everybody" picture books that will lend themselves to good conversations. Our librarian, Mrs. Whisnand is a wonderful source for literature suggestions. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Should I be reading every night? If you are doing a read aloud chapter book, it's a good idea to be reading nightly so the main story line is fresh in everyone's head. There should always be some kind of reading, either independent or family read alouds being done daily. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Should we be reading the classroom read aloud selection at home? No! Please let the story unfold here at school. So many terrific conversations, debates, evolve as we fine tune our schema on a particular subject or character. If the children know about story developments in advance, we may not have had as interesting a discussion. Feel free to reread a favorite of your child's at home once we're done reading it in class. They should have some good insight from previous discussions here with classmates. --------------------------------------------------------------------- What are some good questions I can be asking my child while reading with them? Here are some of the types of questions you should be asking your child as they read throughout the week: Were any parts of the book funny, sad? What made you feel this way? What do you find most challenging about this book? Do you think the main characters made good decisions? Why or Why not? Would you change anything about this book? Give examples. How do you think the book will end? Do you think the characters are believable? Why or why not? Did the beginning of the book make you want to keep reading? Would you choose to be a friend to one of the characters? Why or why not? Did you have strong feelings as you read this story? Think about the characters in this story. Were any of them like any other characters you have read about?