Questions to ask your child to deepen reading comprehension skills

Reading aloud to your child is one of the BEST things you can do to support their development. Through reading children can:

-increase their vocabulary and comprehension

-develop concentration and critical thinking skills

-expand their imagination and creativity

-develop empathy

And so much more!!

Here are some tips to engage your child in your read aloud time and further support their development and comprehension.

Before reading:

• Look at the cover. Read the title. What do you think this book will be about? Why?

• Take a picture walk and tell the story only through the pictures.

• Do you think you will learn anything new from this book?

• Does this look like a fiction book or a nonfiction book? How do you know?

While reading:

• Pause throughout to notice how the character/characters are feeling. Ask them how they know the character is feeling that way?

• Make connections with the text. This reminds me of....(another book, another character, something in your life, a movie, etc.)

• Use picture clues to add more details to the story.

• Pause and make predictions about what will happen next.

After reading:

• Try retelling the story. What happened first? In the middle? Last?

• Talk about your favorite parts of the story and favorite characters.

• If reading non-fiction, talk about what you learned. What do you want to know more about? What did you already know?

• Read it again! Rereading is one way kids learn to read, they will memorize stories and then you can have them “read” them to you!