Comprehension

As young children listen to books being read to them, they are developing skills that are important for their success in reading and writing. It is important to keep in mind that teaching and learning these skills must be done in interactive, hands-on, activities

The following are suggestions and examples of ways to support comprehension:

• When you read a book to an individual child or to a small group, talk about what happened first, then what happened next, and finally how the story ended.
• Provide opportunities for the children to retell the story through flannel board materials, making their own book or class book about the story, creating a picture time-line of events from the book, providing puppets for retelling of the story, and provide props from the story so that children can dramatize the story.
• Discuss characters, events, places, and feelings from the book.
• Have the child(ren) relate the story to his/her own self, or to another similar story that you have read previously. Compare the two books.
• Read the same story by different authors and compare them. How are they the same? How are they different? Did they begin in the same way? Do they end in the same way? Do they have the same characters? Folk tales and fairy tales are good books to do this type of activity.
• Read nonfiction books and talk about the information in the book. Ask questions that are “I wonder ……,” “what do you think might……..,” “tell me about the …….,” Look for more information in other nonfiction resources to find answers to the children’s questions.