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Primary education

Help with comprehension

6 replies

bath70 · 13/09/2011 14:52

Any tips on how I can get ds with comprehension. He is in year 1 and confidently reading gold books. However, he is reluctant to talk about story etc.
What type of questions should I ask to check understanding?

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sugarandspiceandallthingsnice · 13/09/2011 19:18

While reading - what do you think will happen next? Which character do you like? I have some notes (teacher) will fish some out as I have a huuge list!

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crazygracieuk · 14/09/2011 11:17

We use the pictures as a talking point- eg Why does the character look sad? Which character do you think is X (assuming a description of X was given) If it's a book with a twist then we go back and look at the pictures to try and find clues that the conclusion would happen. If the title of the story becomes clearer as a result of knowing the story then we might talk about that. (some schemes seem to use puns as titles)
He also likes to talk about experiences that he has had which is similar to the story.

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crazygracieuk · 14/09/2011 11:18

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bath70 · 14/09/2011 11:43

Thank you. Great tips.

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blackeyedsusan · 14/09/2011 12:22

groans... sighs.... weeps....

like pulling teeth isn't it?

before you start, what do you think the book is about? how can we tell? (title/picture/back cover )

did you like the story? was it scary/exciting/funny? who is your favourite character, your favourite picture/page

what would you write next if you were writing the story?

point out words in capitals/bold/italics, how does he read those?

how do you think he/she is feeling, later why do you think he/she is feeling...

where is it set, what is the main event of the story? who are the characters?

which characters are good/nice/kind/frienndly/helpful/bad/unkind/rude?

look at the punctuation... how do you read a sentence ending in ./?/!

talk about the contents/index/glossary of non fiction books and how to use them. discuss how the page is laid out.. which labal for which picture and...(awaits some more ideas because I would like some please)

does the book remind you of any other stories?

personally, I would start by commenting on the characters and story yourself, "oh that was kind/nasty/rude etc before you start asking him to comment. discuss the meanings of words you think he doesn't know, try to use them in a sentence yourself later( you will probably feel a right prat, but join the club)

oh and has school not given you any ideas?

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bath70 · 14/09/2011 13:39

Thank you blackeyedsusan. Lots of great tips there. school has just asked me to ask questions but he is so reluctant to do this.

Just trying to finad a way to encourage him and make it fun. Idea of me starting is great. Hopefully it will help.

All this is an unknown quantity as eldest child was a slow starter and comprehension came at same time.