Year 4 DD has been given a 4A in reading but still struggles answering comprehension questions

[MrsCantSayAnything]

She's a young year four and reads avidly....she has always found comprehension questions befuddlling though...her teacher this year seems to understand her and says "It's a technique thing....she'll get there."

She went on to say "She obviously understands the books she reads because she reads SO much...and obviously loves it..."

So my question to Mumsnet parents and teachers is why can't she answer comprehension questions easily?

I have every confidence in her teacher as she really "gets" DD somehow....DD is very articulate and grasps quite sophisticated reasoning and philosophy/humour...but how can I help her to respond "right" in comprehension tests etc.

Just let her read. Let her enjoy reading. Reading is tremendously good fun. Comprehension questions are not.

I have two English degrees, btw, I could do a comprehension question if pushed.

"Lingle - I find the HW reading book set questions oddly tedious and I'm sure this is part of the problem (unnatural, is the term that strikes me, personally). But if this is their HW and this is the kind of thing they are generally asked to do then confused what to do about it."

Is the teacher providing a lead to follow here? Can you bump the thread for some primary teachers who understand the problem to advise here?

You get comparable issues in music education which I've moved into. People notice a child being non-compliant but don't notice that the child may simply have good taste and really struggle playing drossy stuff. I have a young musician who simply won't engage with a certain song and to be quite honest after hearing it all term I think he has a point. In music, however, we don't have year 6 SATS.........

Are you talking about written comprehension answers or oral comprehension? (I think verbal responses)?

Written Hamish but sometimes oral as she won't answer or discuss.

I want to discuss this with her teacher (so advice from teachers very welcome - slight highjack but seems pointless to have two threads on this) but not sure what is the best way forward. I don't want to just flat out refuse to do any HW (or maybe I do...) but dd's desire to read has really plummeted since going back to school this year and I don't think we are getting anywhere with the current strategy.

Kundera .... now that takes me back. If that was that book and you were interviewing then you are a few years younger than me.

yes it was! I was 18 and completely phased by people at least twice my age asking about a book with naughty bits in it!

Ds is perfectly competent at these kind of comprehension papers (he got 5a in yr 6) but certainly not enthused by them; I would say they are a bit dry and that the kinds of answers the marking schemes are looking for can be quite formulaic. One thing that might be an issue is that she doesn't realise that she's allowed to state the obvious first and thinking too hard about what's asked of her?

Secondly, I would take a step back from doing too much 'comprehension' with her about her books but do a similar thing with other media, most especially films/tv. Ds and I sometimes watch films together and I often talk to him afterwards (or half way through if we pause and go to make a drink, say) about the characters; motivations; any allegories or 'metaphorical' stuff etc etc. He is much more open to talking about films and tv than he is about his reading, which I think he sees as more private. Just an idea.

Btw, I think we were very lucky in that ds's primary school didn't endlessly set comprehension stuff for homework; in fact they had only one of maths, english, history, geog or science every week (plus spellings). I really think it's counterproductive to ask children to analyse every single book they read and guaranteed to put most of them off reading for life.

I loved English - reading and writing stories was my "thing" all through school but reading comprehension used to drive me mad. I couldn't stand that business of rewriting the whole question in the answer as it seemed so pointless at the time! Now I find my son (Yr4) has a similar attitude to it so I can sympathise with the OP.

I am just feeling really fortunate that we didn't have to endure this kind of grilling about books when I was at primary school. We could just get on with reading books and, when we had finished, went on to the next one. Even when there was a comprehension exercise on the English paper of the 11+, we never did any practice tests for it.

However, I do agree with KitKatGirl about being allowed to state the obvious. When we were doing comprehension exercises for O level, I often wouldn't answer as I thought they can't possibly asking something so simple, then greatly increased my marks when I realised that, actually they were.

I don't think most primary school pupils will be "enduring this kind of grilling about books" now either CecilyP.

That's good to know, mrz.

Aahhhh, reading comprehension.

Dd3's literacy teacher is totally obsessed with it, he is driving me loopy.

Dd3 has ASD and yes she can decode amazingly well and yes she can answer basic reading comprehension questions and yes she is in the top set for literacy but

She is absolutely fed up of being given HW that she cannot even begin to complete and I am fed up of telling him about it.

I have made an appointment with the SENCO to see if she can get through to him.

Good on you. It's better to go in and ask for something to be done for your DD rather than have a nightmare.

My DS had issues with these sort of comprehension questions in Y3/Y4, because he was so busy reading between the lines of the story, looking for hidden meanings and inferences, that he wasn't answering the 'dry' comprehension questions correctly or concisely.

I have taught him to read a question, and if he hears hooves, to look for horses first, and to only look for zebra's if he can't find any horses...

In other words, look for the simple answer first, and only give the more complex answers if you can't find a simple one.

And also, to look at how many marks a question is worth, as that usually gives a guideline as to how many points they are expecting you to cover.

His level for comprehension has jumped from 3a at the end of Y4 to 5b at the start of Y6 - and he has missed over half of the first half term if Y6 through illness!

I don't understand this! I thought NC reading levels were assessed through comprehension papers?

There is no possible way she can have a 4a of her comprehension is low. Sounds like her teacher doesn't know her arse from her elbow! You need to pull her up on it!

So sick of crap teachers giving is all a bad name just because they want to mark the grade rather than target te child's actual needs!

I assure you that her reading is very advanced. I am not an idiot who believes everything I am told....I do know that she reads books meant for much older children, enjoys them and understands them.

Her teacher, FAR from being someone who doesn't know what she is doing, is a very wise woman.

I am a year 4 teacher and run the moderation of teacher based assessment for the borough I teach in.

Im sure youre right in that she is a fantastic reader but she can not have low comprehension if she has been levelled at 4a. You MUST have both in order to achieve past a level 3.

Insert what ever the rolling eye thing was.

There is no seperate levelling system for decoding, fluency etc etc and than that of comprehension.

Most children are 'free' readers in year 4 (black book banding) but that is only where both parts are confidently visible.

What socharlotte said. Reminds me of a conversation with a friend when our DC1's were in year 5, her DC was still on the reading scheme and had average comprehension skills (judging by the level the child was at) but "was reading Harry Potter" at home, mum couldn't see why her DC was on the reading scheme despite "Reading Harry Potter" at home.