Comprehension Prompts

Thinking Within the Text

* What was the problem in the story? What did _____ do to solve the problem?

*What happened in the story? How did the story end?

*Explain what you learned in this book. What did you learn about ____?

*What were some important facts about ____ in this book?

*What information did you learn from the (chart, map, label, graph, photo, drawing, glossary)? What kind of information does it give you?

*Tell me some ways ___and ___ are alike/different.

*Tell me how ____ felt when ___. Why?

*Why is ___ important?

*How does ____ change? What does ___ learn?

*How do you think ____ felt when (or about) _____?

*Why do you think _____? Can you give an example from the book?

*Make a prediction about ____. How do you know something is going to happen here?

*What does the writer say that makes you think that?

*What is a question you still have about ____?

*What lesson did ____ learn?

*What was the value of ____ to _____?

*What did ____ learn? How do you know this?

*Is this a good title for this story? Why (not)?

*What makes the title, ____ a good one for this book?

*Give an example of a description the writer used to show what ____ was like.

*What was the most important part of the story and why?

*The writer used specific words/phrases to describe _____. Can you give examples?

*How did the writer let you know that something exciting was going to happen(foreshadowing)? Find examples from the text.

*Look back at the text and find some powerful descriptive words. Explain what they mean.

*Find the part in the story where _____.

*Why do you think the writer said ____?

*What did the writer mean by ______?

*Show the sections of the book and tell the kind of information in each section.

*How does the heading help you read the book?

*How did the writer help you understand _____?

*How did the writer make this book interesting?

*Look at the way the writer began the book. What did the writer do to get you

interested in the topic?

*What side do you think the writer is on? Why?

*What is the significance of___?

*Why do you think the writer wrote this book in 1st (or 3rd) person?

*What genre did the writer use? What makes you think that?

*Look at the way the writer ended the book. Do you think this is a good way to end? Why

or why not?

*What did the writer mean when s/he said _____?

*What was the writer’s message?