Reading Discussions

Use a few of the following prompts with your child each day! Show your child you value literacy by reading with your child and having book discussions.

*Who are the characters?

*Describe the changes in (character) from chapter ____ to now?

*How does the character change from the beginning to the middle of the story, middle to the end of the story?

*What character traits describe the characters?

*What advice would you give the character?

*At the end of chapter ___, how does the character feel?

*Describe the problem in chapter ____. What does the character do to try to solve the problem?

*Do people you know in real life behave like the characters?

*Was the behavior of the character right or wrong? Why?

*Would you like having one of the characters in the story as a friend?

*What is the most important idea from this part of the book?

*Name in correct sequence, the 3 most important events in the story.

*Name an important event that happened in the story (effect), and then tell why it happened? (cause)

*What do you predict will happen next?

*Where does the story take place? Describe the place.

*Could there be a place like this?

*Would you visit this place? Why?

*When did the story take place? Did the story take place a long time ago or in the future? How do you know?

*What does the place remind you of? Have you ever been somewhere like this?

*Were there any examples of similes or metaphors? (2 things being compared)

*Were there any examples of personification? (Giving human traits to nonliving things)

*Did the story end like you thought it would?

*If you could change the ending, how would you change it?

*What special sensory words or phrases did the author use to help you see, hear, smell, feel or taste things?

*Did you learn any new words in the story?

*Who is the author?

*What is the author’s purpose for writing this story/chapter? (To entertain, to describe, to persuade or convince, to inform)

*What genre is this? (Fiction, nonfiction, short story, novel, journal, letter, instructions, recipe, biography, autobiography, play, poem, newspaper article, magazine article, essay)

*What would you say in a friendly letter to the author?

*Would you read another book by this author?

*Rate your book. (1-10)

*What was your favorite part of the story?

*If you wanted to suggest this story to a friend, what would you say?

*Does your book have pictures or maps or diagrams? Were they helpful?

*When was your book published?

Allison Wooten