Below are some video links to understand the types of comprehension strategies we teach students in class.

NOTE: Each of these TYPES of reading comprehension could be a focus in my classroom for a couple of weeks. Don't feel like you have to rush through them. Take time to practice each skill well.

• Use each video as an introduction (or review, for ones we've already learned about in class) with your child.

• Beside each video, I've included a printable page your student can use to write about their reading.

• Under each video, I've added some examples of questions you could ask your child after they have read a story. These questions focus on that specific types of understanding (or reading comprehension).

• Have your child read many books, and keep asking them the same type of question but about different stories, non-fiction texts, or chapters in a novel. This repetitive practice of the same type of question, BUT with new stories, will help them to get better at that comprehension skill.

Connections (March 25-27)

Making Connections:

(Print out the connections journal above, watch the video with your child, read some books and start MAKING CONNECTIONS!)

STUDENTS CAN make four different types of connections:

• Text to self (meaning they can relate to something happening in the story)

• Text to text (they've read a book similar and can compare similarities and differences between the stories)

• Text to world (it reminds them of something occuring globally, or that has occured in the real world)

• Text to media (the story reminds them of a video game, movie or other type of media that isn't a "book")

Types of Questions you can ask your child to practice this strategy as they read:

• Does this remind you of anything that has happened to you before? How? Tell me more...

  • • • (ask for specific details-especially when relating to FEELINGS a character is experiencing)

• Have you ever FELT this way before? When?

• Does this remind you of another book you have read?

• Did the other TV show/movie/book tell you the same things? Did they add things or take things out? How did that affect the story?

  • • • (particularly for movie adaptations of books you or your child has read)

• We can compare what the author says about this with what we know about ________.

  • • • (Good for non-fiction text-to-text or text-to-world connections).

Inferring (March 30-April 3)

Making Inferences:

(Sometimes referred to as "reading between the lines" or "filling in the gaps")

EASIEST to explain when reading mysteries. If you have any "Nancy Drew" or "Hardy Boys" books laying around (I remember my grandma used to have a whole bookshelf of them), these are GREAT for practicing this strategy.

STUDENTS CAN:

• Bring together their own background knowledge, with CLUES in the text to understand what isn't being directly stated.

• Visualize what is happening in the story

  • • • (Did you know visualizing is also an important skill in math?! Wow! So many connections between subjects!)

• Not just guess!-but find direct quotes in the text to show you what evidence made them come to a certain conclusion.

Types of Questions you can ask your child to practice this skill as they read:

• Why did this happen?

• What was ________ (character) feeling when that happened? HOW DO YOU KNOW? (Ask for specific evidence either from the picture or from the words)

• What is the problem here? How do you think it will be solved? What makes you think that?

• Can you picture that in your mind? What does it look like?

• What was funny about that part? Do you think the author wanted it to be funny?

Analyzing (April 6-9)

Analyzing Texts for Facts:

(Mainly for non-fiction texts)

STUDENTS CAN:

• Find facts

• Find the main idea of a text

• Find supporting details

• Use text features to find information efficiently (table of contents, text boxes, captions under pictures etc...) Sometimes students skip over reading parts of the text! Be sure they are reading ALL information on a page, not just the main paragraphs.

Types of Questions you can ask your child to practice this strategy as they read:

• What else does it say about _________.

• Where did you find that information while reading?

  • • • (You can also find that here. You may need to look in more than one place for the information.)

• Does the author give you evidence to support your opinion? Where?

  • • • (Ask them to find the information in the text. It's okay to look back in the book for answers-but try to encourage them to put the information in their own words as much as possible, rather than just reading straight out of the book.)

• What details does the author tell you about the main idea?

• Could we organize all the information we've learned into categories?

  • • • (Have students write down facts, but them sort them under various headings. Example: if reading a non-fiction text about an animal, you could arrange the facts into ones about habitat, predators, what the animal eats, and other "interesting facts")

Synthesizing (April 20-24)

Synthesizing:

(Combining ALL strategies together)

STUDENTS CAN:

• Summarize the story to provide a BRIEF account.

  • • • (ONE OR TWO SENTENCES. Encourage your child to only tell you the most important events of a story, not a laundry list of EVERY SINGLE DETAIL that happened. Determining importance is a skill they need to develop.)

• Connect facts, events and ideas into a cohesive statement

  • • • (Consider this telling you the moral or message of the story. Why did the author write this? What is the story really about? What LESSON did the author want you to learn?)

• Integrate their prior knowledge, with what they have read, to create a NEW understanding of something.

Types of Questions you can ask your child to practice this strategy as they read:

• Can you tell me only the MOST IMPORTANT parts?

• What is the book about?

• What is the message/moral/lesson we can learn from this story?

• What's the most important thing you learned? (For non-fiction texts)

• In just a few words, can you tell me what the book (or chapter) was about?

• Did the first and last sentence give you any clues about the main idea? (Non-fiction)

• Is that the main idea or just an interesting fact? (Non-fiction)

Analyzing (April 27-May 1)

Researching for a Report

Evaluating (May 11-14)

Stating and supporting your opinion about a text

Sequencing(May 19-20)

Stating important events from the story in order

Robert Munsch: Review

Reviewing our Reading Strategies: May 25-29

Reading and Evaluating Poetry

For the Week of (June 1-5)