Guide to Asking Questions for Reading Log Assignment
[Keep this Guide Handy!!]
Dear Parents,
As discussed at Back to School night and parent/teacher conferences, part of reading in Kindergarten is certainly being able to read words, but a major component is also being able to answer questions about stories, both through comprehending what a story is about and inferring what it not necessarily said in a story.
In order to help each Kindergartener achieve these standards in Reading, I have put together this list of questions. Please use these questions as a guide when reading with your child nightly for the Reading Log assignment. Remember, at this point, you can combine simple books your child can read to you with texts that are more difficult that YOU will read to them. That way, your child will become familiar with many different types of texts. More importantly, can they answer these questions about the texts (with some help/guidance?):
- Who are the characters in the story?
- What is the setting? [i.e. where is the story taking place?]
- What are the major parts to the story? [i.e. Can you tell me what happened in the beginning, middle and end of this story?]
- How do the illustrations match up with what is being said in the story?
- [If reading books from the same author] How are these stories similar? How are they different?
- Can you make a prediction about this story? [i.e. What will happen next?]
- What do you think it means when it says… ?
- What’s a different way this story could have ended?
- Why do you think the author chose to end the story this way?
- If the story continued on, what do you think would have happened next?
- How do you think the character is feeling? What makes you say that?
- Does the character’s feelings change throughout the story? Give examples.
- What type of book is this? [i.e. fiction, nonfiction, rhyming, poetry, counting, etc.]
- What does the author do?
- What does the illustrator do?
- Can you make a connection to this story? [i.e. Does this story remind you of something you’ve ever done/a time something similar happened?]
- What is the main topic of this story? [i.e. What is the author trying to tell us?]
- What are some details that support the main topic? [i.e. Can you give examples of how you know what the main topic is?]
- Where is the front cover? Back cover? Title page?
ALL of these questions are not meant to be asked every single time you read a story, but concentrate on maybe 3 or 4 questions each day your child is completing the reading log, so that throughout the course of the week, you will have asked all of these questions (or even more that you think of!) With much practice and experience, your child will be able to answer these questions with more and more precision to the point that maybe they can start asking YOU the questions when completing the reading log.
If you have any questions, please let me know.Happy Reading!
MsPetronio