She reads ok (could be better) but she is having an awful time comprehending what she has read. Any ideas to try to help her. We read to her and also have her read to us but she can never answer the questions we ask her about the book...Any ideas will be appreciated!
2006-11-12 06:00:15 · 5 answers · asked by He_Knows_Me 4 in Education & Reference ➔ Primary & Secondary Education
This is a common problem. There are many ways you can help her improve her reading comprehension.
The first step is to get her in the habit of "previewing" the book before she reads it. Have her look at the front cover, the title, and the pictures. Ask her what she thinks the story will be about, who the characters will be, etc.. That gets her mind ready to read.
Next, on each page have her look at the picture BEFORE she reads the text. Ask her to tell you what is going on the picture, and what she notices. This will give her some more specific idea of what she's going to read on that page, before she even reads it.
After she reads the page, ask her to tell back to you what happened on that page. Check to see how much detail she is able to recall. Is she getting the overall picture, but leaving out details? That's good. Or is she remembering specific, small details, but not putting them into context or getting the big picture? Or is she not remembering anything at all? If her retell of that one page is incomplete, have her read it again.
As she proceeds through the book, she should to a "picture tell back" for every picture, and she should do a retell after each and every page. This will help you monitor her comprehension as you go. Don't ask her specific questions to prompt her to retell. Just ask, "what happened on that page?" Then nod and listen. If the retelling is incomplete or incorrect, encourage her to re-read and retell again. As she gets into the habit of retelling, it will improve her concentration and comprehension. Knowing that you have to retell forces you to pay attention to the story.
At the same time, you do need to ask certain questions to promote her involvement in the story. For example, ask her to make predictions about what's going to happen next. Then encourage her to read and find out if her prediction was correct. Ask her to make connections between the book and her own life. For example, "Do you think you would like to eat green eggs and ham? Has anyone every tried to make you eat something you didn't want to?" Etc.
You can also incorporate fun activities in with the reading of a book, to encourage her interest and involvement in the story. For example, you could stop reading before the end, put down the book, and write your own endings to the story (with your own illustrations, too, of course). Or you could act out different parts of the story together. When you finish reading, you could encourage your daughter to draw a picture showing what she thinks happened to the characters after the story ended.
The important thing to remember is to teach her to monitor her comprehension as she goes. You can even demonstrate it for her. Read a page aloud, then stop and say, "What happened on this page was... wait a minute... I don't remember! I better read it again." Then read it again and retell it out loud. Encourage her to always do that on her own. Because if you can't retell the story out loud in your own words, then you aren't really reading.
2006-11-12 07:12:14 · answer #1 · answered by dark_phoenix 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The problem is that she has probably memorized the books you have read her and she can basically recite the entire book even without it, but she doesn't know what the book is about because she was trying her hardest to learn the words and not the meanings. Try reading to her and then asking a question about what you just read. If she doesn't understand still go through each page without reading and ask about the pictures and then later as she gets better start throwing words in with the pictures. If she answers with something that has nothing to do with the story that is ok in the beginning, because at least you know she can create her own story with a picture.
2006-11-12 06:14:06 · answer #2 · answered by roxnnid 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One good idea is for her to read the book over and over again. You should also tell your daughter what the book is about, the characters, and the problem of the story. If there is difficult words in the story review with your daughter what the definition is.
2006-11-12 12:44:48 · answer #3 · answered by Teresa M 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you need to make her read the book 2 times and you ask her questions and let her look back in the story.good luck.
2006-11-12 06:05:48 · answer #4 · answered by jimilu007 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well go have a fun day and then have her write about it,Tell her to read it to you and then ask her about it hope this helps
2006-11-12 06:15:46 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋