Tidbit #9: Reading Comprehension

#1 · September 21, 2003, 4:12 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on September 21, 2003, 4:12 pm
Posted by: homenews <homenews@...>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE HOPE CHEST

with Virginia Knowles

Tidbit #9 on September 20, 2003

Reading Comprehension

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As promised, here are some tips and techniques to improve reading comprehension. I could write much more, but this is supposed to be a "tidbit" AND I have written a whole section on "Reading to Learn" in my book Common Sense Excellence: Faith-Filled Education for Preschool to 5th Grade.

1. Attitude first! If the student thinks he wont learn anything from the reading, he probably wont! You may need to discuss WHY it is important to read the assignment, and then try to pique his interest and curiosity. While it is quite helpful to choose books which personally interest the child, there will be times he needs to read something he considers boring, hard or otherwise unappealing. Here is where he needs an attitude of cheerful diligence -- to make the best of having to do what he doesnt prefer to do, and not just the bare minimum! (Your good example can be a huge help!)

2. Choose books at the right level for your child. Especially for a younger child, there is a decoding level (what can he read by himself?) and a listening level (what can he understand when it is read aloud to him?). These suggested levels are often indicated on an elementary level book or in a home school catalog. If your child cannot understand five words on a page, try something easier.

3. Reading comprehension requires attention! Cut out distractions -- TV, radio, sibling chaos, etc. FOCUS! Give it your all! Dont rush through reading. Give plenty of quiet time each day for sustained silent reading. This may require cutting something else out of the schedule! Choose a comfortable place to sit, but not so comfortable that he falls asleep. Plan reading times for when your child is alert and well-fed.

4. Use the Charlotte Mason style oral and written narrative methods. Your child must read (or listen to) the passage ONCE (forces him to pay attention), and then tell back what he has learned IN HIS OWN WORDS without undue prompting from the parent. The goal is not to continually explain to the student what the passage means, but to have him develop the skills to extract and interpret information on his own. You will not always be there to "translate" the reading passage. You may need to help a little here and there, but he needs to stretch his own brain and think for himself!

5. Go over unfamiliar vocabulary words from a reading passage. Have your child list the ones he doesnt already understand, define them using a dictionary, give a few synonyms, and use the words in his own sentences.

6. If a passage is really difficult, read it aloud to your child. Then have him read it aloud to you. The words and pronunciations will be more familiar if he hears you reading to him, but then he can encounter them for himself with his eyes and mouth while he reads aloud to you. If this is too tedious, sit next to him and have him track the words with his finger while you read them. Seeing a word in print is different from hearing it read aloud or saying it yourself. Doing all three can stretch your child in two key learning modes, visual and auditory, because it uses his stronger mode to boost the weaker one.

7. Keep in mind that there are different levels of intensity in reading. Sometimes we just pick up a book for light reading and amusement. We dont expect to learn much from it. Thats OK, as long as thats not all you read! Then there are books that we can be educational just by reading through once, without a lot of fuss about it. That probably makes up the bulk of our home school reading. Finally, there are things we must STUDY with a high level of attention. We know we will need to recall the information later, or we may be required to discuss it or write about it. The remaining tips in this article are for STUDYING literature.

8. Consider using a literature study guide from Progeny Press or Total Language Plus which are available for all grade levels from upper elementary onward. These include comprehension questions, vocabulary, related activities, thinking skills exercises, and more. (For high schoolers, the Cliff Notes and Spark Notes (www.sparknotes.com) books formats actually give more information about a book, with less questions for the student. Please be warned that these are "adult level" guides with content that may be inappropriate.)

9. Check out some web links! Find sites that suggest good books, and then download related comprehension activities. Since there are inherent risks to the Internet, I recommend that you do the surfing to find appropriate sites, and then show the information to your child. (Im sorry that I dont have any good links to suggest here. I dont have time to look right now! If you have a specific book you are studying, do a web search on the title and author, and you are likely to come up with something worthwhile.)

10. When a child must answer questions from a study guide or at the end of a text book chapter, have him scan them first so he can know what to look for as he reads, but dont allow him to just pick through the reading material to find answers! To gain full understanding, he needs to read the whole selection in context. There will be research assignments later on when he just needs to extract information quickly. However, quick skimming alone is not good practice for developing the general reading comprehension which is needed for the bulk of his education. First a child needs to learn to read "whole to part" to gain a sense of context, sequence, and flow. To merely hunt for isolated answers is taking a shortcut, because he will not understand how these answers fit in with the whole picture. Keep the goal in mind -- is it to fill in the blanks, or learn as much as he can about a topic?

11. Use the tried-and-true SQRR method

Survey the selection to get an overview.

Question what you need or want to learn.

Read the passage all the way through.

Recite back the key point.

Review the passage to see if you understand it.

12. It may help to let your student outline or summarize the main ideas or sequence. This develops note taking skills which can be crucial in the high school and college years. He can also look for story elements such as authors intent (inform, entertain, persuade) and point of view, historical context, setting, character development, sub plots and twists, literary devices (foreshadowing, flashbacks, symbolism, etc.) All of these practices will strengthen his capacity in writing, since the continual exposure to content and style of quality literature will serve as a powerful model for him. Consider asking your child to write a short piece in the same style as the passage he has just read, such as a poem. Do you need help with these concepts? Get Kathryn Stouts book Critical Conditioning. There are lots of helpful tips, lists, and charts to teach critical thinking, reading comprehension, literature analysis and study skills for K-12th grades.

~*~*~

Here are some additional tips from Hope Chest reader Sharon Doran. Thanks, Sharon!

I keep a wooden 1 inch cube and I have written the 5 W's and H (one on each side). You could use any size cube. After reading a paragraph, chapter or whole story, they throw the cube-like dice and then they have to look under Who?, What?, When?, Where?, Why?, and How? on a sheet of questions and then give the answers. Older students could write their answers. This should help them when it comes time for a book report. Examples of questions: Who wrote the story? Who is in the story? Who is the main character? Who do you like the best? What happened in the paragraph, chapter, story? What is the cause of what happened? What do you think will happen next? Ask a lot of the W and H questions when they are reading to you, or answer them yourself from your page as you read to them. I even have read whole chapters if the child has a great deal of difficulty. I do not read the whole book, just part of it two times a week. Pick Tuesday and Thursday or Monday and Wednesday to help yourself remember. This can spur them along; the younger ones do not feel like they are all alone on their own, overwhelmed, and not knowing what to do.

Expect them to keep a list of vocabulary in which they have defined and given at least one synonym for each unknown word. Check this list from time to time. Especially when they read a page to you, ask them what a certain word means right then. If they do not know the answer and a synonym, you can add the word to their vocabulary list for homework.

Keep it fun for younger children by reading a page to them, and then they read the next page before completing it on their own. Older children should read a page to you once or twice a week as well. Everyone needs to see things modeled, especially for vintage literature like The Red Badge of Courage, which uses the language of that time and is a bit hard to grasp for some children. This also helps to get the rhythm of poetry.

Have the student make a web or outline per chapter, or do it when the book is finished. Of course webbing is easier for younger children, and a good place to begin, but every student in 10th grade and up should know how to outline. It is a higher level of thinking activity where they have to sum up ideas and condense their thoughts using their own words, and not copy every sentence. Give them lots of good feedback: "I like this because..." OR "This would be a better sentence if...." Ask questions, such as "What do you think this paragraph needs?" OR "Where are you going to include ______?" OR "How do you end a paragraph and begin the next paragraph?"

They can also:

Tell about the setting of the story.

Give the main idea and 3, 4, or 5 supporting ideas.

Write a new ending.

Write what they liked or did not like about the story. Any idea they have is acceptable. They must write, even if it is only one paragraph. Model what makes a good paragraph.

Use the main idea and rewrite a paragraph of their own...etc.

Look for good summations and conclusions.

Set a deadline and show them what has to be done each day and week to meet the deadline. If a book report is required, give them an outline of what is expected.

~*~*~*~

Thanks, Sharon!

And finally, some reading comprehension advice from the best book of all! Are you reading and understanding Scripture?

"My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding." Proverbs 2:1-6

"Let me understand the teaching of your precepts; then I will meditate on your wonders." Psalm 119:27

In His Sovereign Grace,

Virginia Knowles

The Hope Chest is a free e-mail newsletter with encouragement and practical teaching tips. The writer is Virginia Knowles, wife of Thad, mother of nine children, and author of Common Sense Excellence: Faith-Filled Home Education for Preschool to 5th Grade, and The Real Life Home School Mom.

Web: http://www.thehopechest.net Please note that as of today (September 21) this web site is not operational yet. It is being moved from the old Homestead location, which I will no longer use.

E-mail: [email protected]

Subscription: [email protected]

Unsubscription: [email protected]

Posted by: homenews <homenews@...>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE HOPE CHEST

with Virginia Knowles

Tidbit #9 on September 20, 2003

Reading Comprehension

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As promised, here are some tips and techniques to improve reading comprehension. I could write much more, but this is supposed to be a "tidbit" AND I have written a whole section on "Reading to Learn" in my book Common Sense Excellence: Faith-Filled Education for Preschool to 5th Grade.

1. Attitude first! If the student thinks he wont learn anything from the reading, he probably wont! You may need to discuss WHY it is important to read the assignment, and then try to pique his interest and curiosity. While it is quite helpful to choose books which personally interest the child, there will be times he needs to read something he considers boring, hard or otherwise unappealing. Here is where he needs an attitude of cheerful diligence -- to make the best of having to do what he doesnt prefer to do, and not just the bare minimum! (Your good example can be a huge help!)

2. Choose books at the right level for your child. Especially for a younger child, there is a decoding level (what can he read by himself?) and a listening level (what can he understand when it is read aloud to him?). These suggested levels are often indicated on an elementary level book or in a home school catalog. If your child cannot understand five words on a page, try something easier.

3. Reading comprehension requires attention! Cut out distractions -- TV, radio, sibling chaos, etc. FOCUS! Give it your all! Dont rush through reading. Give plenty of quiet time each day for sustained silent reading. This may require cutting something else out of the schedule! Choose a comfortable place to sit, but not so comfortable that he falls asleep. Plan reading times for when your child is alert and well-fed.

4. Use the Charlotte Mason style oral and written narrative methods. Your child must read (or listen to) the passage ONCE (forces him to pay attention), and then tell back what he has learned IN HIS OWN WORDS without undue prompting from the parent. The goal is not to continually explain to the student what the passage means, but to have him develop the skills to extract and interpret information on his own. You will not always be there to "translate" the reading passage. You may need to help a little here and there, but he needs to stretch his own brain and think for himself!

5. Go over unfamiliar vocabulary words from a reading passage. Have your child list the ones he doesnt already understand, define them using a dictionary, give a few synonyms, and use the words in his own sentences.

6. If a passage is really difficult, read it aloud to your child. Then have him read it aloud to you. The words and pronunciations will be more familiar if he hears you reading to him, but then he can encounter them for himself with his eyes and mouth while he reads aloud to you. If this is too tedious, sit next to him and have him track the words with his finger while you read them. Seeing a word in print is different from hearing it read aloud or saying it yourself. Doing all three can stretch your child in two key learning modes, visual and auditory, because it uses his stronger mode to boost the weaker one.

7. Keep in mind that there are different levels of intensity in reading. Sometimes we just pick up a book for light reading and amusement. We dont expect to learn much from it. Thats OK, as long as thats not all you read! Then there are books that we can be educational just by reading through once, without a lot of fuss about it. That probably makes up the bulk of our home school reading. Finally, there are things we must STUDY with a high level of attention. We know we will need to recall the information later, or we may be required to discuss it or write about it. The remaining tips in this article are for STUDYING literature.

8. Consider using a literature study guide from Progeny Press or Total Language Plus which are available for all grade levels from upper elementary onward. These include comprehension questions, vocabulary, related activities, thinking skills exercises, and more. (For high schoolers, the Cliff Notes and Spark Notes (http://www.sparknotes.com) books formats actually give more information about a book, with less questions for the student. Please be warned that these are "adult level" guides with content that may be inappropriate.)

9. Check out some web links! Find sites that suggest good books, and then download related comprehension activities. Since there are inherent risks to the Internet, I recommend that you do the surfing to find appropriate sites, and then show the information to your child. (Im sorry that I dont have any good links to suggest here. I dont have time to look right now! If you have a specific book you are studying, do a web search on the title and author, and you are likely to come up with something worthwhile.)

10. When a child must answer questions from a study guide or at the end of a text book chapter, have him scan them first so he can know what to look for as he reads, but dont allow him to just pick through the reading material to find answers! To gain full understanding, he needs to read the whole selection in context. There will be research assignments later on when he just needs to extract information quickly. However, quick skimming alone is not good practice for developing the general reading comprehension which is needed for the bulk of his education. First a child needs to learn to read "whole to part" to gain a sense of context, sequence, and flow. To merely hunt for isolated answers is taking a shortcut, because he will not understand how these answers fit in with the whole picture. Keep the goal in mind -- is it to fill in the blanks, or learn as much as he can about a topic?

11. Use the tried-and-true SQRR method

Survey the selection to get an overview.
Question what you need or want to learn.
Read the passage all the way through.
Recite back the key point.
Review the passage to see if you understand it.

12. It may help to let your student outline or summarize the main ideas or sequence. This develops note taking skills which can be crucial in the high school and college years. He can also look for story elements such as authors intent (inform, entertain, persuade) and point of view, historical context, setting, character development, sub plots and twists, literary devices (foreshadowing, flashbacks, symbolism, etc.) All of these practices will strengthen his capacity in writing, since the continual exposure to content and style of quality literature will serve as a powerful model for him. Consider asking your child to write a short piece in the same style as the passage he has just read, such as a poem. Do you need help with these concepts? Get Kathryn Stouts book Critical Conditioning. There are lots of helpful tips, lists, and charts to teach critical thinking, reading comprehension, literature analysis and study skills for K-12th grades.

~*~*~

Here are some additional tips from Hope Chest reader Sharon Doran. Thanks, Sharon!

I keep a wooden 1 inch cube and I have written the 5 W's and H (one on each side). You could use any size cube. After reading a paragraph, chapter or whole story, they throw the cube-like dice and then they have to look under Who?, What?, When?, Where?, Why?, and How? on a sheet of questions and then give the answers. Older students could write their answers. This should help them when it comes time for a book report. Examples of questions: Who wrote the story? Who is in the story? Who is the main character? Who do you like the best? What happened in the paragraph, chapter, story? What is the cause of what happened? What do you think will happen next? Ask a lot of the W and H questions when they are reading to you, or answer them yourself from your page as you read to them. I even have read whole chapters if the child has a great deal of difficulty. I do not read the whole book, just part of it two times a week. Pick Tuesday and Thursday or Monday and Wednesday to help yourself remember. This can spur them along; the younger ones do not feel like they are all alone on their own, overwhelmed, and not knowing what to do.

Expect them to keep a list of vocabulary in which they have defined and given at least one synonym for each unknown word. Check this list from time to time. Especially when they read a page to you, ask them what a certain word means right then. If they do not know the answer and a synonym, you can add the word to their vocabulary list for homework.

Keep it fun for younger children by reading a page to them, and then they read the next page before completing it on their own. Older children should read a page to you once or twice a week as well. Everyone needs to see things modeled, especially for vintage literature like The Red Badge of Courage, which uses the language of that time and is a bit hard to grasp for some children. This also helps to get the rhythm of poetry.

Have the student make a web or outline per chapter, or do it when the book is finished. Of course webbing is easier for younger children, and a good place to begin, but every student in 10th grade and up should know how to outline. It is a higher level of thinking activity where they have to sum up ideas and condense their thoughts using their own words, and not copy every sentence. Give them lots of good feedback: "I like this because..." OR "This would be a better sentence if...." Ask questions, such as "What do you think this paragraph needs?" OR "Where are you going to include ______?" OR "How do you end a paragraph and begin the next paragraph?"

They can also:

Tell about the setting of the story.
Give the main idea and 3, 4, or 5 supporting ideas.
Write a new ending.
Write what they liked or did not like about the story. Any idea they have is acceptable. They must write, even if it is only one paragraph. Model what makes a good paragraph.
Use the main idea and rewrite a paragraph of their own...etc.
Look for good summations and conclusions.

Set a deadline and show them what has to be done each day and week to meet the deadline. If a book report is required, give them an outline of what is expected.

~*~*~*~

Thanks, Sharon!

And finally, some reading comprehension advice from the best book of all! Are you reading and understanding Scripture?

"My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding." Proverbs 2:1-6

"Let me understand the teaching of your precepts; then I will meditate on your wonders." Psalm 119:27

In His Sovereign Grace,

Virginia Knowles

The Hope Chest is a free e-mail newsletter with encouragement and practical teaching tips. The writer is Virginia Knowles, wife of Thad, mother of nine children, and author of Common Sense Excellence: Faith-Filled Home Education for Preschool to 5th Grade, and The Real Life Home School Mom.

Web: http://www.thehopechest.net Please note that as of today (September 21) this web site is not operational yet. It is being moved from the old Homestead location, which I will no longer use.

E-mail: [email protected]

Subscription: [email protected]

Unsubscription: [email protected]