Asking questions before, during, and after reading can improve comprehension. Children are natural at asking questions. They are trying to figure out how the world works every day. This desire to find out what is happening and how it happened helps to make reading fun. If reading time is fun, then your child will want to spend more time reading. The more they read, the better they become at reading. You can help your child fall in love with reading by talking about the book together, sharing your questions, and encouraging their curiosity. This is easiest to do when you can find a topic that the child really wants to read about.
Here are some tips on asking questions to improve reading comprehension: 1. When you are looking at the cover, what questions does your child have? Write a few questions on sticky notes to help them get ready to read. 2. Play a game. Try to find books related to the questions your child has asked. 3. Encourage your child to ask questions that they are wondering as you read together. Share your questions as an example. If you ask your child a question from the reading, ask them to find the answer on the page.
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Many of my students qualify for my reading intervention class because they have difficulty with reading fluency. When we read, it isn't necessarily a passage from a book; we read song lyrics, poetry, news snippets and more.
What does a fluent reader look like? There are many parts to being a fluent reader. It isn't just all about the speed. Because many students are progress monitored using oral reading fluency passages, they misunderstand the idea of fluency. Oral reading fluency passages are meant to be used as a temperature check; one way to check in and see if we need to take a deeper look at a student's reading skills. Research-based progress monitoring passages have standardized scores for each grade level to determine fluency rates. The research shows that students who do not score within the normal range on oral reading fluency passages may have reading skills that need intervention. It is at this point educators need to use more detailed reading assessments to determine if the student is missing reading skills in fluency, phonemic awareness, phonics, comprehension, and/or vocabulary. Fluency isn't just about speed- it has many other components.
When looking at reading fluency, one characteristic is that the student pays close attention to accuracy. Are they reading what is written in the passage? Or are the students substituting words, leaving words out, or changing word endings? I use the prompt "Are you the author?". This reminds them that they are not the person who can edit the passage. Only the author can make changes. Next, we look at reading with appropriate expression. As the student reads it should sound like they are having a conversation. Sometimes we emphasize certain words as we read, sometimes read words quietly to make a point. Students who are reading word for word or using the "robot" voice are not using expression. If a student is having difficulty using expression as they read, I might record them reading and then have them read along as we play back the recording. This can help them hear their tone of voice and volume. Punctuation is another important part of reading fluently. As a student reads, they should be reading smoothly. If they come to a comma in the reading, they should pause. If they come to a period in the passage, they should stop. If they come to an exclamation point, their voice should rise with excitement. When I first start working with students, they will often ignore punctuation and the entire passage will sound like a run on sentence! Reading a passage with a natural pace is also the sign of a fluent reader. The reader should sound like they are having a conversation. The pace shouldn't be too quick or the reader may make mistakes in their accuracy. My reminder to students is "Remember Goldilocks". Goldilocks didn't like things too hot, too cold, too hard, or too soft. She liked things just right. A natural reading pace should be "just right". Finally, a fluent reader should comprehend what they read. If a student reads with accuracy, expression, punctuation, and a natural pace then they should be able to understand the content of the passage they are reading. This is the time I might ask questions about the passage like "What just happened to the character" or "Why did the character take that action". If the student can give me key and supporting details, they have comprehended the passage. Being a fluent reader is a complex job. Many people mistake speed of reading for fluency. But when you include accuracy, expression, punctuation, pace, and comprehension then you truly have a fluent reader. |
AuthorI am a certified reading specialist with a background in speech pathology. I love reading and sharing this passion for learning with students. Archives
September 2016
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