Homeschooling The Whole Child: Reading Strategies: Critical Thinking Questions

The following questions are designed to promote comprehension and critical thinking while reading. It is always beneficial for children to be exposed to books in a variety of ways. Read with your child and to your child. Even older children enjoy being read to when the reader is expressive and enthusiastic. Listening to your child read will allow you to determine their level of fluency, but does not necessarily let you know how much of the material they comprehend. This is where the questions come in. Listen carefully to your child's responses to determine whether or not they truly understand the material. If the child seems to be struggling with the content or fluency, it may be best to set the book aside to read independently at a later time or read the story with or to the child so that you can provide assistance.

Author's Purpose:

· What is the author's purpose or purposes in this story? Persuade? Inform? Entertain? Express?

o How do you know?

· Why would the author include that detail?

· Look at the author's biography. Does any of the author's personal life show up in the book?

· Is the author using first person- words like I, me, we? Or third person- words like he, she, they?

o Why do you think they chose to write in that voice?

Characters:

· Why is that character important to the story?

· Who is the main character? How do you know?

· Do you like the main character? Why or why not?

· How would you describe this character? What made you choose those adjectives?

· Which character do you think is most like you? Why?

Plot:

· What problem or problems do you think the characters are facing?

· Predict: How do you think the problem or problems will be solved?

· How would you solve the problem or problems?

· What events led up to the problem being solved?

· Discuss and summarize the main events of a paragraph, page, or chapter.

· Discuss how the story ends. Do you like the ending? Why or why not?

· How else could the book have ended?

· Take one of the main characters out of the story. How do you think the story would have been different?

· If you could have added a character, who would it have been and why?

· What do you think would happen if the book continued?

Vocabulary:

· When your child comes across an unknown word, help them by first looking at and sounding out each syllable. Use clues such as pointing out whether it has a long or short vowel sound. (Long vowels say the name like in “make”. Short vowels have different sounds like in “cat”.)

· After sounding out the word, ask your child to explain the meaning. If they are unable to, direct them to look for context clues in the sentences and paragraphs before and after the word.

· If they are still unable to explain the meaning, have them consult a dictionary. Use a book format so that they can strengthen spelling and alphabetizing skills, research skills, and being able to discern which meaning of the word is being used in the context of their story.