October 2006
Literacy Tutoring Tip:
Helping Students Understand What They Have Read
Struggling readers may be spending a lot of energy working on decoding the words they are reading, and less time making meaning from the text. Spend time reading aloud to your student, and asking them questions about the book, while reading. Remember! Reading is only fun when you care about what you are reading! Make it fun and interactive!
What is Comprehension?
- Making meaning from text.
- Understanding what is read.
- Getting the message.
Kinds of Comprehension Questions:
- Author’s Viewpoint: "How do you think the author felt when she wrote this story?"
- Categorize/Classify: "How many of the characters in this story are animals?"
- Cause/Effect: "When Miss Nelson did not come to school, what happened?"
- Compare/Contrast: "How is the Cat in the Hat similar to the Lorax? How is he different?"
- Draw Conclusions: "From this clue, what you can be certain will happen at the end of the story?"
- Fact/Opinion: "What is one fact that you can remember about the story? What is one opinion that you have about the story?"
- Fantasy/Reality: "Could this story really have happened? Did it actually happen?"
- Main Idea: "How would you explain this story in one sentence to someone who has not yet read it on their own?"
- Predict Outcomes: "What do you think will happen at the end of this story?"
- Sequence of Events: "What is the first thing that you remember happening in the story?"
