We have all been worn down by preschoolers’ incessant questioning, but now we need to realize that we can exploit this quality to help children improve their reading comprehension. Simple questions can teach literary elements such as characters, setting, and plot by using who, where/when, and what. Higher-level thinking begins with questions such as why and how.
Let’s see what this would look like in a simple tale, Goldilocks and the Three Bears:
Where/When? Once upon a time, there was a little cottage in the woods. Who? Three bears lived in the cottage. They were: Daddy Bear, Mommy Bear, and Baby Bear. What? Every morning, they cooked a big pan of lovely porridge for breakfast. Why? One morning, the porridge was too hot, so they decided to go for a walk while it cooled down. What? They went out into the woods, but they left their door open. While they were out, Who? a little girl walked up to the cottage. She had long blonde hair, so everyone called her Goldilocks. Why? She was lost. …
Get the idea? As your child progresses, you can introduce terminology such as: characters, setting, plot including rising action, climax, and resolution. (I teach my sixth graders that the climax is what happens right before the commercial. They always leave you hanging at the most exciting part.)
To cement these literary terms, you may want to use this questioning strategy when you watch movies together on Friday Movie Night.
The other important strategy your child is learning is to think about what they are reading. Stop and think. Reading is not just a decoding puzzle. Help your child at a young age to realize print has meaning. It’s not really reading if comprehension does not occur.
It seems to me that we have a tendency to over complicate everything. Do you see how easy understanding literary elements can be? Take the time to give your child a boost! Maybe it will pay dividends in a college scholarship someday.
This is the School Marm,
Ringing her bell.
School’s out!
No comments:
Post a Comment