Working on Comprehension at Home

Comprehension is the ability to understand what you’ve read. We often do this without even thinking because we’ve been taught strategies to help us. We’ve also had tons of practice! Helping your student to understand what they’re reading at home, is easier than you think. Here are some ideas (some from the readability website).

 

Start A Family Book Club - Ask everyone in the family to participate in an at-home book club. Every week, choose a new book for your family to read. Then, schedule a family meeting and ask everyone to share their thoughts on the book. No matter what level the books, you can adjust how they read it to make it easier or more difficult (if you have a non-reader, let them listen to you reading or find an audio file). If your child cannot explain what happened in the book or remember certain events, go back through the book together as a family. Take turns reading it aloud and help your child make sense of the content they did not understand the first time around.

 

Create Graphic Organizers - If your child is a visual learner, creating a graphic organizer is a great way to improve their reading comprehension skills. For example, create Venn diagrams to compare and contrast characters in a story. Or create a storyboard that shows the sequence of events that took place in the story.You can also create a flowchart that illustrates the cause-effect relationship between main events of a story. Stop at various places throughout a chapter book to have them draw the events happening. This is called visualizing, which supports memory and comprehension. 

 

Play Audio Books - Some children are auditory learners, so they may benefit from listening to audio books. Instruct your child to follow along with the narrator while you play an audio book. Auditory learners may be able to extract more meaning from the text by listening and following along as opposed to reading independently. Youtube has tons of read alouds but it’s even better if you find ones that has the words easily shown so the students can follow along.

 

Encourage All Types of Reading - Practice is the key to improving reading comprehension, so encourage your children to practice as much as possible. Don’t limit your children to books, either. Encourage them to read anything they may find interesting, which may include comic books, newspapers, and magazines. Remember, all reading is beneficial, so there’s no reason to deny your child the pleasure of reading these alternative materials. 

 

Compare Books and Movies - Many children’s books have been adapted into movies. Choose one of these books and read it with your child. Then, watch the movie version of the book together. After the movie is over, discuss the similarities and differences between the movie and the book. Ask your child which version they preferred and why.



I hope these ideas give you somewhere to start or give your current practices a refresh! Try an idea for 20 minutes every night. Schedule it in so you don’t forget. Or when you walk around Target, make sure to pass through the book section and talk with your child about what looks good - then go get it at the library. They will love spending this time with you!

 

As always, I’m available by email at erin.verhagen@mgschools.net if you have any questions or comments.