Reading comprehension is a crucial skill for children to master. Understand what has been read is vital in acquiring higher-level reading skills. There are a number of learning activities that strive to teach reading comprehension, but fail to adequately engage learning to its fullest. Children (and adults, for that matter) like learning activities that are meaningful. If you want your child to become absorbed in the learning process, and not simply going through the motions, the activity must be applicable on a personal level.
One proven technique for accomplishing the highly prized skill of reading comprehension is to have the reader make connections with the text. There are three categories involved in making connections during or after reading: text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world. Each type of connection works to engage your child in the reading and absorb its context in a meaningful way.
At home, there is a fun and informal way to increase your child’s understanding of what they read. All that’s needed is your child’s favorite book and some open ears. As an example of how to make connections, let’s use The Three Little Pigs book. Here are some questions you could ask your child:
~ Does the wolf remind you of anyone in your own life? (This text-to-self question might be a good opener to discuss bullies at school.)
~ Can you think of any other book that has a scary wolf character in it? (This text-to-text question could develop into a comparison of this story to, say, Little Red Riding Hood.)
~ Does the damage to the two pigs’ houses remind you of any natural disasters? (This text-to-world question could turn into a science discussion about tornadoes or hurricanes.)
These questions will help activate your child’s prior knowledge and encourage active thinking while reading. The best part about this reading comprehension activity is that it’s a powerful learning tool cleverly disguised as something fun. And all good parents know that learning mixed with fun always equals success!
Remember, the fun does not have to end with The Three Little Pigs book. Allow your child to choose the book. This way, he or she will start out motivated and much more likely to get actively involved in the reading comprehension activity (that you are going to do on the sly, of course). And do not limit this learning activity to only fiction books; non-fiction books deserve equal attention.
