Teacher Web Sites: Reading Teacher: Reading Activities

Question

NEVER STOP ASKING QUESTIONS

OR SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS

Good readers ask themselves
questions when they read.

	What is the author saying?
	Why is that happening?
	Why did this character . . . ?
	Is this important?
	This makes me wonder ____________.
	How does this information connect with what I have already read?

Teachers continually ask questions to ensure that what has been read was understood--you as parents can practice the same technique with read alouds in order to model this skill. By asking questions during reading students focus their attention on story events as well as cause and effect. This helps to deepen understanding of what is read, and in many cases motivates readers to explore a topic further.

For example, in the story Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, Sylvester is a donkey who makes wishes. A reader might wonder why he makes the choices he does and ponder ways he will escape his dilemma. Readers may ask what happened to cause his problems and then look for answers as the story unfolds. This encourages them to be more attentive to the main ideas/details of the story in order to see how they all fit together, thereby increasing comprehension. Questioning is also useful in reading nonfictional texts, particularly in areas such as history and science.