How Do You Talk About Books With Your Kids?

The nightly independent reading requirement is something most of us can agree is a great habit to foster in our kids.  But whether your child curls up and dives into a book without a fuss or takes a bit more effort to settle down, how do you know how well they are reading?  How do you know if they are getting the material or are starring at the page and thinking of something else entirely – thumbing through the pages and waiting for reading time to be over.  The reading requirement is intended to develop the reader in each of our children -  to develop a love of literature, information gathering and a relationship with the written word.  But how engaged are they? It often remains a mystery. 

A quick five-minute conversation can reveal a lot about this nightly requirement, and at its best, help your child develop his/her critical voice and expressive language skills. The five W’s are a great place to start.  This approach develops a child’s ability to summarize a reading (a New York State English Language Arts standard) and expand on particular areas of interest and importance:

   1)     WHO -  Who were the main characters in the evening’s reading?  Ask your child to choose one character that he/she remembers best and choose three words to describe that character.  Here there is a focus on character traits (again, a NYS ELA standard) and use of adjectives to illustrate the character of choice.

   2)     WHAT – What happened in the reading?  With this question, you want your child to focus on the overall plotline, not minute details.  This is a great way to develop the skill of identifying key details and the overall structure of the night’s reading. 

   3)     WHY – Ask your child why an action occurred or why a character made a particular choice (in action or dialogue).  This type of question cultivates a critical reader and is the foundation of literary analysis in older grades. 

   4)     WHEN/WHERE  - These two areas of focus have to do with the setting.  Very often, the setting plays a prominent role in a story but this is not always immediately obvious.  Ask your child if they know when the story is taking place:  past, present or future.  If he/she can answer that, ask how this is apparent?  This is excellent practice for finding evidence to support an assertion.  Ask him/her to describe where the reading took place.  Again, this calls of use of describing words to elaborate on an idea? 

Obviously, it is up to the parent/s to decide how many questions your child/children can handle on any given night.  If your child is struggling with answering any of these questions, do not force the issue.  If they have a desire to “look back” to find an answer, definitely encourage this.  This isn’t meant to be a test, it’s skill and relationship building.  If you are finding that your child is struggling to find the words to express him/herself, maybe they can draw a picture to answer one of the questions.  If you find that your child is not able to remember much of the reading, perhaps the text is too difficult or the nightly reading happens too late to adequately focus.  Try another time of day and see if that changes the retention.

Reading should always remain a pleasurable experience. Enjoy the learning process with them and you will watch their love of reading flourish.

Yours,  Erin Colligan