UMD Reading Center Summer Reading Program

Strategic readers think about their reading as they read. They continually monitor their own comprehension, asking themselves if they are making sense and understanding what they are reading. If comprehension breaks down, the strategic reader will take steps to fix the problem.

Self-questioning is a reading strategy that students can learn to increase their comprehension self-monitoring and to facilitate their comprehension. Following are examples of questions that a reader might ask at different points in the reading process. For a reader who is just learning this strategy, it would be useful to select one question from each section (before, during, after). The child could then stop at designated places to ask him/herself the question before continuing to read.

What is the topic of the reading? What do I already know about this topic?
What is my purpose for reading? Why am I reading this? How will I use the information I read about?
What strategies will I use to read? Should I skim? read slowly and carefully? study? read leisurely for pleasure?
What do I think will be in the reading? What will happen in the story?

During reading:

Does this make sense? Am I understanding what I am reading?
Were my predictions accurate? How do I know? What is different from what I expected?
Can I make a mental picture of what I am reading?

After reading:

Were my predictions accurate? How do I know? What is different from what I expected?
Did I understand what I read? Can I retell it to someone else?
What did I learn? How is this different from what I knew before I read?
Do I agree with this information?
What was the main idea of the reading? What was the most important thing that I read?
Should I reread all or parts of the reading again?
Did I achieve my original purpose for reading?

How to Help with Your Children with Reading

There are a number of ways that parents can assist their child to become more strategic, motivated, and reflective about their reading. Reading aloud and sharing books informally are two of the best ways to support reading development. Read-aloud is believed to benefit children in a number of ways. For example, read-aloud has the potential to: increase motivation to read, facilitate phonological awareness and other essential early literacy knowledge, enhance vocabulary, and strengthen listening and reading comprehension skills.
	Read-aloud can be done with a variety of sources (newspapers, magazines, novels) and should include nonfiction as well as fiction. Recent research has shown that experience with nonfiction text is highly motivating to children and provides them with exposure that may contribute to their literacy development through the middle and high school grades. To get the most benefit from read-aloud, it should be an interactive activity. That is, the reader should encourage the child to ask questions during the reading. Children should be encouraged to ask about the meanings of words and to share how the information relates to their own experiences. These types of discussions help to build background knowledge and strengthen vocabulary, important foundations for successful reading. Keep in mind that read-aloud is not just for young children. A well-chosen book will pique and sustain the interest of adolescents also.

Encourage Thinking Through Questioning

Questioning is the main way that teachers check children's comprehension. There are many different types of questions and they vary considerably in their quality. Questions can engage students and encourage them to think critically about their reading. Questions can pique students' interest, entice them to read more, and help them make personal connections to their reading. However, many questions simply require the child to regurgitate facts or details from reading without much thought. Good questions invite discussions about reading. These social interactions help children to arrive at a deeper understanding of their reading. When reading with your child, stop periodically to ask different kinds of questions to encourage thinking and to enhance comprehension. Use the examples below as guides for questioning. Fill in the blank with a character's name or an event from the reading. Caution: Be careful not to ask so many questions that the questioning becomes disruptive. It's important to just read, often, for the sheer pleasure it brings! Analyzing Similarities & Differences How are __________ and __________ alike? Compare __________ and __________ . What are some differences between __________ and __________ ? How is __________ different from __________ ? Character Analysis What kind of person was ________? What happened in the story to make you say so? Give some examples from the story to show what kind of person __________ was. What word best describes __________ ? Why? Which character can you most identify with? Why? Critical Thinking (Have child make a prediction before reading. After reading, ask) Was your prediction accurate? Read something from the story to prove it. Do you think it was (good/bad/right/wrong) for __________to do what he/she did? Why? Would you have made the same decision as __________ ? What would you have done differently? Did you agree with __________ 's actions? What caused __________ ? What was the effect of __________ ? Personal Response Which character did you like the best? Why? What did the story remind you of? How did the story make you feel? Why?

Self-Questioning

Strategic readers think about their reading as they read. They continually monitor their own comprehension, asking themselves if they are making sense and understanding what they are reading. If comprehension breaks down, the strategic reader will take steps to fix the problem. Self-questioning is a reading strategy that students can learn to increase their comprehension self-monitoring and to facilitate their comprehension. Following are examples of questions that a reader might ask at different points in the reading process. For a reader who is just learning this strategy, it would be useful to select one question from each section (before, during, after). The child could then stop at designated places to ask him/herself the question before continuing to read. Before reading: What is the topic of the reading? What do I already know about this topic? What is my purpose for reading? Why am I reading this? How will I use the information I read about? What strategies will I use to read? Should I skim? read slowly and carefully? study? read leisurely for pleasure? What do I think will be in the reading? What will happen in the story? During reading: Does this make sense? Am I understanding what I am reading? Were my predictions accurate? How do I know? What is different from what I expected? Can I make a mental picture of what I am reading? After reading: Were my predictions accurate? How do I know? What is different from what I expected? Did I understand what I read? Can I retell it to someone else? What did I learn? How is this different from what I knew before I read? Do I agree with this information? What was the main idea of the reading? What was the most important thing that I read? Should I reread all or parts of the reading again? Did I achieve my original purpose for reading?

©Copyright 2005 Department of Curriculum & Instruction • College of Education • University of Maryland College Park • Maryland • 20742 • 301-405-EDCI (3324) • Website maintained by Sei-Hwa Jung Last Modified Mar. 10, 2005