Focussed questions to use with your child when you are hearing them read.
By enjoying books together and sharing a love of stories from the earliest age, you are helping your child develop – and learning to read is fun!
You taught your children the first things they ever knew. Young children watch what adults do and learn by copying them. Reading is no different, but they must want to learn to read. It will help if they can see others enjoying reading themselves. Boys, in particular, need to know that reading is important, and Dads and Grandads reading to them can help. Seeing adults reading from books, newspapers, recipes or menus will make children want to read for themselves.
Your child will gain a lot from spending time with you talking and listening, reading and writing. Most children will try hard to please you and will want to do well. Best of all, sharing the fun of reading is a great experience for children and adults.
Becoming a really good reader has three parts:
- Reading words accurately - decoding
- Understanding what the text is telling us - comprehension
- Reading with expression - prosody
Using the questions in this booklet when you hear your child read will help them to understand what the text is telling them.
Support your child when reading at home – (about Y1 and Y2)
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Think of another title for this book. Explain why you have chosen this new title. |
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Think of 5 interesting words to describe the main character(s) in the story. |
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Re-read your favourite part of the story out loud and explain why you have chosen this part. |
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Create a new ending for a favourite story. How is it different to the ending in the book? |
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Think of a choice that one of the characters made in the book. Would you have made the same choice? Why or why not? |
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Look at the title of the book. Make a PREDICTION about what you think will happen in the story. Was your prediction right? |
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Think about your REACTION to this reading. Does it make you feel angry, happy, sad or worried about the characters? |
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Give your OPINION to the reading so far. What was your favourite bit? Why? What was your least favourite bit? Why? |
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Pretend that you could ask the author any question you like about the book. What question would you ask? What do you think the author’s answer would be? |
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Act out your favourite scene from the book. What would the characters say? How would they talk, stand or speak to one another? What would their body language be? |
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Take on the role of a favourite character in a book you are reading. Describe how you are feeling about a particular event in the book. |
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Which character in the story would you most like to be friends with? Why? |
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What is an interesting fact that you have learned when reading this book? |
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Use 5 interesting words to describe the setting (where and when the story took place). |
Support your child when reading at home – (about Y2, Y3 and Y4)
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Think of another book you have read that has a similar theme. What is the story? How are the books similar? |
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Look at how the book is organised. Is it a non-fiction book with a table of contents, sections, headings, bold words, photographs and captions? Is it a fiction book with a main character who has to solve a problem? |
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Make a TEXT TO SELF connection to something that happened in the story. Connect the event in the story to something that has happened in your own life. |
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Make a TEXT TO TEXT connection to something that happened in the story. Connect the event in the story to something that has happened in another book you have read. |
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Pick 3 or 4 words from the reading that were new, challenging or interesting. Find the meanings of the words. |
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VISUALISE what is happening in the story. As you read, you should have a movie playing in your head of the key events. Describe the “movie” that you can see. |
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Summarise the story using a FIVE FINGER SUMMARY. WHO were the main characters? WHERE did the story take place? WHEN did the story take place? WHAT went wrong? HOW did they solve the problem? |
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How has the author created an interesting opening/ending in the story? How could you use this in your own writing? |
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What interesting words has the author chosen to describe the characters in the story? |
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What interesting words has the author chosen to describe the setting of the story? |
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What are 3 interesting facts that you learned by reading this book? |
Support your child when reading at home – (about Y5 and Y6)
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Make a TEXT TO WORLD connection to something that happened in the story. Connect the event in the story to something that has happened in the news or other media. |
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Think of an interesting QUESTION that you could ask your classmates about this part of the reading that would help them to discuss what has happened in the text. |
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Look at the types of punctuation that the author uses (ellipses, colon, semi colon, speech marks, brackets). How does this help you to understand the meaning of the story/text? |
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Why do you think that the author decided to write this book? What was the author’s purpose? |
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Think of another book you have read that has a similar layout. What is the story? How does the layout help you to understand the information? |
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How has the author organised the information in the book? How has this helped you to understand it better? |