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Comprehension Questions
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When my 3rd grader is asked to read and tell what he read about (silent reading) he always complains that he did not understand what it was about. He started reading Robinson Crusoe (written anew for children) with great interest. But, when I began asking him what it was about after each days reading time, he began complaining about the book being too hard to understand. I let him switch to Busy Times and let him choose what to read. Then I asked again what it was about, and he said he did not remember and he could not understand it.
He wants me to read everything to him. He does not want to read for himself. I have noticed that he does very well listening (like when we listen to a chapter of the Bible on cd and then they tell about it) and his sister does much better reading for herself. We have tried reading together (I read a sentence, he reads a sentence), but he still says he can’t remember what it was about unless I read it all to him.
Am I asking too much of an 8 year old? Is it okay for me to read everything for him at this point? How do I help him build up the skill of reading and understanding for himself?I know he can read and understand some things because he tells me about stories that he gets really excited about.
Any thoughts?
My thoughts are that he’s strongly auditory, possible vision issues(?), but unlikely if he’s not complaining of headaches and is easily reading other things; maybe, as a boy, he wants his momma to do the hard stuff for him (I say that will all due deference as I have a boy who, although it’s not in reading, he loves to let the women around him do the hard stuff!).
IMO, no; what you’re asking isn’t too much at all. I assume he’s both capable of the Robinson Crusoe by Baldwin (I know which one you’re talking about) and definitely the Busy Times, which is simpler. I think this is the age, if he’s an average 8 yr. old reader and not obviously delayed, then we stop doing all their reading for them.
However, a change in style may work. When my son (and DD, whose very auditory), were that age, I had them read-aloud to me a chapter from one of the Pathways (no narration required), their Elson Readers (narration required), Reading Lit. Readers by Treadwell (narration required) and poetry (no narration, just an occasional-“what do think that was about?”). That way, as newer readers, I could hear the way they read, correct mispronunciations, encourage correct emphasis in certain sentences (exclamations, questions, pausing appropriately, etc) and for my dd, as a primarily auditory person, it strengthened her skills in the areas you’re concerned about before sending her off to do by herself. Now she quietly reads beautifully on her own, with great narration.
Another idea is have him read Busy Times to himself out loud, too; then have him narrate. If he’s reading monotone, read to him as an example only to show him how to make the story more interesting through “storytelling” to himself, per say. I hope that makes sense. With these techniques, he’s not getting out of reading it, just in a different way.
HTH, RAchel
I think around age 8 is when CM recommended you begin the transition from reading everything to the children to having them read independently.
- Are his narrations good when you read to him?
If so, then his reading silently is a new thing that he will have to get used to. Maybe he’s an auditory learner who retains more when he hears it rather than when he sees it. If this is the case, perhaps having him read shorter passages instead of an entire chapter would make the understanding easier for him.
Remember when he was six and just beginning to narrate? You had to start small, with just a paragraph or two at a time. As he got better and better, you could add in more paragraphs. I think reading independently for narration is the same way. Instead of having him read an entire chapter of Robinson Crusoe to narrate, have him read the first two paragraphs of a chapter and see what happens.
Another suggestion might be to have him write down names or places or events as he is reading. You could explain to him that he should write down anything that stands out to him or that he thinks might be important to the story. For example, if he were reading about Jesus feeding the 5,000, he might keep a list like this:
- 5,000 in the crowd
- boy with 5 loaves and 2 fishes
- 12 baskets leftover
Once he’s finished reading the story and it’s time for his narration, he could use his list of notes in the same way that we write things down for our children as hooks for their narrations.
Those are just some ideas; I hope they are helpful to you!
Blessings,
Lindsey
Yes, Lindey! Thank you for mentioning smaller chunks of reading instead of a whole chapter as he transitions to reading to himself, too.
Rachel
Great advice, as always!
I think next week we will begin by letting him read aloud to me and then narrate, as Rachel suggests. That will give me a better idea of his ablity to understand the words he is reading and whether or not he can really read what I am asking him to read. Then after we get that going well, I can use Lindsey’s idea and let him write down important things as he reads on his own. Depending on how this goes, I may cut back on the amount when he reads on his own too.
After reading your responses, I thought about the fact that my older daughter read aloud to me more than I have required my son to do. He may have issues that I am not even aware of because I have not been making him read aloud. I have just picked books that were “on his grade level” and told him to read them. (That makes me feel bad now that I realize that fact.) Maybe that is not the issue, but I am gonna let him read aloud to me first to find out.
Thanks ladies!
Amanda
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