40 Reading Comprehension Questions to Ask Kids

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As my six year old races through 1st grade, I find myself seeking ways to guide his development of reading comprehension. I am a Reading Parent for his classroom. His teacher supplied me with valuable information to assist me in speaking with the children about the stories and content we’re sharing with one another each week. I took her guidance and added to it where I felt I could and where I believed adding more meat was necessary. I have many authentic AMS language lessons archived for your reference. I also have loads of Montessori language materials available for download in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Don’t miss all the freebies!

Reading Comprehension – How to Talk with Kids about Fiction

Reading Comprehension – Setting

• Describe the scene(s) of the story
• At what point in the day/week/year is the story taking place?
• Did this story happen in the past or present?

Reading Comprehension – Characters

• Name the main characters in the story
• What words does the author use to describe the main characters?
• Who is the most important? Why?
• Which character can you describe to me?
• Which character do you enjoy learning about?
• Do any of the characters have a special friendship or relationship?
• Describe the appearance of the main characters
• Describe the personality of the main characters

Reading Comprehension – Plot

• Is there a problem to be solved?
• How might the problem be solved?
• How was the problem solved?
• Would you have solved the problem differently?
• What were the main points of the story?

Reading Comprehension – Narrator/Perspective

• Who told the story?
• Is it the author? Is it a character?
• How do you now who is telling the story?
• Why do you think this character told the story?

Reading Comprehension – Mood

• What do you feel when you read this story?
• How do you think the characters feel?
• Is there a happy character? a sad character? a frustration character? an angry character? a worried character?
• How can you tell? Which words does the author use to let you know how the character is feeling?
• Did your feelings change as you read the story? At which point?

Reading Comprehension – Theme

• What is the story about?
• How did the author show us the story was about courage/friendship/sadness/etc?

Reading Comprehension – Genre

• Do you think this story really happened?
• What makes you believe it could have happened?
• How do you know the story is fiction?
• How can you tell that the story isn’t non-fiction?

Reading Comprehension – Style

• What type of language does the author use?
• Does the author use soft words? Give an example.
• Does the author use strong words? Give an example.
• Which parts of the story are most memorable?

Reading Comprehension – Simile

• How does the author describe a character or place?
• Does the author compare the character or the place to anything?

Reading Comprehension – Metaphor

• What did the author compare the character or place to?

Reading Comprehension – Personification

• What was the author trying to tell us about the character or the place?
• How can you tell? Which words or phrases did the author use to get this point across to the reader?

By the way, our favorite read-aloud chapter books currently are The Magic Treehouse series, the Droon Series, Boxcar Children, and My Father’s Dragon Tales.

Marnie

P.S. You  might be interested in this post: 25+ Exciting & Thoughtful Questions to Ask Kids EVERY Day