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Teaching comprehension

Little Red Riding Hood

Read the story to your child and then discuss these questions.

What colour is Red Who is behind the tree?


Riding Hood’s cloak?

What is a cloak? Where does her


Grandmother live?

What does she take to What is the bunny


her grandmother? wearing?

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Where does the Is he good or bad?
wolf live?

Who gets to
Can he run fast? Grandma’s house
first?

Is he hungry? What colour is this


wolf?

Is grandma asleep? Is she young or old?

Where does she Has she got a hat


live? on?

Is she in her house?


What colour is her Is she in her house?
bedspread?

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Is Red Riding Hood
Who is this? happy to see him?

Why has he got an axe?


Why has he got an axe?
What does he do?

These oral questions help every child to increase their


vocabulary, think logically and to understand the sequencing of
the story. This is the first step in establishing the principles
of comprehension. Below are other suggestions:

How to Improve Comprehension.

• Improve concentration
• Be motivated to read
• Remember to access the meaning of the passage

Suggestions
Read newspapers, comics, magazines and increase your
vocabulary. Reading also increases your background knowledge.

Structure of paragraphs
Good writers write paragraphs with a beginning, a middle and
an end. The opening sentence indicates the theme for the
paragraph.

What next?
Clever readers anticipate future ideas and questions. This
helps in answering questions later

How is the passage organised?


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Is it chronological? Do a series of things happen one after
another? Is the passage written logically?

Motivation and interest.


Review material, ask questions, discuss ideas with friends. The
stronger your interest is the greater your comprehension.

Pictures etc
Look at the pictures and headings. Read the first and last
paragraph in a chapter, or the first sentence in each section.

Build a good vocabulary.


The best way to improve your vocabulary is to use a dictionary
regularly. Concentrate on roots, prefixes and endings.

Monitor effectiveness.
Good readers monitor their attention, concentration and
effectiveness. They quickly recognize if they've missed an idea
and backup to reread it.

Should You Vocalize Words?

Yes, although it is faster to form words in your mind rather


than on your lips or throat. Eye motion is also important.
Frequently looking back slows you down.

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Books make us think and increase vocabulary Here are more
ideas to stimulate children and some questions to answer.
.

Let us start with parts of a book

Learn about the different parts of a book, including the title


page.

ALL ABOUT
Dogs
by
Fred Bone
_____________
by
_____________
_____________
by
_____________

Find two books at home or school.

• Copy the titles and authors onto the blank title pages
below:

by
by

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The table of contents lists the names of the chapters in
the book and the page on which each chapter begins.
Chapter names, or headings, tell what each chapter is
about. The table of contents also lists the page numbers
where you can find the chapters or information you want.

All About DOGS


Table of Contents

1. Wild Dogs ........... 8


2. Dogs of the World . . . . . . . . . . 17
3. Dogs as Pets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4. Domestic Dogs . . . . . . . . . 41
5. Dog kennels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62
6. Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Use the sample table of contents above to answer these


questions:

1. What is the name of the chapter that begins on page


41?

2. Where would you look to find more about


kennels?_______________________________________

3. Where would you look to find more about the Dogs of


the world?_____________________________________

4. You want to have a dog in your house. Where would


you find this?_________________________________

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A glossary is usually found at the end of a book. The
glossary lists special words from the book. It tells what
the words mean.

GLOSSARY

Hound ( hound)- a dog generally.

Bulldog ( also bold – dogge) - a dog with large bull


bullhead, strong muzzle and strong muscular body
of medium height and short smooth hair.

Chihuahua- the smallest dog in the world

Kennel - a place where a dog sleeps

Use the glossary above to answer the questions


below:

5. Where does a dog sleep?

6. Describe a bulldog.

7. What type of dog is a hound?

8. What is the smallest dog in the world called?

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An index is found at the back of the book. It lists many
words from the book and the pages where you will find the
words.

Barks 10
Breeds 16
Food 20
Hair colour 12
Hunting dogs 61
Kennels 52
Puppies 3, 10, 12, 15, 20, 52, 61
Tails 100
Types 16, 18,21

Use the index above to answer these questions

9. On what pages would you look to find out more about


puppies?

______________________________________

10. On which page is dog food mentioned?

11. What part of the book starts on page 16?

More comprehension thoughts

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Fiction is a story that is about make-believe people and
animals.

Non fiction is writing that is about true people and events.

• Write an X on the correct line for each book.

Fiction Non fiction Other

1. Frogs and Toads _______ _______ _______

2. Moon Creatures _______ ______ _______

3. Rocks and Minerals _______ _______ _______

4. The Kids’ Poetry book _______ _____ _______

5. My First Dictionary _______ _______ _______

6. The Adventures of _______ _______ _______

Samson

Now let us look at a passage which could be used for


comprehension
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Autumn

The season that comes between summer and winter is called


Autumn There are many changes that begin in this colourful season.
Days become shorter. Leaves of trees turn from green to vibrant red,
yellow and orange. Trees need sunlight to keep their leaves a lively
green. Without sunlight leaves turn from green to different colours.
Animals start storing up a food supply to last the long winter months.
These changes occur as the as we adjust from the heat of the
summer to the chill of the winter.

Answer the following questions:

1. Autumn occurs between summer and which other season?

a. January b. September

c. winter d. solstice

2. Which of the following changes may occur during Autumn?

a. days become shorter b. it becomes very hot

c. days become longer d. There is more sunlight

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3. Why do leaves change colour during Autumn?

b. they don't get enough


a. they don't get enough oxygen
sunlight
c. they don't get enough water d. they get too much oxygen

4. What do animals begin to do to prepare for the end of Autumn?

a. have extra fat bodies b. eat less

c. shed fur d. store food


Answers
1c
2.a
3.b
4.d
This comprehension has all the answers directly in the passage.
This comprehension below has inferred answers from the
passage

A man walked to the edge of the balcony looking out over the
vast array of buildings in front of him: Tall ones, small ones,
shining glass ones, dull brick ones, old ornate ones and modern
impossible shaped ones. All were different yet really all the
same. The man sighed and he remembered back many years.
The skyline had been different then he had been able to see the
end of the concrete jungle and the beginning of the real one.

1. What does the man see when he looks out?

2. Is the man young or old?

3. Do you think the man likes what he sees?


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4. Where do you think this story is set?

1. It tells us in the passage that the man is looking at buildings.

2. We are not told the man's age so we have to infer. Do you


think that the man is old or young? It says …The man sighed
and he remembered back many years. The skyline had been
different then…

3. Again we are not told the man does not like them however he
looks at all the different ones and sees they are all the same. It is
inferred that he does not like them. Also from his sigh we could
infer he would prefer them not to be there.

4. The story would seem to be set in a country that has a jungle.


Again we are not told which country only that the concrete
jungle (built up area) ends and the real jungle begins. This
means that we infer that the country has got or had a jungle. So
the answer would be a country that has a jungle.

Building Their Skills

1. Ensure that children approach new words correctly and have a


clear understanding of their meaning.

2. The second step in teaching reading comprehension


techniques is to determine how much your children are
absorbing of the texts they are reading. This can be done by
asking a few quick questions.

3. Children need to have a complete picture of the story and to


understand the inferences in the passage.

4. Children should read the passage. Then read the questions and
the passage again. This will clarify the comprehension and the
story.

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