General Comprehension Questions

Before reading:

 What do you think this book will be about?

 Can you predict what might happen in the story?
 What characters do you think might be in this story?
 What do you know about the topic of this book?
 Who is the author?
 Who do you think this book is written for? (e.g. children, people who
are interested in that particular topic etc.)
 Is this book fact or fiction?

During reading:

 What do you think will happen next? Why?

 Why do you think the character did that?
 What emotions is the character feeling? How do you know?
 How would you have felt if that happened to you?
 What does the character and setting (who, when and where) look
like in your mind?
 If you were in the story, what would you hear, smell and feel?
 What has happened in the story so far?
 Is there anything you are wondering about right now?

During reading (if your child gets stuck or doesn’t understand):

 Do you need to re-read that part?

 Where did you stop understanding? How can we fix it?
 Which words don’t make sense? Where can we find the meaning of
those words?
After reading:

 What was the big idea of this book?

 Can you tell me the story in your own words?
 What were the most important things that happened?
 Who were the characters?
 What was the main setting (where and when the story was)?
 What was the problem? How did the character solve it?
 If the author decided to write another book to follow this one, what
do you think it would be about?
 Do you have any questions about the story?

Strategies that might be

helpful if your child is stuck
on a word