RETELLING THE STORY After your child has finished reading, encourage them to retell the story in their own words. A few items to focus on are:
SEQUENCING: Encourage your child to retell the events of the story in order.
PROBLEM/SOLUTION: Ask your child to explain what the problem was in the story and how it was solved.
CHARACTER TRAITS: Encourage your child to talk about the characters in the story. Ask them about what the characters said, what they did, and how the characters felt. You can also encourage them to explain the different relationships between characters in the story.
SETTING: Encourage your child to talk about the setting and how the setting may have influenced the story.
MAIN IDEA/LESSON: Encourage your child to identify what the main idea or lesson was in the story.
INFERENCING (Reading "Between the Lines") After your child has shared details from the story, encourage them to make inferences. When a child makes inferences, they are using information from the story to understand implicit ideas. For example, if a child reads about a character who is looking at a little dog and smiling, they may make the inference that the character is happy to see the little dog. Here are a few things to focus on when encouraging your child to make inferences.
EMOTIONS: Ask your child about how a character was feeling and why they were feeling that way.
THOUGHTS: Ask your child about what a character might have been thinking in a particular situation and why they might have been thinking that way.
MEANING: Ask your child about things that characters in the story say and do. Encourage your child to think about why a character might have behaved in a particular thing.
DRAWING Drawing is a great way to allow children to share about a story. You can encourage them to draw their favourite character or something that happened in the story. What's important is to have your child share their drawing with you after they have finished. Ask them to explain what they drew and to share some details about their drawing.