WAYS TO HELP YOUR READER AT HOME:

Good questions for starting conversations about FICTION text:

• How are the characters, setting, and problems like those in other stories you have read? (making connections)

• Were you reminded of anything in your own life? (making connections)

• How does the story make you feel? (Not just good, bad, etc....) (making connections)

• Is the place (setting) important to the story? How? (effects on events)

• What words did the author use to describe the characters, setting, actions....? (imagery)

• Does the season or the time affect the characters or the plot of the story? (effects on events)

• What can you hear, see, feel, or smell as you read? (imagery)

• Who is the most interesting character? Why? (character changes and relationships)

• How did characters feel about one another? Why? (character changes and relationships)

• How does one of the characters change? Why? (character changes and relationships)

• What is the story's problem? How will it be solved? (effects on future events)

• What do you predict will happen next? (making predictions)

• What are the most important events of the story? (summary)

• What is the author's message, or, what are you supposed to learn as a reader? (theme)

• Who tells the story? What is the point of view? (1st or 3rd person point of view)

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Good questions for starting conversations about NON-FICTION text:

• What do you already know about this topic?

• How does the author organize the ideas in the selection?

• What are the subtitles? Locate them along with the captions or any graphics (i.e. charts, graphs)

• What is the main idea of the text?

• What are the facts that support the main idea?

• How has the author made it easy for you to find information?

• What does the title tell you about this topic?

• What information is provided through text features other than the text itself? (i.e. photos, graphs, charts, etc..)

• Does the text have a glossary, appendix, or index? How are these sections useful to the reader?

Good questions for starting conversations about BIOGRAPHICAL text:

• What do you already know about the subject of this biography?

• What surprised you about this person?

• What do you already know about the period of history in which this person lived?

• How is the person in the biography like other people you know?

• How are this person's problems like the problems of people in other biographies or fiction books you have read?

• How important is the setting (place, time in history, and other events taking place at the time) to the subject's life or accomplishments?

• How did the person overcome their struggles or problems?

• Why is this person important for us to remember?

• How did the author organize the telling of the events of the person's life (chronological, under topics, etc.)?

• Why did the author think this subject was important?

• What can we learn from this person's life that we could apply in our own lives today?