Teachers and such, please come in.

[cna]

DS2 brought home his report card and he has 4s (consistently above) in everything but reading comprehension where he has 1s (not demonstrating) in listens and retells stories, identifies beginning, middle, and end in stories, and sequence story events. I have talked to his teacher and she suggested discussing what happened in the story, but he doesn't seem to internalize or remember a story we just read. He can recite some of his books from memory but still is not able to remember anything that happened. Is there something else I could be doing to help him remember?

[momin2013]

Hmm...do you read books together? If so, maybe try re-capping what happened so far as you go along, rather than waiting until the end to discuss?

[cna]

Yes, we read books together every day. I could discuss the things that happen as they happen, but at school they read all the way through and then discuss. It's just frustrating that he can recite from memory but can't really remember what he is reciting.

[mamaalysson]

How old is he? Does he have favorite books that you guys read over and over? What kinds of books is he into reading?

[cabbagecabbage]

I'm not at all a teacher but I agree on the recapping. Make that connection between the story as a thing in a sequence to comprehension. Maybe you could write your own story together and read it. Maybe you could recreate a favorite book/story/movie in your own words and then read that and ask the same questions.

[cna]

He will be 6 in April. He likes books about animals and different vehicles and mostly brings those types of books home from the library. It just occurred to me that I could probably download whatever book they are reading that week and work with him at home. I just don't know how to make him internalize what he is reading.

[rosesandpetals]

A lot will depend on how age. But you can try diagramming. Keep a piece of paper with you and as you finish the beginning ask, "who is the character? What did s/he do?" Then in the middle, re-read what he said in the beginning, in his own words and ask, "what did the character do next?" And then for the ending, re-read everything ds said and ask, "what happened next? What does s/he do last?" That way he is thinking about it in his own words. If he can't remember, you can always re-read that part and help point out to him what's going on until he starts to get the hang of it. And this can be adapted for older kids too. What is the problem? Who is the protagonist? Etc.

But I think auroraloo teaches reading so she may have the best strategies.

[rosesandpetals]

Oh, and for a 6 year old, you can have him draw pictures of the sequence of events, that may help him too.

[hocus2]

In addition to asking him to summarize and diagram I would also ask him to predict what will happen next while you read. I'd also have him work on comprehension with books that are below his reading level. The less he focuses on fluency the more he can focus on understanding.

[mamaalysson]

One more question...what is doing when you are reading together? Is he starting to read on his own and therefore pretty focused on the words? Is he rushing to finish the book? Is he taking in the story, but looking and attending elsewhere? Is he looking at the pictures? Is he reading on his own at all?

[NandaB]

You already got good advice, but if its a skill he is struggling it is a good idea to stop and recap while you are reading, even though they have to read the whole story first at home. Its practicing the same skill, ya know? Just like if the class was counting to 20, but he was still working on counting to 10 you would help him learn to count to 10 even though the skill hr needs for school is counting to 20

[cna]

He can read some books on his own and he seems to pay attention when I read to him. He will point out things in the pictures and ask questions. Actually, one of his favorite books is about a bear who eats too much and gets stuck in the door to his den. He knows the setting and all of the characters, and even why the bear got stuck, but he still can't put the story in order from beginning to end.

[NandaB]

You guys can make a "comic strip" of a couple of his favs together (talk about the events that happen first, next, last and have him draw a picture and write a sentence. Then cut them apart and have him put them in order and talk about the story usi g the words first, next, then, last

[NandaB]

I used to tell my students to pretend I didn't know the story and tell it to me in their own words. Then I would model how to do this. So you could do the same thing for his fav story:

"first, Mortimer the bear ate too many crab cakes. Next he tried to go outside, but his fat ass got stuck. Last, he decided to take up pilates.

[mamaalysson]

Mar 18, 2015 10:37:42 GMT -5 cna said:

He can read some books on his own and he seems to pay attention when I read to him. He will point out things in the pictures and ask questions. Actually, one of his favorite books is about a bear who eats too much and gets stuck in the door to his den. He knows the setting and all of the characters, and even why the bear got stuck, but he still can't put the story in order from beginning to end.

I would take that book (or any book that he is familiar with and enjoys) and cover up the words with post-its.  Have him use the pictures and what he remembers to retell the story to you.  And/or take 4 or 5 index cards and draw 4 or 5 key moments from the story and have him put them in order, beginning to end.  It sounds like it is a skill he has pieces of (he's engaged, he remembers some things), he just needs to keep stretching those memory muscles a little.  Maybe even playing some memory games where things have to be done in a sequence - obstacle courses outside where he has to remember what to do first, second, and third; memory type card games; dancing along to "Pat Your Belly"; etc.  We have this card game in which you pick 3 or 4 cards (at random or on purpose) and you have to put them together to tell a story.  It's been great to reinforcing that stories have a beginning, middle, and an end.  I also had these sequencing puzzle cards in my classroom that had 3, 4, and 5 pieces, and you had to put them in order to finish the puzzle.

[cna]

Thank you so much for all of the great ideas. I will try them all. For being one of the younger kids in his class, he is super smart and near the top of his class academically except for this one thing tripping him up. It's weird but we will work on it until he gets it.

[Rainyday]

Mar 18, 2015 10:41:05 GMT -5 NandaB said:

You guys can make a "comic strip" of a couple of his favs together (talk about the events that happen first, next, last and have him draw a picture and write a sentence. Then cut them apart and have him put them in order and talk about the story usi g the words first, next, then, last

We did this at DD's school recently for a reading project. The leader made color copies of the pages of the books/illustrations. We read the book together and then arranged the pages by memory and talked about it.

[cna]

Wouldn't you know, DS1 got all 3s and 4s in reading comprehension. It is crazy how differently they learn.