Homework Tip: Reading Comprehension

Homework Problem: He Can’t Remember What He Reads

Has this ever happened?

You and your child spend time reading through a passage.  Your child seems to be able to get through it but when you go to answer questions about the content, he has no idea!

For some students, the reading is very slow and labored.  Others seem to zip right through it.

But then it becomes obvious that he hasn’t got a clue what was read.

And you wonder to yourself, “How will we ever get all the questions answered?  This could take all night…again!”

Homework Solution: Reading Storyboard

Help reading “come alive” by building your own storyboard.  This is pretty simple to do and could save you hours of time.

(Hey, it’s good enough for movie people…why not give try?)

Fold a piece of blank paper into 4, 6 or 8 equal parts.

After each sentence, group of sentences, or paragraph draw a quick picture to represent what happened.  This isn’t an art class, it’s just a quick representation of what you read.

After he reads the whole passage, have him retell it using  his pictures.

Fun is what this whole process should be.  You can even tell your child to imagine he’s a movie director and he’s going to make a movie out of what he just read.  What picture would best show what happened in each part of the passage?

Not only will this be fun, it is energizing and involves using both hemispheres of the brain…which is always a much more efficient way to work.  This technique is also engaging so that time seems to go faster and the assignment gets done without drudgery or whining.  That’s a plus for both parent and child!