When asking questions about what your child reads, start simple and get progressively harder. In Bloom’s Taxonomy the simplest questions are knowledge-based. They include
 
Name the characters in the story.
What’s the setting of the story?
When does the story happen?
Tell the ending of the story.


More difficult comprehension questions involve retelling.

Summarize what the story is about.
Who was the most important character?
What was the most important event in the story?
What happened before and after (the main event)?
 

Now let’s move on to applying our knowledge to real life.

If you were the main character, what would you have done when ____?
If you found yourself in the story along side this character, what would you do?
If you invited the main character to your house for a sleepover, what kinds of activities would you do together?
Who have you read about or known who has been through a similar problem as the main character?
 

Some samples of analysis questions might include

What part of the story did you find the funniest? The saddest?
If you were to divide the story into parts, how would you do it? Why?
What were some things that could have happened in any place in the world?
Tell an opinion of someone in the story.
 

The next kind of question involves synthesis. You could ask your child to

Tell the story from another character’s point of view.
Think of an alternative ending to the story.
If you were the main character and write about a typical day in your life.
What if the story happened in China? What would change?
 

Lastly comes the evaluation questions.

Would you recommend this book to another person? Why or why not?
Which character do you think showed the greatest amount of integrity and why?
Who was your favorite/least favorite character? Support your answer with reasons.
What was the author’s purpose in writing this story? In your opinion, did he achieve the purpose?



Reading Projects
Have your child make a character analysis poster showing how the character changed from the beginning of the story to the end. Include events that might have affected this growth.

Make an alternate book jacket for this book. Write your review on the back and a short summary (Don’t give away the ending!) on the inside flaps.

Make a shadow puppet play of the main events.

Invent a game based on the book.

Role play an interview you might have with the main character.

Make a map of the setting of the story. Indicate where main events occur.

If your family has been reading a story together, one parent could play the main character. Any question a family member asked would be answered in character.