• Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • FAQ
    • Disclosure and Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe
  • Community
  • Books
    • Books for Children by Age
    • Book Lists
    • Holiday Books and Activities
  • Reading Ideas
    • Babies
    • Toddlers
    • Preschoolers
    • Kindergarteners & Early Elementary
  • Writing Ideas
  • Parental Involvement: Building Partnerships
  • Start Here!
    • WELCOME TO THE GROWING BOOK BY BOOK COMMUNITY
    • Subscribe
    • Contact
    • FAQ
      • Disclosure and Privacy Policy
  • Shop
  • Home
  • Book Lists
    • Books for Children by Age
    • Book Lists
    • Holiday Books and Activities
  • Book Activities
  • Early Literacy
    • Alphabet Activities
    • Circle Time Activities
    • Phonological Awareness Activities

Growing Book by Book

  • Family Involvement
    • Start a Family Dinner Book Club
  • Start Here
  • Store
discovering with babies playing with toddlers exploring with preschoolers building with beginning readers

Bring joy and play into children's lives through books.

Yes, please!
Home » Reading Ideas » Learning to Read » Building Comprehension: Asking Questions While Reading

Building Comprehension: Asking Questions While Reading

February 6, 2014 •

Sharing is caring!

432 shares
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email

I often hear teachers and parents comment that they have a child who is great at calling the words (decoding), but they have no idea what they have read.  Being a proficient reader involves both decoding the words and comprehending what has been read.  One strategy for building comprehension, when reading, is to ask questions.

Read-alouds are the perfect format for modeling the questioning strategy.  There are three opportune times to ask questions when reading- before, during and after.

Full Disclosure:  Zoobean has provided a subscription for my review.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Questioning is a great strategy for building reading comprehension from growingbookbybook.com

What are the Benefits of Asking Questions?

Asking Questions BEFORE Reading

  • builds background knowledge
  • allows new vocabulary to be planted
  • engages the reader/listener with the text
  • lays the groundwork for comprehension

Asking Questions DURING Reading

  • helps to monitor comprehension break-downs
  • keeps the reader/listener engaged with the text

Asking Questions AFTER Reading

  • allows for reflection and analysis
  • assesses comprehension
  • extends thinking and literacy development

What Does Asking Questions While Reading Sound Like?

There are two types of questions- closed and open-ended.  Closed questions usually have only one correct answer and can be answered in just a few words or phrases.  For example, “Where did the story take place?”.  Open-ended questions allow for reflection and/or analysis.  They generally open the door for conversation.  For example, “How did the setting of this story impact choices the characters made?”.

Here are some general examples of open-ended questions that can be asked for each stage of questioning.

Questions to Ask BEFORE Reading

  • What do you think this story will be about?  Why do you think that?  (do this after the child has had a chance to look at the cover of the book and title)
  • What do you already know about the topic of this book?

Questions to Ask DURING Reading

  • What questions do you have as you are reading/listening?
  • What do you think is going to happen next?  Why?

Questions to Ask AFTER Reading

  • What are you wondering about?
  • Why do you think the author chose to end the story the way he/she did?

As a caregiver, it’s always convenient to have questions that relate to a specific book.  Zoobean is a helpful resource just for that!  I’ve talked about my love of Zoobean before.  They offer wonderful book subscription packages tailored to your child’s interests and needs.  Each book is accompanied by a reading guide that includes specific questions to ask before, during and after reading the selection.  Even if you don’t want to have a book delivered to your door, you can still subscribe just to the reading guide portion.  That way you can find the book at the library and still use their helpful reading guide.

Through our ongoing modeling of this questioning comprehension strategy, children will begin to internalize the strategy and use it independently when they read.

Did you get your free list of Books Kids Will Beg You to Read?

Get It

Sharing is caring!

432 shares
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email

Filed Under: All categories, Learning to Read Tagged With: reading strategies, zoobean

About Jodie Rodriguez

Jodie Rodriguez is a mom of two young boys and an early childhood/elementary educator with over 20 years of experience. Jodie's passion is helping parents, teachers, librarians and anyone else interested in nurturing and reaching ALL of our youngest growing readers.

Trackbacks

  1. Weekly Round-Up of Kid Lit Reviews and Posts: Week #4 | Mother Daughter Book Reviews says:
    February 7, 2014 at 10:52 pm

    […] Building Comprehension: Asking Questions While Reading ~ Growing Book by Book […]

What can we help you find?

Subscribe to Growing Book by Book

lead magnet for growing book bybook
Welcome to Growing Book by Book!  Learn about the creator, Jodie Rodriguez.

Find More

alphabet activities
book lists for children
circle time button

Set Up for Circle Time Success

month by month circle time songs


Copyright ©2025, Growing Book by Book. All Rights Reserved. Custom design by Pixel Me Designs | Privacy Policy