Literature follow-up?

[Mama_Rana]

My son is to the point that his decoding is pretty good, so I just have him read, read, read, but I feel like I need to do more to build and check for comprehension.

 

I have a list of books I want him to read next year [and a smaller list of read-alouds], and I truly want him to read them and enjoy them and be inspired by them to want to learn more [many are historical fiction], so I don't want to "burden" him with too much "work" as follow-up, but I need him to do SOMETHING. And I want him to start thinking about what he's reading.

 

So what do you all do? How often? How extensive?

 

DS is 8 going into 3rd grade [-ish]. His writing is still minimal. I mean, he CAN write, but his penmanship is atrocious, and he rushes through any writing I ask him to do which just makes it worse, and he just doesn't LIKE it. :/

[Ellie]

I always thought I could tell the dc's comprehension by how well they understood their history or science reading. IOW, I let them read for enjoyment and used other subjects for evaluating their reading skills. :)

[Mama_Rana]

Ellie, that is a thought. Do you even have informal book talks just to see what they have gotten from any of their books? Like, not necessarily what they learned, but how it touches them? ykwim?

 

 

Anyone else?

[Chris in VA]

For read alouds, I just asked dd some "Now, where were we?" questions. :001_smile:

 

I also used history like Ellie, taking narrations (which could be oral, written, or some other form).

 

Never saw the need for tons of worksheets, journaling, etc that they do in ps.

[Mama_Rana]

Yeah, I don't want to do worksheets either. :/

 

Maybe I'm just thinking too far ahead. I just know there are certain books that I really enjoyed delving into: rereading, analyzing, talking about with others, etc. I want that for him, but maybe I need to wait a few more years?

 

 

I like the "where were we" question. :)

[Kareni]

I'd recommend that you (the parent) read Deconstructing Penguins: Parents, Kids, and the Bond of Reading by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone. It will give you some ideas about discussing your son's reading with him.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Mama_Rana]

I'd recommend that you (the parent) read Deconstructing Penguins: Parents, Kids, and the Bond of Reading by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone. It will give you some ideas about discussing your son's reading with him.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

Thanks! I'll look into it!

[ErinE]

I always thought I could tell the dc's comprehension by how well they understood their history or science reading. IOW, I let them read for enjoyment and used other subjects for evaluating their reading skills. :)

 

This.

 

We do have a literature discussion when ds finishes a book. It's very informal and I write down the narration with the book title and author name. I also ask if ds liked it and what he liked about the book. He likes to go back through his literature narrations and read them. Many times, he'll remember he liked a certain book and search for more books by the same author.

[justasque]

I always thought I could tell the dc's comprehension by how well they understood their history or science reading. IOW, I let them read for enjoyment and used other subjects for evaluating their reading skills. :)

 

I love reading your answers, Ellie. I always either strongly agree or strongly disagree! :D This one gets a big :iagree:

 

Ellie, that is a thought. Do you even have informal book talks just to see what they have gotten from any of their books? Like, not necessarily what they learned, but how it touches them? ykwim?

Anyone else?

 

Yep, informal chatting the way you would with anyone who is into books is a good start. I tended to read a lot of what they were reading at that age, so we would discuss what we liked, etc. Also, you'll be discussing what he would like to read next - more of the same author, more of the same genre, more of the same subject (cowboys or whatever), more of the same writing style, etc.

 

Yeah, I don't want to do worksheets either. :/

Maybe I'm just thinking too far ahead. I just know there are certain books that I really enjoyed delving into: rereading, analyzing, talking about with others, etc. I want that for him, but maybe I need to wait a few more years?

I like the "where were we" question. :)

 

I think that comes in time - he will find the books that speak to him (which may or may not be the books that spoke to you), and you'll go from there.

[Education Explorers]

My son is to the point that his decoding is pretty good, so I just have him read, read, read, but I feel like I need to do more to build and check for comprehension.

 

I have a list of books I want him to read next year [and a smaller list of read-alouds], and I truly want him to read them and enjoy them and be inspired by them to want to learn more [many are historical fiction], so I don't want to "burden" him with too much "work" as follow-up, but I need him to do SOMETHING. And I want him to start thinking about what he's reading.

 

So what do you all do? How often? How extensive?

 

DS is 8 going into 3rd grade [-ish]. His writing is still minimal. I mean, he CAN write, but his penmanship is atrocious, and he rushes through any writing I ask him to do which just makes it worse, and he just doesn't LIKE it. :/

 

I had to do a double take to make sure that I didn't post this myself, especially the bolded part.

 

I don't have anything helpful to add because I am in the same boat.

 

I have one additional problem with my son. He starts to read a book, puts it down and then never wants to pick it up again. So he starts to read another book and another and another. I am torn about what to do when I want him to enjoy reading for reading's sake. Forcing him to finish and creating a battle kind of defeats the "reading is fun" aspect of things. So now what?:001_huh:

[Mama_Rana]

I had to do a double take to make sure that I didn't post this myself, especially the bolded part.

 

I don't have anything helpful to add because I am in the same boat.

 

I have one additional problem with my son. He starts to read a book, puts it down and then never wants to pick it up again. So he starts to read another book and another and another. I am torn about what to do when I want him to enjoy reading for reading's sake. Forcing him to finish and creating a battle kind of defeats the "reading is fun" aspect of things. So now what?:001_huh:

 

Next year should be interesting. I have a list of books I want him to read, but he tends to not be interested in books I think he'll like. I thought he'd love Percy Jackson--funny, mythology, fighting, etc., but meh. OTOH, he's loved Edgar & Ellen and some other series by that author Sage who did the Magyk series. Origami Yoda & Darth Paper. These are largely ones he's found on his own or were rec'd by other people [friends, librarian, etc]. Not ones I thought he'd like. :/

And not fine literature, obviously! :lol: I'm hoping that comes in time.

 

So it will be interesting to see how he responds to my book choices. I'm still fine-tuning, and of course, hope to spark his interest so he'll go in his own direction, but still.

[Education Explorers]

Hey I love the idea of new books. Anything to get him to actually read the whole thing!

 

I even bought Sir Fartsalot Hunts the Booger. He loved it got almost half-way through it before he put it down and started another book. Grr!

[Rivka]

My plan is that each time Alex finishes one of the books on her assigned reading list, we'll have cocoa (or something) and discuss it. I want to go beyond the questions that Susan suggests for the grammar stage, but I don't think that at this age I want to go into a formal "Deconstructing Penguins" kind of analysis.

 

I've been playing around with question lists based on Bloom's Taxonomy. I want to keep the discussion enjoyable. I don't think this is the age for "What do you think the author meant by...", but I can see my child (and yours) getting some mileage out of "if you were the main character, how would you have done things differently?"