5 Ways To Help Your Child Comprehend Comprehension.

Your child has just finished reading an extract of writing. It could have been fiction, it could have been non-fiction, but either way they got it . They understood what they read and they can tell you all about it. Great, right? Yes! Enough for securing the high-scoring grades though? Maybe not quite

Why?

Because not only does your child have to show they can make sense of what they have read, but they also have to extract just the right piece of evidence, look at the effects of the language contained within it, look at where it has been placed within the text (this hits the structure requirement), and then consider how effective it actually is. No mean feat! And all this in one paragraph? Yep! So how can we make this more digestible for them? Read this handy guide to breaking it down so there is no more eating an elephant needed.

Once your child has established what the aim of the question they are to respond to is, step one is to make a clear, to-the-point, point! No more, no less!

Done? Now to step two. People like proof in order to believe what they are being told. And comprehension work is no different. Ask your child to find the best evidence that really proves their point, then pop it down inside of quotation marks and they re ready for the next bit!

Step three: encourage your child to home in on any words in the evidence that stand out. For example is there a dramatic word? An unusual idea? A clever device such as imagery or personification being used? Ask them to name the device they have found, write it down, and next to it write what they believe the reader would think as a result of this word / device / idea.

Step four: Has this evidence been placed at this point of the text they are reading for a specific reason? Whether it is building up to a climactic disaster, revealing a character s innermost thoughts, or giving a flash-back to a child-hood memory it has definitely been placed where it is deliberately! Ask your child to consider what its job may be at that point in the extract. Write it down and, hey presto, it s done and dusted they re ready for the next question!

Worried you ll forget? Remember this quick mnemonic: P.E.T.A.L. This is something which, with new exam syllabi having been introduced in the last two years, is becoming more and more prominent (and helpful) in teaching this key skill in reading. POINT EVIDENCE, TECHNIQUE (name it) ANALYSE (explore effects of the techniques) LINK back to the question to demonstrate that the answer covers the question s aims.