The Pringle Plan: Purpose of Read Alouds: Part II - Build Memory and Comprehension Skills

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The following is an excerpt from my latest book, The Pringle Plan For Kindergarten Comprehension: A Guide For Parents and Teachers of Kindergarten, Dyslexia, Speech and Language, And Other Special Education Students

Purpose of Read Alouds: Part II

(To read Part I click here)

BUILD MEMORY SKILLS

BIG PART OF LISTENING IS REMEMBERING WHAT YOU HEARD. The end of a story may not make sense to a child who has already forgotten the details of the beginning of the story. I encourage you to talk about the books you Read Aloud. As you ask questions and answer questions, you can evaluate how much your student is able to recall. Talk about things related to the book. Allow time to process information. Bring the subject up again later in the day, the next day, or the next week. Keep the memory of the story alive. Ask more questions and answer more questions. And, at the same time keep in mind children have short attention spans. This is normal. You don’t need to beat a topic into the ground, just be available as long as your student is interested in the discussion.

Work on memory skills:

· Teach students how to sing songs, repeat rhymes, and recite short poems.

· Play following directions games. Start with one direction at a time, then work up to two and later three directions at a time.

· Move past sequencing pictures for beginning/middle/end. Teach how to sequence five pictures related to a story you just read. Later have him try sequencing on his own. Help as needed, and reteach as you re-read the story. Specifically point out, “This happened first. This is what happened next. After that this happened. Then this happened. Last that happened at the end of the story.” After sequencing pictures, encourage your student to use the sequence words when retelling the story, as he points to each picture.

· Have your student repeat multi-syllable words.

· Have your student draw a picture of a story he just heard.

· Have your student act out a story he just heard.

· Play card games like concentration.

· Choral read with classmates by repeating sentences the teacher reads.

· Look at a picture, cover it up, and have your student describe what he saw.

· Encourage your children to show an interest in talking with and listening to their siblings and friends. Help them come up with questions to ask and later check in with them to see if they remembered to ask, and remember the answer. In addition to memory skills, you’ll be teaching your child to be interested in other people, and develop feelings of empathy. This cultivates a caring culture where everyone cares about one another, leading to a sense of belonging and security where learning is possible because it is safe to try, fail, and try again.

· Retrieving memories on previous learning (active retrieval) = long term retention, so ask questions about things your student learned this morning, yesterday, and last week.

DEVELOP COMPREHENSION SKILLS

OMPREHENSION SKILLS ARE ALL ABOUT UNDERSTANDING – understanding the possibilities of what might happen next (prediction skills); understanding the basic facts of who, what, where, when and why (knowledge skills); understanding what the story problem is about (comprehension skills); understanding the unstated thoughts and feelings of the characters (inferencing skills); understanding how to use the information learned from the story (application skills); understanding how to make comparisons and categorize (analysis skills); understanding that when one thing happens something else will result (cause and effect skills); understanding how to combine and organize information (synthesis skills); understanding how to make decisions and judge (evaluation skills); and understanding how to form and support an opinion (opinion skills).

That may sound like your child is expected to think like and behave like a college graduate, but relax; nothing could be further from the truth! The skills I mentioned take time to develop - a long time. The questions and activities I’ve suggested are for Read Aloud stories and students at a kindergarten level. Yes, there will be questions they can’t answer, and yes there will be elements they don’t understand. That’s ok. It’s all a part of the learning process. As teachers and parents, your main focus is on building background knowledge through conversation and Read Alouds. You want your students to enjoy listening to and thinking about stories, enjoy your chats, and enjoy the activities. Your job is to guide when students are struggling, and provide information as they need it.

What you don’t want to do is “dumb it down.” Yes, you will simplify things and present information at a kindergarten level. However, simplifying is not the same as avoiding big words and topics because you assume your student can’t handle it. Provide opportunities to learn. Kindergarteners won’t take advantage of all those opportunities – they may not be ready yet, but at least you will not have robbed them of the chance to learn.

Encourage students to:

· Make a mental picture of what is happening in the story

· Ask questions while reading

· Think about what you already know – does it help you understand the text better?

· Predict and revise guesses as the story progresses

· Think about genre, plot, character, setting, problem, and resolution

· Compare the difference between a fiction and non-fiction book. Learn how to use the table of contents, index, headings, and captions

· Think about different character’s point of view

· Try saying multi-syllable words until they become comfortable and familiar

· Retell the story in sequence

· Tell some details about a character, setting, or problem

· Tell just the important parts of the story (summarizing)

· Make connections between the text and their own life

· Make connections between the text and another text

· Make connections between the text and the real world

· Provide an opinion. Ask “Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why?”

· Think about how characters changed from beginning to end and why they changed

· When kindergartners read independently, they can easily lose track of their spot on the page. Encourage them to “Back up and re-read from the spot you lost track.”

COMBINING SKILLS

OFTEN, VOCABULARY SKILLS AND COMPREHENSION SKILLS WORK HAND IN HAND. Some basic vocabulary words are especially important because they directly pertain to comprehension. For example: identifying same vs. different; being able to sort into categories; understanding cause and effect; and sequencing. All are necessary components of both vocabulary and comprehension skills. While many students will already have learned these words and concepts in pre-school, other kindergarteners will be hearing them for the first time. Most students will continue to need ongoing repetition and practice. Here are a few basic activities to get you started:

· Same/Different – Begin with things that are the same, such as beads of the same size and color. String them on a piece of yarn and talk about how they are all alike. Next, introduce different colors, one at a time. Talk about which beads are the same, and which are different. Finally, introduce beads of a different size. Talk about how some beads are the same because they are the same color, but are also different because they are a different size (and vice versa).

Once your child understands the concept with beads, you can move on to comparing and contrasting other things, like pets, toys, appliances, plants, etc…

· Categories

1. Start with hands on activities. Gather an assortment of small objects: small toys, balls, coins, rocks, and shells. Introduce two objects, naming each category. Now provide more objects of the same two categories. Have your child sort them into separate bowls while naming each category. Later add more objects, one category at a time.

2. Buy picture sets with a wide range of categories: animals, appliances, clothing, food, furniture, occupations, etc… Introduce two categories, by sorting and naming each card. Next, mix up the cards and give your student a turn sorting and naming the two categories. Once he is skilled at that, introduce a 3^rd category. Mix up the cards and have him sort all three categories. Keep adding one category at a time until he can sort five categories.

· Cause and Effect – Babies and toddlers enjoy experimenting with cause and effect. “If I drop this cracker on the floor, will Mom pick it up? I’ll try it and find out.” Sound familiar? Many toys for young children are designed with a child’s curiosity in mind. If a child pushes a button, the toy makes a noise. This increases his awareness of cause and effect. What you want to do is take that learning to another level.

1. Begin with the simple cause and effect consequences of daily life. If you put on your sweater you will be warm; don’t put your sweater on you’ll be cold. If you eat you’ll feel better; don’t eat you’ll be hungry. When you nap you’ll feel refreshed and ready to play again later. Someone might trip because you left a toy in front of the doorway. When we finish picking up toys the room will look neat and tidy.

2. Next, have conversations that develop understanding of cause and effect related to weather and seasons, plants and animals, and other kindergarten themes.

3. Use pictures and puzzles that match cause and effect scenes.

4. Sequence a series of pictures that begins with the cause (planting a seed), shows a few more pictures (watering, sun shining, plant sprouting), and ends with the effect (a full grown plant).

· Sequencing

Your students will need to learn how to identify the beginning, middle, and end of a story before they will be able to identify the beginning and ending sounds of words.

1. Use a train with an engine (beginning), cars, (middle), and caboose (end). Talk about the front and back of the train, where the train begins and ends, and what is in the middle. Once your student understands that, introduce another set of sequence words: first, next, after that, then, and last.

2. Practice with sequence card sets. Start with 2-scenes. Progress to 3, 4, 5, and 6 scene sets. Talk about the part of the story that is happening on each card. Use the words: beginning, middle, and end. Later use: first, next, after that, then and last. Have your student practice retelling the story, encouraging him to use sequence words.

3. Draw a picture of what happened in a story after listening to just the beginning. Then again after listening to the middle, and again after listening to the end. Have your student retell the story (using sequence words) based on his drawings.

4. Play a Follow Directions game putting toys in a box or bag: “First put the pony in the box, next put the red block in the box, last put the medium dinosaur in the box.” At first give one direction at a time. Work up to giving all 3 directions before he begins.