What Do I know About This?

For first and second graders who need practice with comprehension.

Helping children connect what they already know about a subject to what they are reading is another way of increasing comprehension. Take time to talk about the subject of the text and to recall any vocabulary, concepts or definitions associated with the content. Taking just a few minutes to review prior knowledge can support the reading process before you begin. For example, if you are reading the story Amazing Grace, you might want to prepare children for all the characters and events that Grace portrays in the story—Joan of Arc, Anansi the Spider, Hiawatha, Mowgli, Aladdin, Juliet and Peter Pan. The story will be more meaningful to them if they know some of the people Grace pretends to be. The story is about a little girl who wants to play Peter Pan in the school play and who is told by her classmates that she can’t be Peter Pan because she is a girl and she is black.

"Have you ever pretended to be something or someone you aren’t?"

"Have you ever wanted to be something or someone as badly as Grace and someone said you couldn’t?"

"How did you feel? Did you feel sad like Grace?"

"Was there anyone like Grace's mother or grandmother who helped you feel better and told you that you could be anything you want to be?"

Encourage children to do this by having them work with a partner to think of ways they can relate a story to their lives. Then ask them to share their ideas with the class.

When children make relationships between their own lives and what they are reading, they gain understanding not only about the characters in the story, but also about the author's purpose. This leads to an increased comprehension of the text.

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Copyright © 2005 by the National Center for Family Literacy. Produced by the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) (325 W. Main Street, Suite 300, Louisville, Kentucky 40202-4237).