At GES, our Learning Compact and Plan includes goals for student achievement.  This section of the Paw Prints will be used to share information parents can use to support their children in achieving the goals.  We hope that this information is helpful to you!

GES Goal: To talk to your child about what they read
It’s important to not only read to your child, but to also talk about what you read.  In the Howard County curriculum, one category of reading comprehension questions is called Thinking within the Text, designed to help students think about the story itself.   Here are some questions that you can ask to help your child think about what they’ve heard or read:
1.    What is this story mostly about?  
2.    Who are the important characters in the story?  How did they act?  Why did they act that way?
3.    What was the main problem in the story?  How was it solved?
4.    What is the setting of the story?  (where and when it took place)

For older readers, you can expand on these questions by asking:
1.    Summarize the events of the story in order.
2.    How did characters’ actions contribute to the sequence of events?
3.    Were there problems in the story in addition to the main problem?  How did the characters solve them?
4.    What is the theme of the story (the main idea or the underlying meaning)?

These questions give you a start for the book conversation that will help to deepen your child’s understanding of the story. If you would like to access some resources provided by HCPSS, go to the following website: https://www.hcpss.org/academics/english-language-arts/.  On that page, look for “Family and Community Resources” and click on the appropriate grade level.  On the grade level page, there is a table of contents on the left side; click on Modules, and then click on the section titled How To Support Your Child.