Five Inspiring Reading Questions for Story Time

Date :
July 16, 2022

Mother reading with child during story time

Making Story Time Even More Rewarding

Story time may be one of the most rewarding parts of childhood for your kids – you’re not only spending time together, you’re both creating a healthy relationship with literacy. But is there anything else you can do to make it a more rewarding experience for your child? The answer is definitely yes – asking lots of questions!  

Asking questions during story time is a great way to get your child engaged with reading and the story. By getting them to think about the story you’re reading together, you’re helping them develop reading comprehension skills, observation skills, and building on their knowledge about various topics. Check out these five simple questions you can ask your child during story time.  

Simple Story Time Questions

Try asking your child these simple reading comprehension questions. It’s an excellent way to engage little minds and build literacy skills – all while enjoying story time together. 

What do you think might happen in this story?

Ask this question after your child has seen the cover and heard the title. The question will help your child notice and think about any clues that might be in the cover illustrations or the title. It will help to pique their interest in the plot of the book, and it will encourage them to think about any prior knowledge they may have about the topic. For example, if the book is about dolphins and your child knows any dolphin facts, they may be much more interested in the story, which will help build on their knowledge. Make sure you keep the questions open-ended and stay away from leading questions. Ask ‘What do you think the story is about?’ rather than ‘Do you think this story is about a tree?’ 

What word do you think comes next?

This question is also about your child’s observation skills as they’ll likely choose a word based on what they’ve learned about the story so far, or what they can infer from the illustrations. With older children or children at a more advanced reading level, it’s also helping with syntax since your child will be noticing indirectly that they’ll need to choose a naming word (noun), describing word (adjective), or a doing word (verb) to fit the sentence.  

Reading with children - asking questions about story

Which words do you think best describe this character?

Your child will have grown more familiar with the characters throughout the story, and this question helps them to consider different character traits and how they can relate to those traits. It will also help them consider if they’d make similar decisions in the same situation. Additionally, thinking about and understanding relationships between the characters goes a long way to helping your child comprehend the story.  

Does anything in this story seem familiar to you?

This question helps kids make connections to the story, the world, and to better understand what’s happening around them. You could also frame it as ‘Have you seen anything like this before in your own life?’ or ‘Has something like this happened to you?’  

Can you think of a different ending to the story?

This question helps gauge your child’s understanding of the story. They will have to reflect on what they’ve just read and think about the different paths the plot could have taken.  

May Gibbs is fabulous for engaging your children with early literacy – check out these great ideas for more inspiration!

 

Librarian BecLibrarian Bec
Right now, Librarian Bec’s hard at work at your local library, sharing a passion for reading with little people and big. Bec writes about inspiring little readers and embracing lovely literature.