{"id":381,"date":"2022-09-21T18:06:47","date_gmt":"2022-09-21T18:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/litblog.wpengine.com\/?p=381"},"modified":"2023-10-13T02:50:33","modified_gmt":"2023-10-13T02:50:33","slug":"helping-your-3rd-or-4th-grader-with-reading-comprehension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/literati.com\/reading-levels-parent-guide\/independent-reading-for-kids\/helping-your-3rd-or-4th-grader-with-reading-comprehension\/","title":{"rendered":"How Parents of 3rd and 4th Graders Can Help with Reading Comprehension"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Sometimes it can be hard to tell if your child is reading at the right level. If they\u2019re not, it can cause frustration with reading, delaying their skill development or their desire and ability to read altogether.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Former elementary school teacher MK Mutzbauer, who holds a masters degree in special education, understands this challenge\u2014and how to overcome it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She sat down with us to talk about reading comprehension at the 3rd- and 4th-grade level.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Below, she explains how to tell if your child is reading books that are at the right reading level for them, what to do if they\u2019re not, and how you can support their reading development at home.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"not-prose mt-6 md:mt-12\"><h3 class=\"text-2xl font-black mb-3 md:mb-4\">Literati:<\/h3><p class=\"pl-7 text-lg leading-9 md:text-xl md:leading-9\"><b>You\u2019ve worked with 8- to 10-year-olds, and at that reading level, one of the skills they&#8217;re working on is comprehension. What are some questions that parents can ask their kids to see if they\u2019re comprehending their books?<\/b><\/p><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"not-prose mt-6 md:mt-12\"><h3 class=\"text-2xl font-black mb-3 md:mb-4\">MK:<\/h3><p class=\"pl-7 text-lg leading-9 md:text-xl md:leading-9\">You can say things like, \u201cExplain to me what you&#8217;re reading, tell me about the characters, tell me what is happening.\u201d Ask about the main characters and their traits, the setting, and the main problem in the book and how they might solve it or how they think it will be solved. \r\n<br><br>\r\nPrediction is a big one\u2014have them predict what&#8217;s going to happen. For example, maybe the characters are going to a haunted house. You can ask, \u201cWhat do you think&#8217;s going to happen in that haunted house?\u201d Let them predict things, because they\u2019ll be excited to find out if what they predict is going to happen. \r\n<br><br>\r\nTalk to them about the characters, maybe relating them to people they know by asking, \u201cDoes that character remind you of anybody in our family or any of your friends? Why? How are they similar? How are they different?\u201d They have to make a connection to their life somehow with that book to understand it. And they need to read at their interest level and age level\u2014or lower\u2014for them to really comprehend that book.<\/p><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"not-prose mt-6 md:mt-12\"><h3 class=\"text-2xl font-black mb-3 md:mb-4\">Literati:<\/h3><p class=\"pl-7 text-lg leading-9 md:text-xl md:leading-9\"><b>If a parent feels like their child isn&#8217;t comprehending their books, what is a good solution?<\/b><\/p><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"not-prose mt-6 md:mt-12\"><h3 class=\"text-2xl font-black mb-3 md:mb-4\">MK:<\/h3><p class=\"pl-7 text-lg leading-9 md:text-xl md:leading-9\">A lot of things can be solved by rereading together to make sure they understand. Or you can read it back to them and see what they think about the characters, and if they might think a character is totally different than what the character actually is. If you see these differences, help them to understand by discussing it. You can say things like \u201cWell, how did you see this? When we reread it together, I see it this way.\u201d As adults, we have more life experience, so sometimes it could even just be helping them by explaining certain things they haven\u2019t had experience with yet.<\/p><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"not-prose mt-6 md:mt-12\"><h3 class=\"text-2xl font-black mb-3 md:mb-4\">Literati:<\/h3><p class=\"pl-7 text-lg leading-9 md:text-xl md:leading-9\"><b>If a parent doesn&#8217;t have time to read 30 minutes per day with their kid, are there any other ways they can evaluate the child&#8217;s reading comprehension, and intervene if they don&#8217;t?<\/b><\/p><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"not-prose mt-6 md:mt-12\"><h3 class=\"text-2xl font-black mb-3 md:mb-4\">MK:<\/h3><p class=\"pl-7 text-lg leading-9 md:text-xl md:leading-9\">Sure. Let them read aloud to you on the way to school in the car, or let them listen to audiobooks, and that way you can discuss it. You could even have them read along with the book while the audiobook is playing. The main thing is to get them to read something they\u2019re interested in.<\/p><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"not-prose mt-6 md:mt-12\"><h3 class=\"text-2xl font-black mb-3 md:mb-4\">Literati:<\/h3><p class=\"pl-7 text-lg leading-9 md:text-xl md:leading-9\"><b>At this age level, they&#8217;re starting to have strong opinions, comprehend books, and really think critically about them. Do you see a big impact when a kid has the opportunity to choose books for themselves?<\/b><\/p><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"not-prose mt-6 md:mt-12\"><h3 class=\"text-2xl font-black mb-3 md:mb-4\">MK:<\/h3><p class=\"pl-7 text-lg leading-9 md:text-xl md:leading-9\">Oh yeah, they are 100% invested in the book if it\u2019s about something they\u2019re interested in, and they&#8217;re going to want any and all information they can get about that topic, whether it\u2019s dinosaurs, sports, or anything else. I would say their interest level is the main thing for getting them interested in reading.\r\n<br><br><\/p><\/div>\n\n\n<p><em>Find more information on <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/literati.com\"><strong><em>Literati Book Clubs<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><em>and Reading Levels <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/literati.com\"><em>here<\/em><\/a><em>. Our book boxes help accelerate your child\u2019s reading abilities, no matter their current level, with books chosen just for them.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sometimes it can be hard to tell if your child is reading at the right level. If they\u2019re not, it can cause frustration with reading, delaying their skill development or their desire and ability to read altogether.&nbsp; Former elementary school teacher MK Mutzbauer, who holds a masters degree in special education, understands this challenge\u2014and how &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/literati.com\/reading-levels-parent-guide\/independent-reading-for-kids\/helping-your-3rd-or-4th-grader-with-reading-comprehension\/\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":545,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How Parents of 3rd and 4th Graders Can Help with Reading Comprehension - Literati<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Advice for improving your child&#039;s reading comprehension and engagement from former elementary school teacher, MK Mutzbauer.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/literati.com\/reading-levels-parent-guide\/independent-reading-for-kids\/helping-your-3rd-or-4th-grader-with-reading-comprehension\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Parents of 3rd and 4th Graders Can Help with Reading Comprehension - Literati\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Advice for improving your child&#039;s reading comprehension and engagement from former elementary school teacher, MK Mutzbauer.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/literati.com\/reading-levels-parent-guide\/independent-reading-for-kids\/helping-your-3rd-or-4th-grader-with-reading-comprehension\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Literati\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/literatikidsclub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-09-21T18:06:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-13T02:50:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/efairs-assets.literati.com\/literati\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/13020829\/Help-with-Reading-Comprehension.png?auto=webp&optimize=high\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1880\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1058\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Charlie DeTar\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@literati\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@literati\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Charlie DeTar\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/literati.com\/reading-levels-parent-guide\/independent-reading-for-kids\/helping-your-3rd-or-4th-grader-with-reading-comprehension\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/literati.com\/reading-levels-parent-guide\/independent-reading-for-kids\/helping-your-3rd-or-4th-grader-with-reading-comprehension\/\",\"name\":\"How Parents of 3rd and 4th Graders Can Help with Reading Comprehension - 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