Questions to Build Comprehension
Standards
NELP Predictor: Phonological memory
the ability to remember spoken information for a short period of time.
NELP Predictor: Oral language
the ability to produce or comprehend spoken language, including vocabulary and grammar.
NELP Predictor: Visual Processing
the ability to match or discriminate visually presented symbols.
Objective(s)
At the end of this lesson, participants will be able to:
- Develop questions about the key details in a story.
- Explain how who, what, when, where, why, and how questions support comprehension.
Materials and Resources
- Copies of A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2018)
- Pat-a-Cake lyrics
- Mooncake Images sheet from author Grace Lin
- A cookie, pancake, slice of bread, or real mooncake to act out the story
- Rabbit drawing video from author Grace Lin
- Drawing/scratch paper and pencils, crayons (red, pink, orange, green are referenced)
Instructional Procedures
Introduction
- Explain how who, what, when, where, why, and how questions support comprehension.
- Prompt component of PEER strategy
- Questions can also be used to Expand
- Use the open-ended questions you brainstormed when reading to prompt and expand
Infant / Toddler
When adults read with young children, children begin to understand that written and spoken words have meaning. This helps them to develop vocabulary, and to connect to the world around them. Even though infants and toddlers might not “answer” adults the way older children do, it is helping them grow when adults read and talk to them. Those same who, what, where, when, why and how questions brainstormed during parent education are just as important to ask infants and toddlers as they are older preschool and elementary age children.
Infants are learning by leaps and bounds, and are soothed by the sound of their parent’s voice and words. They may use all of their five senses to explore a book; this is a normal part of their development. Parents may want to read A Big Mooncake for Little Star or select a board book, if preferred. Another option is to practice the rhyme, “Pat-a Cake.” Just like Little Star and her mama baked a Mooncake, parents and children can celebrate with this playful rhyme. Pat-a-Cake handout provided.
Activity: Reading and Talking Together
While reading the story, parents can ask questions to model language, and point to pictures in the book while saying the words to PROMPT children and build a foundation for vocabulary development. If they choose to recite the rhyme, they can narrate while doing the motions together. They can EVALUATE and EXPAND by observing their child’s verbal and non-verbal responses, such as smiling, kicking, and cooing. Parents can also REPEAT their children’s responses.
Activity: Narrating Your Child’s Day
Reading and talking to children can happen at any time of the day. Parents can tell a story about your child’s day or narrate the steps in their bedtime routine. At nighttime, parents can show their child the moon by pointing and repeating the word, and describing what it looks like.
Virtual Adaptation: This activity can be done when together in person or virtually with minimal adaptation. The Pat-a-Cake handout can be shared on a screen or modeled using video.
Pre-School
Before reading, peek inside the book’s cover at the description of the book. Just like a movie often has a trailer, previewing a book can help to build excitement. Inside this book, parents will find an excellent example of an open-ended “what” question, which serves as a wonderful PROMPT:
“Little Star loves the delicious Mooncake that she bakes with her mama. But she’s not supposed to eat any yet! What happens when she can’t resist a nibble?”
Retelling is another important foundational skill for young readers. When children recall and retell the events of a story, it supports comprehension and promotes the development of expressive vocabulary.
A Big Mooncake for Little Star also presents an opportunity to explore and strengthen visual processing, which is the ability to match or discriminate the details in visual images. For example, you might see children investigating and organizing items by color, shape, size, or other characteristics. Learning that images have meaning is foundational to literacy, and helps children distinguish between letters as they learn to read and write.
Activity: Using Questions to Support Comprehension
Before getting into the story, parents can take a moment with children to look at the front and back cover of the book and ask children, “What do you think will happen in this story?” The repetitive pattern within the story will also help children continue to predict based on what they recall.
While reading, parents can integrate their who, what, where, when, why and how questions and evaluate their child’s interpretation of the story. This provides a great opportunity to add information to expand children’s comprehension, or understanding, of the story. For example, a parent might ask, “What is Little Star doing on this page?” A child might respond, “She is eating.” To expand, a parent could say, “That’s right. She is sneaking out of bed to eat the Mooncake!”
Parents can also PROMPT children to recall the events of the story by asking questions such as, “Do you remember what Mama said to Little Star about eating the Mooncake?”
Activity: Using PEER to Perform!
Using props to tell the story, such as a round cookie, a pancake, a piece of bread cut into a circle, or a mooncake of their own, children can nibble along with Little Star as they read and act out the story. Parents may choose to add movement, and encourage their child to tip toe (“pat, pat, pat!”) to take a bite and then return to “bed.” Parents can join in the fun by tiptoeing along or by playing “mama” and listening for sounds. When acting out the story, parents can use who, what, where, when, why and how questions to assist with recall of events.
- “Where does Little Star go next?”
- “What did Mama say to Little Star after she ate the mooncake?”
- “How did Little Star feel when she was thinking about the mooncake?”
Activity: Visual Processing
Grace Lin has a website dedicated to the books that she has written and illustrated. It can be found at https://gracelin.com/
On this site are images showing the progression of the mooncake being nibbled away. Using the Mooncake Images sheet, children and parents can cut out the 12 images and match them to those shown on the double-page spread in the book. After matching them, children can practice sequencing the images in order, from full moon to crescent.
Virtual Adaptation: The first two activities can be done when together in person or virtually with minimal adaptation. For the Visual Processing activity, if it is not possible for the family to access and create the moon images for matching, families can plan to view the moon outside that evening (or a clear evening that week), and decide together which image in the book their moon most resembles. Has Little Star already nibbled away at the moon they see in the sky, or does most of it remain visible?
School-Age
It's important for you and your child to continue reading together even after he or she begins learning to read in school. In elementary years, reading comprehension skills support children’s understanding of textbooks, worksheets, and other complex texts. Prior knowledge can also assist with navigating tougher text passages at school and in the world around them. Asking questions about what children are reading supports their verbal processing of the book, so the who, what, where, when, why and how questions remain relevant to becoming a fluent reader.
Parents and school-age children can read the book, A Big Mooncake for Little Star together, and build on the themes in the story by asking questions to determine their child’s interests. Questions might include:
- “What would you have done if you were Little Star?”
- “The mooncake in the story changes shape like the moon. Tell me what you think makes the moon look different.”
- “How does the mooncake look different or similar to foods we have made or eaten?”
- "Can you summarize the book?”
- “What did you like about it?”“What other books does it remind you of?"
Parents can also extend learning by asking their children what they wonder about the moon.
Activity: Curious about Caldecott
In 2019, Grace’s picture book A Big Mooncake for Little Star was awarded a Caldecott Honor. Point out the award sticker on the cover of the book. The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. In the video below, Grace Lin shares background information on how the rabbit in the story has significant meaning. She then provides a simple tutorial on how to draw your own rabbit. Families can enjoy learning and drawing together, along with the author.
Virtual Adaptation: The first activity can be done when together in person or virtually with minimal adaptation. For the Caldecott activity, if it is not possible for the family to access crayons and drawing paper, they can create shadow puppet bunnies by shining a flashlight or light at a wall, and using their hands to create a bunny with finger “ears” in the sky.
Notes for Implementation
ILA can occur during class time, virtually, or continue at home. The strategies of asking questions facilitates children’s vocabulary and comprehension skills and can be practiced during daily activities as well as when reading. During these interactions, the child takes the lead, the parent prompts and expands the learning, and the teacher is a coach and support.
Assessment / Evaluation
The ACIRI is an excellent guide for assessment of skill demonstration. Looking specifically at categories II and III: Promoting Interactive Reading and Supporting Comprehension and Using Literacy Strategies, both the adult and child behaviors, when observed, provide evidence of skill development and mastery.
Wrap-up / Closure
As parents become more comfortable with using who, what, where, when, why and how questions to support reading comprehension, children’s engagement and enjoyment of reading together will grow. Children may begin to initiate reading times together. One aspect of the book that parents may relate to is the struggle that Little Star experiences with staying in bed. Despite her mama’s instruction, she continues to sneak out of bed for a nibble of cake. Share the article Bedtime Struggles with families. As the article states, most young children have times when they don’t want to go to bed, or stay in bed. Creating a consistent bedtime routine, which can include reading together, can support families in having a more restful bedtime. The article also suggests simply talking with your child about their day.
Who, what, where, when, why and how questions can be a great tool to guide a cozy night time conversation.
Teaser:
Another interesting perspective would be to ensure that parents read the story BEFORE and AFTER the adult education lesson. For those who were not familiar with the details of the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, how did learning about the festival impact their comprehension and perception of the story?
Similarly, background knowledge is a very important contributor to young children’s reading comprehension. The more a reader knows about a topic, the easier it is to read a text, understand it, and retain the information. Having this additional knowledge creates a fun opportunity to re-read the story, discovering new details each time that can be talked about to expand children’s understanding.
Extension/Further Study
Create a tasty, hands-on model of the moon’s phases using sandwich cookies! You’ll need eight cookies. Keep one whole to represent the new moon. Take another and remove the top, leaving the cream intact — this is the full moon. Then, help your child carefully nibble the tops of the remaining cookies to create crescent and half-moon shapes. Arrange them in order to show how the moon changes over time.
Step outside or look through a window with your child and observe the moon’s shape. Is it full, half, or just a sliver? Have your child draw what they see and describe any changes over time. Ask guiding questions like, “How do you think the moon got smaller?” or “What do you notice about the stars around it?” This activity strengthens observation skills and early science concepts while creating a cozy bedtime routine.
Cooking together builds early literacy skills through conversation and sequencing! Traditional mooncakes symbolize family unity and are often shared during celebrations. Try making simple mooncakes, pancakes, or playdough mooncakes. As you mix and shape the dough, describe the textures and smells to build your child’s vocabulary. While cooking, share the steps in the process: "first we set out the ingredients, then we measure..." This hands-on activity strengthens comprehension, sequencing skills, and language development.
Related Lesson Plans
Mid-Autumn Festival
Ask who, what, where, when, why, and how questions to identify key details in nonfiction texts.
PEER Strategy
Use the PEER strategy to ask open-ended questions that boost children's comprehension.
Moon Phases
Science exploration of moon phases through observation, art, and movement.