The 5 W’s
The children have been into reading a lot more. I think it’s the cold weather and them feeling the need to be close to us.
Today as we were plopped in the floor I thought what a good time to do a skill assessment. I told the children to warm up their ears that I was going to read them a story and then ask them a lot of questions.
The book we read was “The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats.
I asked them questions like “what did the little boy find?”
“Where did he put the snowball ?”
“Who helped the little boy get undressed? ”
“When did the little boy take a bath ?”
“Why was the snow ball no longer in the little boys pocket? ”
Asking questions after reading a book helps children to organize their thoughts about what they just heard. It’s different to listen to the three-year-olds versus the almost 5-year-olds. The three-year-olds make up things as they answer your questions. The five-year-olds work hard to remember details from your read aloud. Sometimes asking questions like this encourages children to think beyond what they actually heard.
Another assessment that can be done during this time is watching for kiddos that completely shut down when asked a question. Our kiddos know they are absolutely safe in our place and should be completely comfortable answering questions from us. When they don’t – that shows a lack of confidence. That’s ok! So with those kiddos, we will continue to grow our relationships and build their strong voice.