PARENT TALK

Research findings in education and ways to help your child - Volume 99-1

How Do I Get Kids to Think?

Two Strategies

by Carl B. Smith

We can now point to several methods that help children understand how to think while reading, or when answering comprehension questions. That is, after all, the point of teaching students what their minds must do to hold together an entire Story, or to answer a specific question, such as, "What is the theme?" They must know how to think.

Two methods from recent research are mental mapping and demonstration. Both satisfy the mind's need for a concrete model in handling abstract problems. Since we deal out a heavy hand of abstractions whenever we say "Read and retell," or "Compare and contrast characters in the story," we can teach children how to think about their reading through these models.

STRATEGY 1: Make Mental Maps

Mental maps have long been used to explain and to guide learning. Memory experts. for example, suggest that learners try to Visualize a journey, down a well known street, and attach to the familiar signposts the names or ideas that they want to remember. So, too, in reading, the mind needs an identifiable path that enables it to channel ideas and to keep the story moving.

For example, in reading fiction, children can develop a sense of what keeps the action moving by using a "story map" as their organizer. The plot, or the story map, follows characters who are trying to accomplish trying something to a satisfactory conclusion. The story map is created by asking:

Who are these central characters? What are they trying to accomplish? How do the they y work out the problem or situation?

With this general framework in mind, children can read and hold in place the events that move the story to its conclusion.

Visualize

Children can visualize what a story map means by thinking of a series of rooms, or boxes, that are linked by a passageway (theme). The characters move from one room (event) to another through the passageway in search of the resolution to their problem.

By drawing a rough outline of these rooms and by discussing key events that move the characters towards their goal, a parent can help children visualize a story map, a map which helps them tie the entire story together.

On subsequent occasions when children have to retell stories that they have read, a parent can remind them of their previous use of story maps as one way for them to gain control over their work.

STRATEGY 2: Demonstrate How to Answer

Children also need to respond to specific questions about their reading. Specific questions may often be more difficult to answer than overview questions. "Can you compare and contrast these characters?" may be much more difficult than "Can you retell the story?" Questions requiring specific answers often baffle children because they do not know how to organize their minds to cope with the question. Once again, the parent needs to make an abstract task accessible to the concrete thinking of the child.

To answer a particular question type, children often need a demonstration of how to do it. In one fifth-grade class, for example, it became apparent that the children did not know how to think about a question that asked them to compare and contrast the two main characters in a story. By using a two-column chart and two boys as sample characters, the students were asked to find out the similarities and differences of those boys by interviewing them. The interviewers were able to direct their questions by deciding on categories for comparison-physical appearance, hobbies, and so on. From their interview notes they were able to fill out the similarities and differences chart.

It was then easy for the teacher to show the students that what they had just done was to compare and contrast the two characters. To answer a comparison son- and-contrast question about the characters in the story, they could use the same kind of reasoning. That demonstration not only helped them answer immediate questions, but also gave those students a model to use in answering similar questions in the future.

Question demonstrations and mental maps are two very powerful methods for teaching reading comprehension.

Making It Work

The following activities will help develop the methods of mental mapping and question demonstration.

Picture the Setting

The environment of a story gives it character and influences our perception of the action. Have children paint a mental picture of the setting, making it as vivid in their minds as they can. Individuals can describe for the parent the scene that they have painted in their mind, describing it in detail from left to right and top to bottom. By discussing these ideas you will help the child visualize images and give them a better start on creating a mental map for better story coherence. Children can also draw or write about the picture they have mentally painted.

Three Steps for Exposition

Mental maps can be created for expository writing as story maps can be created for fiction. Ask children to think of study articles as having three parts, or three major building sections. Depending on the age of the children, ask them to see these non-narrative selections as having an introduction, development, and conclusion; a beginning, a middle and an end; or gathering ideas, organizing ideas, and drawing conclusions. Children can use these starter concepts as ways of designing their own mental maps for further writing.

Question Chart for Children

To get children to think about their reading, they should be raising their own questions. To promote this active role, parents can use a question chart to guide children. Children are to develop at least one question in each of four groups. Sample questions are provided.

Basic Information	Questions: Sample Questions: Who are the main characters? What is the sequence of three major events?
Overall Meaning	Questions: Sample Questions: What are the characters trying to accomplish?
Judgements	Questions: Sample Questions: Did these characters act responsibly? Was the story worthwhile?
Connections	Questions: Sample Questions: Can the story be used in their lives? How are the elements Of the story tied together?

These question groups represent a range of thinking skills, and can guide questions that parents can ask. These groups form a structure to guide children through their comprehension process. By learning to formulate their own questions in each of the four groups, children learn to stretch their minds while focusing on the content of the story.

Learn to Ask the Right Questions

Almost everyone would agree that asking questions is a vehicle for promoting thinking. Since all parents want their children to think while they read, questions should encourage children to "reason while reading."

Asking questions to promote thinking is quite different from asking questions to test the retention of information. Questions that test retention, often called convergent questions, are those whose answers we can readily determine from the text. Questions to promote thinking, on the other hand, require reasoning and usually involve making inferences and personal judgments. These questions are often called divergent questions because the answers will vary. The following examples illustrate the difference between convergent and divergent questions.

Convergent	Divergent
How big was Tina? (Tallest girl in class.)	Why is Tina's size important? (Inference needed to answer)
What part did Tina play? (Tree)	If you were quite tall, how would you feel? (Interpretive)

With these thoughts in mind, let's examine the types of questions necessary to promote "reasoning while reading." We know for example that we, as parents, can prompt thinking at various levels, and can also get children to ask questions of themselves. Several categories of thinking should be tapped in promoting reasoning.

As a reminder to ask a range of questions, it can be helpful to use four categories of questions: literal, interpretive, critical, and creative. The categories and sample questions for primary grades and intermediate grades are shown in the chart.

Questions for Promoting Thinking Skills

Let Children Ask the Question

To "reason while reading" means to consider the message thoughtfully, that is, to gather the information, analyze it as presented, to judge it in the light of experience, and to decide how to use it. By consistently asking a range of questions, the parent encourages "reasoning while reading ."

But the questions from the parent are only the beginning. They serve only as models for what the child should be doing. One way to get your child actively involved is to encourage your child to develop questions for each day's reading selections. After doing the reading have your child answer the questions and then discuss those answers with you.

To aid your child in developing questions, you could write up a short worksheet, similar to the one below. Your child should think of a question for each category listed. Then, once the reading is done, have your child go back and answer the questions. These answers can be an outline for a short discussion between you and your child about the reading.

The Gift of Reason

One of the great joys of tutoring your own children is watching them learn to reason, i.e., to search for truth. In those moments, you observe your children at their most human. It is through reason that they rise to the true freedom of humanity, the freedom to choose what is tight, the freedom to direct their own future.

As a parent, you stand in awe as your children learn to answer questions that begin with "how" and "why," and when they learn to apply standards to evaluate what is tight, beautiful, or valuable.

In those moments of reason, parents can experience a sense of divinity in being guides; as their children marshall evidence; as they explore science, life, government; as they search for truth.

What a blessing for the child whose parent guides him or her in the skills of reasoning and thinking, as they search together for answers of how the world works and where they are headed as human beings. In those moments they both know they are learners exploring and directing their own future by thinking, simply by sharpening the skills to reason and to choose. "at a blessing for both parent and child!

Devising Valuable Questions

Questions can have value in reading comprehension beyond merely testing knowledge if they extend the child's opportunities for thought. Suppose, for example a child reads an article which compares the geography of China to that of several other large countries in the world. The child could then be asked a range of questions, such as:

I. What are the major land features of China? (Literal)

2. What comparisons can be made between the mineral wealth of China and the United States? (Interpretive)

3. On the basis of climate and location, where would it be more pleasant to live, Peking or Moscow? (Critical)

4. If the Chinese had the same farm machinery that we have in the United States, could it produce the volume and the variety of food that we do? (Creative application)

A range of questions alerts children to the variety of ideas that can be gained from the passage. Thus the child becomes sensitized to reading more intensely. The child begins to approach reading as an active thinker.

A "Rating Game" Demonstration

The "Rating Game" can be played with two contestants and a master of ceremonies, your child and yourself, another child, or another adult. The first contestant lists his or her favorite TV programs on a sheet of paper, which is shown only to the master of ceremonies. Contestant Number Two asks questions of Number One about the types of shows he or she likes and the reasons why. No show or personal lity may be mentioned by name. A six- or eight-minute time limit is placed on the questioning, after which Number Two lists the shows he thinks are on the list. Once this is done, switch places and the game can be played again.

A follow-up discussion can probe the children's criteria for a good show. Do those criteria match the top-rated shows listed by Number One? or again by Number Two? You can then say, "Do the same kind of thinking when you read and I ask if it's any good." This is a demonstration of how the mind works in judging preference among a series of similar events.

Compare and Contrast

When children don't know how to answer a key question, we have to show them. In preparation for reading a book about the lives and works of three very different musicians, two teams of fifth graders compared two classmates. Kim and Isabel were similar in size, came from large families, did well in school, and liked sports. In separate interviews, the teams questioned each girl.

The class critiqued the teams' results. One team ended up comparing Kim with Isabel on the basis of appearance, family, and hobbies. The other team compared the two on the basis of physical size, school, and career interests. The class soon realized that, in order to compare Kim with Isabel, a team started by selecting categories and then including only those facts that fit the selected categories. From this demonstration it was easy to show the class when you analyze characters in a story you do the same kind of categorization and comparison the interview teams had done.

The class demonstrated how well they had learned the lesson when they discussed similarities and differences among Louis Armstrong, Elvis Presley, and Ludwig van Beethoven in their reading of Louis, Elvis and Ludwig by Isabel Nobel (Macmillan, 1975). Subsequently, whenever Students were stumped on how to proceed with a question involving analysis, the teacher reminded them of the interview demonstration. One student dubbed it, "...learning what to do with my head."

Teaching through demonstration has great impact and sustains itself with most children. When children are asked to transfer their learning from the demonstration to reading, they are able to do it. Puppets, dramatic plays, music, and songs-all lend themselves to attractive demonstrations of thinking operations. For making j judgments there is no better demonstration than a Rating Game for their favorite TV programs (see page 4).

Comparison 1			Comparision 2
	KIM	ISABEL		KIM	ISABEL
Appearance			Size
Family			School
Hobbies			Career

Personal Influence

Critical reading cannot be taught without remembering the personal factors that influence the manner and the intensity of a reader's response. Readers respond enthusiastically to one subject and not to another. Thus they may analyze or judge one subject with clarity and with energy because they have an interest in that subject; but they may respond nonchalantly when they have no interest or they lack background in another subject. The lack of background or interest never diminishes readers' potential for response-only their practical energy to do the job.

There is no sure-fire technique that will teach every child to read critically. But parents need a basic strategy to rely on; a successful means to help children develop their critical reading/thinking abilities. For some, that strategy may be a detailed explanation. I prefer demonstrations that can be referred to each time a child needs a reminder of how to guide his or her thinking.

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