I thought I'd check in to see if there are any online tools for assessing and/or building reading comprehension. My son is 6 (in a half day K program) and is reading at a 3rd-4th grade level. He is voracious in his reading but hates to discuss his reading. When he reads something that he absolutely loves (which happens often), he will gush about the book and I can then ascertain that he has comprehended the story, sequence of events, conflicts, etc. On a day-to-day basis, however, he'd rather not discuss most reading and any questions result in a battle on his part. Talking about books is "boring" and a "waste of time", he'd rather be reading. I do think he is understanding most of what he's reading, based on conversations he'll independently have about books and just his general knowledge base, but I care because I want him challenged appropriately in school. Currently, he's pulled out 2x/week with an upper level reading group, and I've been told he's at the top of the group. He hates the reading group. They are working on 2nd grade level text for comprehension but he's reading well above that at home. He loathes the books and tries to skip school on reading group days (pretending to be sick) because he thinks reader's workshop is dreadful ("WHY is it called 'Reader's Workshop'!?!? They don't let us read!!").

On the one hand, I myself always hated book discussions and would much rather read more than talk about the same story over and over, but much of formal schooling IS talking about what you have read, so he's going to run into trouble here.

We are having him tested on the 9th so we'll have more data re: where he is actually reading/comprehending as we plan for 1st grade, but I'm anticipating a battle from the school re: the comprehension issue because of his attitude.

I hope this made sense. DS is doing karaoke Let it Go as I type.

With my older son I could say...a friend of mine on the internet was wondering if the book you are reading is appropriate for her son. Can you tell me about it? (open ended start) and then that would allow me to ask more specific questions as follow up.

Or I could ask what books would he recommend for kids who love to read as much as he does and then follow up with why he would recommend them and then some specific questions. And the opposite...I can ask what books he would recommend for kids who are reluctant readers.

I also have the...your younger brother wants to read that book after you are finished...would you say it is an appropriate book for him or not? And that opens the door to book discussions.

Basically with my teenage son I have to be sneaky now...but when he wasn't so hormonally challenged we have always had dinner time book club. My sons have enjoyed that we will also read what they are reading (they convince us that we HAVE to read it) and discuss the books over dinner. I actually had a Captain Underpants themed birthday years ago because that was the book craze that summer and I had the summer birthday (I am a good sport).

You could look into ReadWorks.org or RazKids. A lot of people here don't like RazKids (and you'd probably have to pay for a subscription), but my 7 yo DS likes it. I'm not sure if there is an assessment, but there are books that they can read on their own or listen to the audio, then multiple choice test questions and they can earn points to buy virtual prizes. Readworks has comprehensension questions but doesn't automatically score them like RazKids. It's more something that you'd print out and give him like a reading passage and then a worksheet to go with it. Readworks is free.

Reading Detective: http://www.criticalthinking.com/reading-detective.html

We have the online version. DS has only done a little so far. I plan on having him do it more consistently over the summer.

My ds would not discuss his reading with me in K, unless he was incredibly excited by the book.

I would receive similar non-responses to questions like "how was your day?"

Testing eased my mind that my ds was comprehending his books, or at least comprehending enough to sit for long periods of time and read.

I think that a) kindergartners in general aren't the greatest communicators and b) my son would balk because he wants his books (and his day) to be "his" thing- not some assignment where he has to report back to me.

I let it go at the time. Now, that he's in first, I noticed that he will start to loosen up and tell me more about academic life at school, and bit about what he is reading.

One of my dc's was like this. He also refused to answer the kind of emotional, open-ended questions that grade-school English (sorry, Language Arts) is full of: "How did the book make you feel?" "Have you ever been in the same situation?" "What's the schema for the book (meaning context/connections to real life)?" etc. Hated, hated, hated that stuff and didn't see the point. Me either. He was hugely relieved to progress to homeschool at age 9 and then to high-school English, both of which we run on a college model. He now loves analyzing text rather than emoting about it or summarizing it.

So, I sympathize with you and your ds. Do you think he might be willing to write about what he reads, e.g., a little book review blog or something? Picking up on Sweetie's idea, you could say, truthfully, it would be helpful to others to know what the book is about and what was good or bad about it. That would build some analytical thinking while also testing comprehension. He might even write or start some peer reviews for the local library -- our library will post (well-done) peer reviews near books. Just a thought.

If I had it all to do over again, I'd probably help my dc build analytical opinions supported by the text. Even at a young age, they and you together probably can tease out some reasons why a book is good or bad (you liked the narrator; why? you didn't think the characters were interesting; why? It was boring; why?).

How is he on discussing comprehension of non-reading things? I'm thinking playground situations, movies, etc. Do you gave conversations to help him figure out why Sam was angry at Kate, and what Kate meant when she said Sam, etc.

The cold never bothered me anyway.

There's a big difference in asking "How would you feel?" & "What would you do?" One question is more emotionally based & the other is more action based, but both prove higher level comprehension. Unfortunately most teachers focus on social/emotional comprehension questions, rather than action oriented questions, to the chagrin of many students, particularly boys.

This is what reading detective attempts to do - it asks questions and the child answers and then has to highlight the text that supports the answer.

I just love this group. Thank you all for the ideas. A lot of great food for thought here.

Sweetie-- I love the idea of a dinner book club. My husband works long hours and is not always home for dinner so, to this point, I've been reading aloud to the kids (6, 4, 2.5) during dinner but I can see this turning into a book club. Great idea.

Blackcat & Irena- Thank you for the sites. I will look into those.

Cammom- Sounds exactly like my DS. This issue isn't exclusive to reading. He doesn't discuss school at all, unless something truly exciting happened. I just know that the reading comp piece is huge in elementary school so him staying mum on this topic concerns me a bit.

GF2- Exactly! I'm a bibliophile and always excelled in Language Arts and writing, but I always loathed the comprehension questions. I can recall complaining to my mom about the whole "read these three paragraphs and answer these multiple choice questions" even though I would ace them. So, I see his point. Buuuut, I was more of a pleaser as a student and would do X, Y, Z and move on. He is more stubborn, like his Dad

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the idea of a book review blog, or local library reviews. These two ideas may really rope him in.

Tallulah, Your last line made me burst out laughing. Good Lord, the music is great but I'm so, so over it. He will answer social comp type questions when in the mood.

Kathryn- Great point. I'll try to make sure I'm asking action questions and see if I get more from the little guy.

Seems like when schools discuss comprehension, they are talking about three things:

* The ability to articulate an emotional or connective understanding of the text (how does it make you feel? how it is similar to your life? do you know anyone like that character?).

* The ability to articulate a functional understanding of the text (what happened? who did what? what is the climax? what viewpoint is it in?)

* The ability to articulate a thematic understanding of the text (what are the themes and subtexts? what is the author trying to tell us about politics/human nature/relationships/etc.? what are the prominent symbols? how to we relate to the text through the lens of ...?)

Each of these is really a different skill set. Note too that the key is the articulation of the information. You can comprehend it, but what schools are looking at is whether you can explain or discuss what you understand. This is the way you get graded of course, but there's no way for schools to measure a very deep or personally philosophical understanding.

As a former English Major myself, I can summarize plots easily and go on all day about a feminist or deconstructionist or postmodern reading of the text. But I'll be less able to clearly articulate my emotional response to the text.

My daughter will respond to any question about what happened in a book with "I don't know!" (book reports are the bane of her existence) but if you start a conversation about the roles of boys and girls in the book or historical context or plot devices that the author used and whether or not it worked for her and so on, she can articulate that quite well.

Half the time they were so excited that I was finished with their (new) favorite book they couldn't wait to start firing questions at me!!! I would answer and then say that's how I interpreted it, what did you think? Letting them take the lead was the key. I didn't start out calling it book club but after the hundredth dinner time book discussion we were laughing about how we had our own book club.

When the first grade teacher gave me the line about my younger son being able to read but not comprehend I wanted to record one of our book club dinners and ask her what part of comprehending did he lack.

Thank you, Ivy! Great food for thought re: how to start different conversations about a given book. I'm certain I can rope him in after some of the ideas you've all provided me with today

Sweetie-- such a great family memory. And the line about comprehension from the teacher bugs me a bit, too. My son is soooo busy but he'll sit and read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for hours. Now, I know he's understood it because he gushed about it after and he didn't miss a beat. But, even if he hadn't shared it all with me, who sits and reads for hours if they aren't understanding what they are reading? Especially if they are so busy?