Teaching primary 3 students?

Question

I am trying to teach my daughter of 8 years old - primary 3 how to compose, make a summary of what she has just read. I can see that she is struggling on how to do these things. In spite of my explanations, to know what are important things to remember in the stories, how to write them, still she is struggling. Her vocabulary is okay, but doesn't knowhow to use "some of these words" in the sentences like, Though, somehow, etc. If ever there are other "strategies" or the simplest way for me to explain/ teach her, kindly enlighten me, i will really appreciate it a lot. Oh, and her sentences and thoughts are mixed up as well. Please help! many thanks!

Answer 1

Great for your daughter but what does her "teacher" do for her?  Do you do homeschooling, as alluded to by the first poster?  I do believe 8 year olds are allowed to struggle a bit, but don't worry.  Try to determine for yourself if she truly has a problem with the lessons or if she has no interest, or a tad lazy.  No offense, just a different set of eyes and ears on the subject.

Answer 2

Is this work only for you at home?  If so, are you willing to listen to her own words to answer and write it down, then let her copy the sentence. Soon she may better understand and be able to do this on her own.  Talk about why this is a good answer or not and after she learns a pattern or sample she may be able to revise her own work.  My 8 year old is required to do this in school for each chapter of the book they choose and the teacher provided a form, a template, with sentence starters ( for example, "The main character in the story was--"  "The problem is  "  "I think the next the thing that happens will be--" ) Now he knows what the teacher wants and can write these on his own.  This is a very good activity to pursue.  She will be fine in time, just don't push her to point of frustration.

Answer 3

I always tell the parents of students who struggle with this to break up what they are reading into smaller chunks.  Because she is 8 years old, after reading each page  I would ask her to tell you what she just read.  After you feel she is successful retelling page by page, then move to 2, then 3, then half of the story and so on.  This has helped my students in the past.  As far as her sentences being mixed up, have you thought about her writing out her retellings before she verbalizes it?  Some students, and adults for that matter, really struggle with verbalizing their thoughts and do better by writing before they speak.  If she can begin to recognize that what she has written doesn't sound right, then hopefully she will begin to make her sentences sound right when she speaks.  What suggestions have your child's teacher given you?

Try these websites for more info:

www.famlit.org/tipsforparents

pbskids.org/lions/parentsteachers/acti...

www.literacymatters.org/parents/ideas....

www.rif.org/