To help you determine whether or not a child has read a book, we asked education experts and parents this question for their best insights. From asking them how the book differs from the movie to asking them what the climax was, there are several pieces of advice that may help you figure out whether a child has read the book.
Here are 8 questions to ask to ensure a child has read the book:
- How Does the Book Differ from the Movie?
- What Are Your Thoughts?
- Who Was Your Favorite Character and Why?
- What Would You Change About The Story?
- What Was Your Favorite Part of the Story?
- What Was Your Favorite Detail From Here?
- Which Event Happened First?
- What Was the Climax?
How Does the Book Differ from the Movie?
Some students circumvent reading assignments by watching the movie instead of reading the book. One clever way to prevent this cheating method is to ask “In what ways does the film adaptation differ from the novel?” This question requires students to read the book and watch the movie, and gives kids practice comparing and contrasting to boot. To make the exercise extra impactful, ask students to describe the effect of these changes or guess the reasoning behind the switch.
Michael Alexis, TeamBuilding
What Are Your Thoughts?
One of the best ways to make sure that a child reads a book is a simple one, ask them what they thought of the story or what they thought about a certain character. Many kids love sharing their thoughts and opinions and it means a lot for an adult to genuinely care about what they have to say. You can gather a lot by the way they answer questions about a character’s intentions or story progression, for example, and see how much they actually read.
Brandon Brown, Grin
Who Was Your Favorite Character and Why?
When reading a story, it’s natural to feel a certain kinship and affinity to certain characters. It could be the hero of the story, or a supporting character and it all comes down to the qualities in the character that the child finds intriguing. By asking a child this question, you’ll be able to easily tell if they’ve read the book by the way they describe their favorite character in detail.
Harry Morton, Lower Street
What Would You Change About The Story?
Asking your child “If you could change one thing in the story, what would it be?” not only reveals if they made it all the way through the book but also encourages their creativity. They may come up with possible scenarios and alternative endings, shedding light on their perspective and the characteristics they truly care about. Depending on their answers and what they’d like to read about, you could even find similar books that they would prefer.
Riley Beam, Douglas R. Beam, P.A.
What Was Your Favorite Part of the Story?
A great question to check if a child really paid close attention and read the entire book is asking them what their favorite part of the story was. Children will be quick to remember parts that stood out and you’ll notice the excitement on their faces as they talk about it. They may tell you about their favorite characters or certain events that they found very interesting.
Demi Yilmaz, Colonist.io
What Was Your Favorite Detail From Here?
Ask about a specific detail from a random page. Simply open the book, and ask them a meaningful question that stems directly from the print. Whether they’ve just finished a novel or a nonfiction book, it’s very unlikely that any cliff notes or summary would include a specific detail that you’ve randomly selected. Another thing I always like to ask is, “What was your favorite thing about this particular piece?” From there, you can make a book recommendation for their next reading endeavor.
Stephanie Venn-Watson, fatty15
Which Event Happened First?
If you’re trying to ensure that your student or child did their assigned reading on any given night of the week, there are a few simple questions you can ask. Asking plainly about the events of the book may not actually reveal whether or not the child did the reading, because that information is available from other resources like online study guides, movies and other media based on the book, or even friends and siblings that have already read it.
The best question to ask to really check a child’s comprehension of reading material is story sequence. You can ask “which event happened first?” or even give them a short list of events and ask them to put them in order. For someone who knows the details of the book without having personally experienced the story structure, this is a very difficult task. Someone who has read the book will have experience with the internal logic of the story that moves the reader from one chapter to the next, making these questions simple and quick to answer.
Brandon Adcock, Nugenix
What Was the Climax?
Every book has a buildup, followed by a climax. Ask the reader to describe the climax. Doing so will urge the reader to provide a detailed description of what led up to the climactic moment of the story and what came after. Additionally, if the young reader knows that the climax question is coming, then it will incentivize him or her to read the entire story.
Alan Ahdoot, Adamson Ahdoot Law