CMS TWELVE DAYS OF READING TIP 2: Having conversations about the book that your student is reading helps them develop higher level thinking and language skills, such as predicting, problem solving, or contrasting. With younger students, ask the child questions and talk about the content of the story together before, during, and after reading. With upper elementary and middle school students, use open-ended questions to ask the child to think about the book’s messages and what is happening. For older students, ask the student to apply the book’s messages to the world around him/her by connecting events to what's in the news or events from his/her own life. For all students, discuss words that may be unfamiliar to your student to help build their vocabulary.