A – Book Reading

So far we have talked about how conversations and guided play can help support children’s language and literacy development.

Reading to and with children is also an essential learning tool. Reading aloud to children supports language and literacy development at all stages of children’s development.

One of the benefits of reading is that it exposes children to a rich variety of words that might not be present in typical, everyday conversations. For example, remember the study in which children were learning about the word emerge? This is not a word that we, as adults, tend to use in everyday speech.

Interactive: Educator Engagement

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B – Building Print Awareness

During this time in development, in addition to building their vocabulary, children are also working on building print awareness skills, such as understanding that text means something and can be used in different ways at different times.

Researchers wanted to know if book reading could also be used to build children’s print awareness skills. To find out, they worked with educators and preschool children in Head Start programs.

The researchers gave some educators strategies to explicitly point out and reference text during shared book reading. They helped these educators think about how to support children’s learning in four different ways:

• Print meaning. One example is that children understand the relation between meaning and print. To support this an educator might say, “Here are the penguin’s words. He says, ‘thank you’.”
• Book and Print Organization. An example is that children know that reading occurs from the top of the page to the bottom of the page. To support this an educator might say, “This is the top of the page. This is where I begin reading.”
• Letters. One example is that children know that letters are symbols used in written language. To support this an educator might say, “Do you see a letter that is in your own name?”
• Words. One aspect is that children can identify some written words in familiar contexts. To support this an educator might say, “This word is the. This word is in this book all the time, can you help me find it?”

During reading sessions, educators were trained to ask both verbal questions about print (e.g., “Do you know this letter?”) and to make nonverbal references to the print, such as tracking the print with their finger during shared reading.

One year later, the researchers returned to measure how much the children had learned. Children who were in environments where the educators used these techniques frequently during shared reading had higher word reading, spelling, and comprehension outcomes than children in classrooms where educators were not trained on these techniques.

The researchers returned again the next year, and they found that two years later the children who were in classrooms where educators used these techniques often still had higher word, reading, spelling, and comprehension outcomes.

This suggests that including print referencing techniques in shared reading with children helps support children’s reading, spelling, and comprehension for years to come.

Dialogic Reading

Reading to children is a powerful way to support children’s language and literacy development.

So far we’ve talked about ways to support children’s learning during book reading by referencing print in books and highlighting new vocabulary words through back-and-forth interactions.

Another technique that educators can use to support children’s learning during reading is called dialogic reading. During dialogic reading, educators try to engage children in a conversation or dialogue about what they are reading so that children have opportunities to learn new concepts and words, practice using their words, and form longer phases and sentences.

In some ways, educators help children become tellers of the story, giving the child an active role during reading.

Researchers have come up with the acronym CROWD, which can help educators think of prompts that engage children in a conversation during dialogic reading.

Let’s go through the strategies together. These are examples from one of the class readings, Using Mariposa, Mariposa (Butterfly, Butterfly) to Promote Dialogic Reading:

• C—Completion questions: “Five little monkeys jumping on the _____.” The child fills in bed to use a new word and participate in completing the thought.
• R—Recall questions: “What happens after the wolf huffs and puffs?” The child recalls the story, putting it into their own words.
• O—Open-ended questions: “Tell me what is happening in this picture.” The child practices putting their own thoughts into words.
• W—Wh questions (who, what, why, when, where): “What is that? Why is that happening?” At many different levels, children can put their thoughts into words.
• D—Distancing questions: “What happened when we made your birthday cake?” Children remember past events and relate them to the present and future.

Once educators have asked a question, it is then helpful to follow the child’s lead. Comment on what children say and wait, ask another question and wait, or respond by adding a little more to the conversation and wait. It can be very hard to wait after you ask a question. But remember that sometimes waiting even a little bit extra will encourage the child to start talking.

Using these techniques and incorporating dialogic reading into teaching practice promotes children’s language and literacy development. This technique supports all learners, including children with disabilities and children who are dual language learners.

Reflection Point

Consider these questions thinking about personal experiences and teaching strategies you use while reading with children.

• How do you use book reading time in your program right now?
• What elements might you add to help further support children’s learning?

References

Blewitt, P., & Langan, R. (2016). Learning words during shared book reading: The role of extratextual talk designed to increase child engagement. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 150, 404–410.

Piasta, S. B., Justice, L. M., McGinty, A. S., & Kaderavek, J. N. (2012). Increasing young children’s contact with print during shared reading: longitudinal effects on literacy achievement. Child Development, 83(3) 810–820.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Head Start. Using Mariposa, Mariposa (Butterfly, Butterfly) to promote dialogic reading: A Powerful way to encourage language development in one or more languages. [Online Article]

Whitehurst, G. J., & Lonigan, C. J. (1998). Child development and emergent literacy. Child Development, 69(3), 848–872.