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Nat'l Association for Education of Young Children

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Nat'l Association for Education of Young Children

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Discover the benefits of early childhood accreditation, learn about the four step process, find support and resources for your program or login to the accreditation portal.

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References

Click the "References" link above to hide these references.

AMERICA READS CHALLENGE: Read*Write*Now Partners Group (1997). Checkpoints for progress in reading and writing for families and communities. U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC.

Barr, R., Kamil, M.L., Mosenthal, P.B., and Pearson, P.D. (Eds.) (1991). Handbook of reading research: Volume II. New York, Longman.

Burns, M. Susan, Griffin, Peg, Snow, C.E. (Eds.) (1999). Starting out right: Guide to promoting children's reading success. National Academy Press, Washington, DC.

Clay, M.M. (1979). The early detection of reading difficulties (3rd Edition). Heinneman, Auckland, New Zealand.

Hannon, Peter (1995). Literacy, home, and school: Research and practice in teaching literacy with parents. Falmer Press, London, England.

Hiebert, E.H., and Raphael, T.E. (1998). Early literacy instruction. Harcourt Brace College Publishers, Fort Worth, TX.

International Reading Association (IRA) and National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) (1998). Learning to read and write: Developmentally appropriate practices for young children--A joint position statement of the IRA and NAEYC. Washington, DC.

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) (1996). Technology and young children ages 3 through 8--An NAEYC position statement. Washington, DC.

National Center for Education Statistics (1999). The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)1998 reading report card. U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC.

Snow, C.E., Burns, M. Susan, Griffin, Peg (Eds.) (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. National Academy Press, Washington, DC.

Teale, W.H., and Sulzby, E. (Eds.) (1986). Emergent literacy: writing and reading. Ablex, Norwood, NJ.

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Click the "References" link above to hide these references. AMERICA READS CHALLENGE: Read*Write*Now Partners Group (1997). Checkpoints for progress in reading and writing for families and communities. U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC. Barr, R., Kamil, M.L., Mosenthal, P.B., and Pearson, P.D. (Eds.) (1991). Handbook of reading research: Volume II.

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National Institute for Literacy

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Read aloud (TTS) accessible and inaccessible text (OCR), simplify difficult vocabulary, and translate English into other languages.

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Learn the definitions of phonological awareness and phonemic awareness - and how these pre-reading listening skills relate to phonics.

Letter of completion

After completing this module and successfully answering the post-test questions, you'll be able to download a Letter of Completion.

Phonological awareness and phonemic awareness: what's the difference?

Phonological awareness is the ability to recognize and manipulate the spoken parts of sentences and words. Examples include being able to identify words that rhyme, recognizing alliteration, segmenting a sentence into words, identifying the syllables in a word, and blending and segmenting onset-rimes. The most sophisticated - and last to develop - is called phonemic awareness.

Phonemic awareness is the ability to notice, think about, and work with the individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. This includes blending sounds into words, segmenting words into sounds, and deleting and playing with the sounds in spoken words.

Phonological awareness (PA) involves a continuum of skills that develop over time and that are crucial for reading and spelling success, because they are central to learning to decode and spell printed words. Phonological awareness is especially important at the earliest stages of reading development - in pre-school, kindergarten, and first grade for typical readers.

Explicit teaching of phonological awareness in these early years can eliminate future reading problems for many students. However, struggling decoders of any age can work on phonological awareness, especially if they evidence problems in blending or segmenting phonemes.

How about phonological awareness and phonics?

Phonological awareness refers to a global awareness of sounds in spoken words, as well as the ability to manipulate those sounds.

Phonics refers to knowledge of letter sounds and the ability to apply that knowledge in decoding unfamiliar printed words.

So, phonological awareness refers to oral language and phonics refers to print. Both of these skills are very important and tend to interact in reading development, but they are distinct skills; children can have weaknesses in one of them but not the other.

For example, a child who knows letter sounds but cannot blend the sounds to form the whole word has a phonological awareness (specifically, a phonemic awareness) problem. Conversely, a child who can orally blend sounds with ease but mixes up vowel letter sounds, reading pit for pet and set for sit, has a phonics problem.

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Learn the definitions of phonological awareness and phonemic awareness - and how these pre-reading listening skills relate to phonics. Letter of completion After completing this module and successfully answering the post-test questions, you'll be able to download a Letter of Completion. Phonological awareness and phonemic awareness: what's the difference?

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Reading Rockets- great site!

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Abstract

Repeated interactive read-alouds, a systematic method of reading aloud, allow teachers to scaffold children's understanding of the book being read, model strategies for making inferences and explanations, and teach vocabulary and concepts. A storybook is read three times in slightly different ways in order to increase the amount and quality of children's analytical talk as they answer carefully crafted questions. During the first reading, teachers introduce the story's problem, insert comments, ask a few key questions, and finally ask a "why" question calling for extended explanation. This is accompanied by elaborations on a few key vocabulary words. Second reads capitalize on children's growing comprehension of the story by providing enriched vocabulary explanations and asking additional inference and explanation questions. Third reads consist of guided reconstruction of the story in which children recount information as well as provide explanations and commentary.

These techniques have shown to be effective in increasing children's engagement, understanding, and appreciation of literature in preschool and kindergarten settings.

Introduction

Research is mixed on the value of reading aloud to children aged 3 to 6. On one hand, researchers have validated that reading aloud affects vocabulary development (Robbins & Ehri, 1994; Whitehurst et al., 1999), acquisition of literary syntax and vocabulary (Purcell-Gates, McIntyre, & Freppon, 1995), story recall (Morrow & Smith, 1990), and sensitivity to the linguistic and organizational structures of narrative and informational text (Duke & Kays, 1998). Studies have shown that preschoolers make gains in expressive language even when the duration of story reading interventions are short (e.g., Hargrave & Sénéchal, 2000). In contrast, researchers have found only a modest relationship between the frequency and quality of parent-child read-alouds during preschool and later first-grade reading achievement (Scarborough & Dobrich, 1994). Researchers have also found a negative relationship between the amount of time teachers spend reading aloud in kindergarten and children's decoding skills (Meyer, Wardrop, Stahl, & Linn, 1994). These studies suggest that merely reading books aloud is not sufficient for accelerating children's oral vocabulary development and listening comprehension. Instead, the way books are shared with children matters.

Effective read-aloud techniques

Research has demonstrated that the most effective read-alouds are those in which children are actively involved asking and answering questions and making predictions rather than passively listening (Dickinson, 2001). These read-alouds are called interactive or dialogic and result in gains in vocabulary (Hargrave & Sénéchal, 2000), comprehension strategies and story schema (Van den Broek, 2001), and concept development (Wasik & Bond, 2001). Merely inviting children to talk during interactive read-alouds, however, is not sufficient to accelerate their literacy development. Instead, growth is related to how frequently they engage in analytic talk (Dickinson & Smith, 1994). Analytic talk involves making predictions or inferences that explain a character's motivation or connect events from different parts of the story. Teachers prompt children to engage in analytical thinking by making comments that model such thinking and then asking thoughtful questions.

Other activities boost the value of reading aloud to young children. For example, research has demonstrated that the following activities increase comprehension and language development: inviting preschoolers and kindergartners to retell or dramatize stories (Cornell, Sénéchal, & Brodo, 1988; Pellegrini & Galda, 1982); reading several books on a similar topic and inviting children to play with objects related to the concepts or characters introduced in these books (Rowe, 1998; Wasik & Bond, 2001); reading a book repeatedly (Crago & Crago, 1976); inserting short definitions for some words while reading aloud (Collins, 2004; Elley, 1989); and encouraging children to use these same words when they answer questions, discuss book events, (Hargrave & Sénéchal, 2000; Robbins & Ehri, 1994), or describe illustrations (Reese & Cox, 1999). Thus, effective interactive read-alouds include a systematic approach that incorporates teachers' modeling of higher-level thinking, asking thoughtful questions calling for analytic talk, prompting children to recall a story in some way within a reasonable time frame, reading a single book repeatedly, and reading books related by topic. It also involves a systematic approach to developing children's understanding of vocabulary, such as inserting short definitions of words and phrases during reading.

Two recent methods for reading aloud to children aged 3 to 6 include many of these research-based techniques. Klesius and Griffith (1996) described a technique for reading aloud to small groups of at-risk kindergartners that they claimed extended children's talk about books. Using interactive read-alouds, teachers point to details in illustrations and ask questions about vocabulary words as they read. They extend children's responses by asking them to clarify and explain. After reading, children recall a portion of, or the entire, story. Beck and McKeown (2001) developed a similar technique, called Text Talk, to help kindergarten and primary-grade children expand vocabulary. As teachers read, they draw attention to a few vocabulary words by inserting short definitions. They also ask open-ended questions in which children must provide explanations rather than one-or two-word responses. After reading, teachers discuss vocabulary words in the context of the story and in other contexts.

Our experiences with effective read-aloud practices

As researchers and practitioners of early literacy development, we have demonstrated and observed teachers reading aloud in hundreds of preschool and kindergarten classrooms over the last three decades. Despite the wealth of research on effective read-alouds and practical models for such approaches, we have noticed that fewer teachers seem to be attempting to read what we consider sophisticated stories and nonfiction books in preschool and kindergarten in favor of reading easier, predictable, and concept books (often in Big Book format), especially in classrooms with high percentages of at-risk children. Sophisticated picture books include, for example, stories in which readers must infer characters' motivations and thoughts and connect them to actions (i.e., causes and effects). These books have a rich repertoire of vocabulary. Examples include Henny Penny (Galdone, 1968), Oonga Boonga (Wishinsky, 2001), and Owl Moon (Yolen, 1987). These books can be contrasted with predictable books in which readers do not need to infer character motivation, feelings, or thoughts in order to enjoy the repeated words and actions. Examples include Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (Martin, 1967) or Over in the Meadow (Wadsworth, 1992). While predictable books have a role in preschool and kindergarten literacy programs, sophisticated picture books play an additional role of expanding vocabulary and enhancing oral comprehension.

Because we were aware that fewer teachers seemed to be reading sophisticated picture books as a daily part of their early literacy programs, we worried that many children were not engaging in analytic talk. As we wondered how we could help teachers systematically promote this kind of talk, we considered Cochran-Smith's (1984) argument that effective teachers model the role of ideal reader as they read aloud. An ideal reader is one who intuitively and unconsciously makes appropriate inferences and predictions and constantly rethinks current events in a story in relation to past events. Thus, effective teachers model what ideal readers do by explicitly talking aloud as they read, making children aware that they are predicting, making an inference, or changing their ideas about what is happening in a story. While thinking aloud is a frequently used technique to help children interpret literature in the elementary grades (e.g., Keene & Zimmerman, 1997; Miller, 2002), we wanted to adapt this technique for much younger children. We wanted teachers to model making comments that would reveal implicit information that preschool and kindergarten children would not likely be able to produce on their own. Therefore, we crafted an approach to reading aloud to reflect insights drawn from current research and theories of an ideal reader as well as our own experiences. The purpose of this article is to describe what we call repeated interactive read-alouds using sophisticated storybooks.

Repeated interactive read-alouds: first reading of a picture storybook

The first read-aloud includes four components: book introduction, vocabulary support techniques, analytical comments and questions, and an after-reading "why" question. These techniques have been carefully selected to help children build a stronger first understanding of the story, including some of its vocabulary.

Book introductions

Research has shown that effective readers quickly begin to infer story problems and use their tentative ideas about problems to process story information (Van den Broek, 2001). However, problems present challenges for young children: They are often not directly stated in the text (Paris & Paris, 2003; Stein & Glenn, 1979), and young children are relatively insensitive to problems and goals compared to characters and actions (Benson, 1997; Stein & Glenn). Because young children are not likely to focus on the story problem, we craft book introductions to make the problem explicit.

For example, Henny Penny (Galdone, 1968) is about a hen who mistakenly believes that a piece of sky has fallen on her head. She is so upset by this event that she acts foolishly and rushes to tell the king about this occurrence. She does not recognize the danger posed by the fox when he invites her and her friends to take a short cut right into his cave (the actual problem of the story, which only readers and not the characters realize). In order to construct a three- or four-sentence introduction we either explicitly state or strongly imply the main problem of the story. For example, to introduce Henny Penny we might say,

In this story you are going to meet a silly, foolish hen who makes a big mistake. She thinks a catastrophe, a really bad disaster, is about to happen and runs to tell the king about it. A lot of her friends believe her mistake, and they all get in trouble because they are so silly.

As we give the book introduction, we show the front cover and sometimes the back cover or end papers and the title page (rather than all the illustrations as is done in a picture walk). For example, the front cover of Henny Penny illustrates the main character and the end papers depict Henny Penny running up a hill toward a castle. As we show these pages we complete the book introduction:

Here is Henny Penny running to tell the king about the catastrophe. But I have to warn you, she never makes it to the castle. Let's find out what happens to her on the way to tell the king about the catastrophe.

We do not recommend that, during a first read, teachers have children identify book parts such as the front and back cover or top and bottom of the page, tell what the author or illustrator does, or discuss the dedication page. We have found that these activities divert children's attention away from the main goal of a first read-aloud-to enjoy a good story by focusing on its meaning. As we read a book during a first read, we use expression, gestures and dramatic pauses, variations in the pace of reading, and plenty of eye contact. We have found these techniques highly effective at capturing and maintaining children's interest and enjoyment, even when reading longer and more sophisticated books.

Inserting vocabulary support

Before reading the book aloud, we select 5 to 10 vocabulary words or phrases from the book that we will highlight or define during reading. These words are critical to understanding the story and are likely to be encountered in other books or useful in nonbook contexts (Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002). Sometimes the book does not include specific vocabulary that ideal readers would use in their analytical thinking about this particular book, so we insert these additional vocabulary words into the book introduction and our comments as we read aloud. For example, we would insert the words mistake, catastrophe, disaster, and foolish while reading Henny Penny because these words are critical for analyzing the problem in relationship to the main character's motivations and traits. Once we select vocabulary words and phrases, we highlight the words or enhance word and phrase meanings in one or more of five ways:

1. We insert a short phrase or sentence that defines or explains a word, such as saying "Feast, that's a really big dinner."

2. We point to salient parts of the illustration that help clarify a word or phrase meaning, such as pointing to the illustration of an acorn as we read the word in the text.

3. We use dramatic gestures, such as demonstrating the meaning of shrugged by shrugging our shoulders as we read.

4. We use voice, such as making clear the fox's sly intentions by reading the text with a droll voice.

5. We vary the pacing with which we read words or phrases, such as reading more quickly what Henny Penny says to demonstrate her foolish rush.

It only takes a few moments to plan how to support children's understanding of each word, but the most effective read-alouds are ones in which we actually decide which of the vocabulary enhancers we will use for each vocabulary word. For words that are to be clarified verbally, we plan short explanations that are "slipped" into the story reading so the definitions are part of the actual story without interrupting the flow of reading.

Comments and questions to support and extend comprehension

During reading we make comments that demonstrate analytic thinking at three or four junctures in which ideal readers would make inferences about a character's thoughts, feelings, or motivations, or we predict upcoming events. When we comment about the story, we often use language to signal our mental activity by using the phrase "I'm thinking." For example, in the scene where Henny Penny exclaims, "The sky is falling. I must go and tell the king" (unpaged), we may comment, "I'm thinking this is where the hen is doing something really foolish. She isn't even looking down to try and find out what really hit her. I think she is looking up instead of down." Then we would go on to ask, "Why does the hen think a piece of the sky has fallen on her head?" We have found that children's answers to questions following our analytical comments are more likely to be related to the story. This teaching sequence provides a deliberate and systematic approach toward expanding children's comprehension. We have noticed that most young children are not yet capable of engaging in analytic thinking and talking without teacher modeling or questioning.

After-reading questions

After reading the entire book, we ask a "why" question requiring children to make inferences about and explain several story events. Then we use follow-up probing questions to support children's ability to answer broader explanation questions. For example, after a first reading of Henny Penny, we might ask the explanation question "Why didn't Foxy Loxy just jump up and eat those silly birds? Why did he lead them into his cave?" In order to help children answer this question we might comment, "I'm thinking that even though the fox is strong and has big teeth, there are a lot of birds. How many friends were with Henny Penny?" Recalling the number of birds will help children infer that the fox may have only been able to catch and eat one of the birds and the others might have escaped. We also help children consider this question by using illustrations to support their thinking. In this version of the story, the last illustration shows Foxy Loxy and Mrs. Loxy and their seven children peering out from the cave. We turn to this illustration and say, "You know I'm remembering this illustration right here. This might give me a hint about why the fox led the birds into the cave. What is the hint?" This comment might help children infer that Foxy led the birds into the cave so that his children would also have a dinner, and his wife could help catch the birds.

Second interactive read-aloud

Second read-alouds occur a day or two after first reads. The purpose is to enrich children's comprehension of the story and provide further opportunities for children to engage in analytic talk. During second book introductions, we remind children that they have read this book before and that they will remember some things from the book; for example, we might say,

We read this book yesterday, and you probably remember that it is about a hen who misinterprets something that happened to her. Who can remember what she thought happened to her? What was the catastrophe, and what did she decide to do about it?

We continue to highlight the same vocabulary; however, in a second read we verbally define more words. For example, during a first read of Owl Moon, in which a father and a child go owling in the woods late one night, we might simply dramatize how the owl pumped his wings. During the second read, we would dramatize pumped and insert a verbal explanation (e.g., "That means he flapped his wings up and down very hard").

During the second read, we continue modeling analytic comments, but we ask more frequent questions that help children make additional inferences. In the first read, our comments focus on getting children to infer what the main character is thinking and feeling or to connect main events with their causes. Thus, our comments and questions during the second read might focus on the other characters' motivations or thoughts. Just as in a first read, we prepare children to answer analytical questions by first modeling analytic comments that make explicit some, but not all, of the information needed to adequately answer the question. For example, in Henny Penny, after Cocky Locky asks to join Henny Penny on her way to tell the king that the sky is falling, we might comment, "I'm thinking that Cocky Locky believes that a piece of the sky really did fall on Henny Penny's head." Later, when Ducky Lucky joins Henny Penny and Cocky Locky, we comment, "Henny Penny has now convinced two other birds that the sky is falling." Then we could ask, "If they had been with Henny Penny when the acorn fell on her head, what do you think they would have said when she shouted, 'Oh, my, the sky is falling, we must go and tell the king'?"

Like first reads, we end second reads by asking another explanation question. Sometimes we ask children about something that might happen beyond the story. For example, we might ask, "What do you think the king would have done if Henny Penny had managed to get to the castle and told him the sky was falling?"

Third interactive read-aloud

Third reads occur a few days after the second read when the story is still fresh in children's minds but when they must remember information across some time. This close repetition is also important for reinforcing vocabulary carefully developed during the first and second read. Third interactive read-alouds differ from first and second read-alouds because they integrate a guided reconstruction of the story with the teacher's reading of some of the story text. Reconstructions are retellings of story events along with explanations about what caused those events and what characters are thinking during the events. Therefore, guided reconstructions are more effective than mere retellings because children use analytical talk to explain why events occurred.

In third read-aloud book introductions, we again acknowledge that children are familiar with the book and its content and ask questions about the title or characters, such as "We've read this book two times before, so I know you know its title. What is it?" We usually allow children to respond together to this easily answered question. We might continue to prompt children to reconstruct information by asking, "What other details do we see on the cover that we know are important for the story?" (e.g., prompting children to notice the acorn on the front cover of Henny Penny). We continue to focus on the story problem by asking, "We all remember Henny Penny's problem, don't we? Who would like to share that with us?" We are very careful with the number of questions we ask both during book introductions and during guided reconstruction. We have found that third read-alouds can become deadly when teachers overwhelm students with a barrage of questions.

We use two general prompts in guiding reconstruction of texts. Before reading some pages of the story, we point to the illustration and ask, "What's happening here?" We use this prompt as we show a double-spread illustration. Sometimes we use the second question "Do you remember what will happen next?" before turning to the next illustration. We only use this question when the next event is causally related to the event the children have just recalled. For example, in Owl Moon after reconstructing the event in which the characters hear the owl hoot in response to the dad's call, we might ask, "Do you remember what happens next?" because this scene provides a connection to the next event: seeing the owl.

After children reconstruct the events on one double spread, we might read the text. On longer books, we reread many pages of the text and have children reconstruct only a few pages; on shorter books, we allow children to reconstruct more of the story and read only a few pages of the text. The length of the book and children's responses guide our decisions of whether to read more or engage children in more reconstruction.

In third reads, teachers continue to insert verbal explanations of words, point to illustrations, and make dramatic motions. To further emphasize vocabulary in a third read, teachers extend some word meanings to a familiar context but not one included in the story. For example, to extend children's understanding of the word pumped in Owl Moon, we might say, Sometimes, when you are on the swings outside and want help we tell you to "pump your legs," and you move them back and forth to make yourself go up and back on the swing. The owl was moving his wings-pumping them up and down to fly through the sky.

Thus, each day of the repeated interactive read-aloud systematically builds and extends children's awareness and understanding of vocabulary. Table 1 presents an overview of the components for the three days of repeated interactive read-alouds.

First read-aloud

Second read-aloud

Third read-aloud: Guided reconstruction

Book introduction
Give a few sentences introducing the main character and central problem. Use illustrations on the book cover, back, and title page as needed.

Remind children that they know the characters and some things the character does. Ask questions about the characters and problem.

Invite children to identify the problem and describe the solution. Have children recall the title of the book.

Book reading
Insert vocabulary enhancements for 5-10 vocabulary words by pointing to illustrations, gesturing dramatically, or inserting a few definitions. Make comments that reveal what the main character is thinking or feeling. Ask a few follow-up analytical questions based on your comments.

Insert vocabulary enhancements for the same vocabulary, including more verbal definitions. Make comments that reveal what other characters are thinking or feeling. Ask more analytical follow-up questions.

Before reading a double page, show the illustration and ask, "What is happening here?" Follow up children's comments by extending comments or asking for clarification. Read some of the pages of text. When appropriate, before turning to the next page, ask, "Who remembers what will happen next?" Call attention to some vocabulary in different contexts.

After-reading discussion
Ask a "why" question that calls for explanation. Use follow-up questions to prompt answers. Demonstrate how to answer the question by saying, "I'm thinking...."

Ask another "why" question or ask, "What would have happened if...?" Use follow-up questions to prompt children's thinking.

Ask another "why" question or ask, "What would have happened if...?"

Repeated interactive read-alouds in action

Across three days of reading the same book, the strategies used in repeated interactive read-alouds provide children with an opportunity to engage more actively in the reading experience. During a first read, teachers take a more active role by reading the text and making comments; children are actively listening and sometimes comment or answer questions. During a second read, children participate more verbally by answering questions and commenting more frequently. In the third read-aloud, children take a highly active role as they reconstruct the story with teacher guidance. The following excerpts are taken from book introductions in a first, second, and third read of a story. They demonstrate how children's participation changes across time.

First read-aloud: Book introduction

In the story Oonga Boonga, no one can quiet Baby Louise who is crying so loudly that pictures fall off walls, neighborhood animals flee, and neighbors come calling to help. Despite attempts by every family member, only Louise's brother Daniel can soothe her. We read this book three times to a group of 4-year-olds in a Head Start center.

Teacher:

Today I'm going to read you a book called Oonga Boonga, and this story is about Baby Louise (points to front cover with illustration of Baby Louise and Daniel smiling at one another, then turns to the back cover and points to illustration of Baby Louise crying). Baby Louise is unhappy. She's crying and crying, and no one can stop her. I know one reason why babies cry; they cry because they're hungry. They cry when they're bored and want to see something funny. We're going to find out why Baby Louise is crying and what will help her stop crying. (Turns back to front cover) Here is Baby Louise and she's not crying is she? This might give us a hint about what stops her from crying.

In this book introduction, Lea (first author) provided reasons why babies might cry and hinted strongly at what would make Baby Louise stop crying by showing the front illustration of Daniel and Louise. She did all the talking while the children were actively listening.

Second read-aloud: Book introduction

The following day Lea read the book a second time to the children. She prompted the children to take a more active role in constructing the book introduction.

The second book introduction was jointly constructed by Lea and the children. Lea allowed and encouraged spontaneous comments and prompted the children to recall what they knew about the story.

Third read-aloud: Guided reconstruction book introduction

In the book introduction for the third read, Lea again prompted children's active engagement by asking them to reconstruct more of the story. The children remembered much of the discussion they had during the second read-aloud and included speculations of what might have happened if Daniel had tried alternative ways to quiet Baby Louise.

Thus, across these three introductions, it is clear that the children are building a richer, more detailed understanding of the story. By the third read, the children are clearly using analytic talk to move beyond what actually happened in the story to what might have happened.

Analytic talk in first and third read "why" questions

In the next section, we show how children's ability to use analytic talk increases from a first to a third interactive read-aloud. Here is their response to a "why" question during the first read:

The children were able to make explicit that Baby Louise was crying because she wanted her brother. They were beginning to grasp that the silly words her brother said had nothing to do with Louise stopping crying; it was her brother she wanted. Lea continued to explore this inference in both the second and third read with different "why" questions. By the third read, most children engaged in a more extended analytic discussion.

While Lea's original "why" question seemed beyond the children's understanding, turning to specific illustrations and posing alternative questions allowed children to be more successful in both understanding the questions and making the inferences needed to answer them. Most children realized that Daniel, not the silly words, was the key to getting Baby Louise to stop crying.

As shown in the excerpts from the three repeated readings of Oonga Boonga, our experiences suggest it is a powerful technique for extending children's vocabulary, their use of comprehension strategies, and their engagement with literature. We are consultants and directors of several Early Reading First grants currently using a repeated interactive read-aloud approach. While repeated interactive story reading is certainly not the only strategy used to enhance vocabulary and comprehension in these programs, it is the most systematic approach. The repeated interactive read-aloud approach requires that teachers study closely each book they read. They must craft effective comments and questions and be able to respond on the spot to children's answers, which often indicate misinterpretations and misunderstandings. However, it is critical that teachers use these strategies so that children engage in analytical thinking. We recommend that teachers read aloud a sophisticated picture book daily, along with many other kinds of books, including predictable books. Teachers with whom we have worked include repeated interactive read-alouds of a sophisticated storybook or nonfiction as a part of their daily whole-group literacy instruction.

Final thoughts

We have shown that the repeated interactive read-aloud technique is a research-based approach to comprehension and vocabulary development in preschool and kindergarten. We developed this approach to help teachers share picture books with young children, especially children with few home literary experiences, in ways that will allow them to enjoy our most sophisticated literature. It challenges both teachers and children to extend their thinking and their literary understanding in analytic discussions.

About the authors

McGee teaches at The Ohio State University (Ramseyer Hall, 29 W. Woodruff Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA). E-mail [email protected] Schickedanz teaches at Boston University in Massachusetts.

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Repeated Interactive Read-Alouds in Preschool and Kindergarten

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Repeated interactive read-alouds, a systematic method of reading aloud, allow teachers to scaffold children's understanding of the book being read, model strategies for making inferences and explanations, and teach vocabulary and concepts. A storybook is read three times in slightly different ways in order to increase the amount and quality of children's analytical talk as they answer carefully crafted questions.

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more parent focused

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When my in-laws come to visit they spend a lot of time reading to my son, especially my mother-in-law. She reads picture books to my son in Swedish and although I don't understand all of the words, I do understand what is happening in the story.

She is so good at reading in a way that is exciting, funny, or serious. My son is captivated!

I love that when things start to get crazy or hectic, especially in that just before dinner time, her goto is to read a book. Nothing quite settles children like reading.

All of these books very naturally lend themselves to the kind of prompting found to support the natural development of reading according to research. Read more here (and get your free printable): How to Teach Your Child to Read According to Child Development Research.

Best Read-Aloud Books For Preschoolers

"No one ever came to Bear's house. It had always been that way, and Bear was quite sure he didn't like visitors. He even had a sign. NO visitors allowed." Until one day a persistent mouse pops up over and over again in unexpected places and Bear, most unexpectedly, discovers he might like visitors after all.

This book lends itself well to completion phrases: " And there was the mouse!" is a phrase repeated throughout that children love to join in and shout.

It's also great for asking What, where, when, why, how prompts: "How does Bear feel?/How does mouse feel? "Why did Bear do that?"

And Recall prompts: "What does Bear do next?"

A delightful and naturally interactive book that has the added bonus of showing a range of emotions, which is also great for children's development of emotion understanding.

Go! Go! Go! Stop! : I don't think it is possible to read this book without your child joining in!

It is the story of little green who comes to help construction machines build a bridge. Little green knows only one word - GO! But there was too much GO! Then little red comes along and he has one word as well - STOP!

Little green and little red have to learn to work together. Kids will naturally start completing the phrases and even begin recognizing the printed words GO and STOP, which are written in large green and red colored text.

Great for completion prompts and recall prompts especially. Also, great for distancing (connection) prompts. For example, you can talk about stoplights when you are driving or playing cars/trucks.

Playing Stop!Go! games are also great for developing self-regulation and this book provides the stop/go language, "That is a little too much go! Let's have a little more stop."

A classic narrative that naturally lends itself to " What happens next", completion prompts, and open-ended prompts. Most of you probably know this story about a little boy who draws a whole world with his purple crayon.

All of the books in this series very naturally lend themselves to interaction. A boy offers a mouse a cookie and that leads to a series of events. The book makes a complete circle (circular logic), which makes it fun and has children anticipating what that mouse will do next. Great for recall prompts, how does the mouse/boy feel, and completion prompts.

This book is especially good for "Why" prompts due to the circular logic. Why does the mouse want milk? Why does the mouse draw a picture?

What happens next, why is the mouse doing that, how does the mouse feel, completion and open-ended prompts all work really well for this book.

This one is nice and short, but very engaging. Even at bedtime, this is a book you can read and still use prompts without it drawing out too long.

The Snowy Day : I wish there were more books like this, a simple story about a child on a child-sized adventure.

Children love this simple story and are fascinated with what Peter does in the snow. Great for asking "Why" questions because Peter does what any child would do, it's on their level. Why did Peter smack that tree? Why did Peter drag his feet? Why was the snow gone from Peter's pocket?

The Day the Crayons Quit : This is another great narrative that engages children.

Why was the purple crayon upset? What did the beige crayon draw? Who should get to color the sun- orange or yellow? This is also a great book for "distancing" or connecting prompts. What do you think red and blue would say to each other? What color do you use to color the sun? What is your favorite crayon?

Caps for Sale: A great one for asking children to problem-solve.

Can the peddler outwit the monkeys? Ask your child, what will the monkeys do next? what will the peddler do next? Completion and recall prompts work great in this book too.

So that's my list of favorites, but there are so many great narratives out there that lend themselves to dialogic reading with your children. What narratives is your child loving now? Let me know in the comments below!!

I am a developmental psychologist with a passion for understanding how young children learn to deal with stress and emotions. Once I became a mom, I was overjoyed and found myself facing my hardest job yet. Join me on my quest to understand children's emotions, behavior, and how best to support their development! Let's nurture them and watch them thrive!

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When my in-laws come to visit they spend a lot of time reading to my son, especially my mother-in-law. She reads picture books to my son in Swedish and although I don't understand all of the words, I do understand what is happening in the story.

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Read Aloud America

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Read Aloud America Composite Book List - PreKindergarten

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Infant_Toddler |PreSchool | PreKindergarten |Kindergarten - 1st Grade | 2nd - 3rd Grades 4th - 5th Grades | 6th - 8th Grades | 9th - 12th Grades |Adult | Ageless |Resources

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Article

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Supporting young children's language and literacy development has long been considered a practice that yields strong readers and writers later in life. The results of the National Early Literacy Panel's (NELP) six years of scientific research synthesis supports the practice and its role in language development among children ages zero to five.

The NELP was brought together in 2002 to compile research that would contribute to educational policy and practice decisions that impact early literacy development. It was also charged with determining how teachers and families could support young children's language and literacy development. Outcomes found in the panel's report (2008) would be used in the creation of literacy-specific materials for parents, teachers, and staff development for early childhood educators and family-literacy practitioners.

Through its work, the NELP uncovered a set of abilities such as alphabet knowledge, oral language, or phonological awareness present in the preschool years that provides the basis for later reading success. It also found that measures of complex and discourse-level skills are particularly strong predictors of reading success - a finding that is consistent with the fact that language is a complex, multidimensional system that supports decoding and comprehension as children learn to read.

In our book Early Childhood Literacy: The National Early Literacy Panel and Beyond,, we explore the NELP report, as well as newer research findings and the effectiveness of specific approaches to teaching early oral language development to establish a solid foundation for later reading comprehension. Below we expand on concepts to help educators understand how oral language relates to reading comprehension, word reading, and language development; where Common Core State Standards factor into the equation; and what teachers can do to foster literacy development.

Laying Down the Building Blocks
Through its research, the NELP discovered that the more complex aspects of oral language, including syntax or grammar, complex measures of vocabulary (such as those in which children actually define or explain word meanings), and listening comprehension were clearly related to later reading comprehension, but that simpler measures of oral language (e.g., the widely used Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test) had very limited associations with reading comprehension.
Put simply, readers must translate print to language and then, much as in listening, they must interpret the meaning of that language. Numerous studies support this approach by showing that word reading and language comprehension are relatively independent skills, but that each contributes significantly to reading comprehension.

Simple measures of vocabulary in which children simply point to the picture of a word or name a picture are not strongly connected with later reading comprehension. Nevertheless, many studies have shown that vocabulary plays an important role in fostering reading development in the years before and during formal reading instruction. The role of vocabulary is likely two-fold. The words, and the concepts that they represent, are obviously of functional importance in comprehension, and vocabulary might also support decoding or the translation of text into language. The NELP established phonological awareness as a key contributor to children's ability to learn to read. Of course, phonological representations are part of the linguistic system and the ability to gain access to these representations may in part be a by-product of early vocabulary development (Metsala & Walley, 1998).

Reading comprehension depends on language abilities that have been developing since birth. Basic vocabulary and grammar are clearly essential to comprehension because each enables understanding of words and their interrelationships in and across individual sentences in a text (Kintsch & Kintsch, 2005).

However, children who comprehend well go beyond word and sentence comprehension to construct a representation of the situation or state of affairs described by the text. In some theories, this is referred to as a "mental model" (Kintsch & Kintsch, 2005) and it involves organizing a text's multiple ideas into an integrated whole, using both information from the text and the reader's own world knowledge. To do this, successful comprehenders draw upon a set of higher-level cognitive and linguistic skills, including inferencing, monitoring comprehension, and using text structure knowledge.
Take the following story for example: "Johnny carried a jug of water. He tripped on a step. Mom grabbed the mop." The literal representation of the individual words and sentences does not enable the reader to integrate their meanings and construct a mental model. Successful comprehenders understand narrative structure and couple it with their knowledge to infer that Johnny spilled the water. They then understand why Mom grabbed a mop. They also monitor their comprehension of stories-either written or spoken-and realize the need to make an inference (that Johnny spilled the water) to make sense of Mom's response.

High-level language skills used to create mental models of text are not exclusive to reading. In fact, children begin developing these language skills well before formal reading instruction in a range of language comprehension situations. For example, young children rely on knowledge of narrative structure to do things like follow a set of instructions, share their daily activities around the dinner table, or understand spoken stories, cartoons, and movies.

Assessing Early-Stage Development
The skills needed for reading comprehension come into play as students progress. In the early grades, for example, reading comprehension depends heavily on emerging word-reading skills. As children accomplish the ability to automatically and fluently read printed words, language comprehension begins to contribute more to individual differences in reading comprehension. Most children who score poorly on reading comprehension tests have difficulty decoding words and understanding language.

Those with poor word-reading abilities (i.e., poor decoders) lag behind their typically developing peers on reading comprehension measures in the early grades, even if they have good language development. However, those with poor language comprehension, in spite of relatively proficient word-reading ability, usually do not lag behind their typically developing peers on reading comprehension tests until they have had one or two years of reading instruction (Catts et al., 2005).

It's important to point out that what appears to be a decline in reading comprehension for poor comprehenders is not the result of declining language skills. In fact, these students' language skills were already poor compared with their typically developing peers at the onset of schooling. A recent report found that poor comprehenders in fifth grade (i.e., those with poor reading comprehension despite good word-reading abilities) evidenced weak language skills as early as 15 months of age (Justice, Mashburn, & Petscher, in press) compared with their age-matched peers who went on to become good comprehenders and poor decoders, and NELP found that early language skills were predictive of later reading comprehension development, but much less so with early decoding skills.

Subsequently, many students who are labeled as "clinically language impaired" prior to, or just beginning, formal education in preschool or kindergarten, do not necessarily have problems learning to read initially (Catts, Fey, Tomblin, & Zhang) Their later "decline" in reading comprehension is thought to be related to the changing nature of reading comprehension assessments: the texts used to assess reading comprehension in the early grades require less complex mental models and very limited language processing, allowing those with weak language skills to answer basic comprehension questions as accurately as their typically developing peers.

In the later grades, however, reading comprehension assessments contain more difficult passages that require more complex mental models. Poor comprehenders lack the language skills needed to construct these complex mental models and begin to score more poorly on reading comprehension assessments when compared to their typically developing peers.
Poor decoders with good language comprehension abilities may be able to compensate to some degree for their weak word-reading abilities in the later grades. That's because even though they might struggle to decode all of the words, their language skills allow them to bootstrap their way to the text's meaning, using their good language skills and rich knowledge of the world to help construct sufficient mental models to correctly answer comprehension questions (Stanovich, 1980).

Helping Children "Crack the Code"
According to our book, a key challenge facing the beginning reader is the ability to "crack the code" or, learning how written language maps onto spoken language. This is because better decoders devote greater cognitive resources to the processes involved in comprehending text. Children's oral language skills serve as the foundation for both aspects of reading ability-word reading and language comprehension.

Because few preschool children can yet read words, we must look at precursor skills that develop into word recognition or decoding ability. Knowledge of the alphabet and phonological awareness are both strong predictors of later decoding and comprehension, and it is evident that teaching these in combination has a consistently positive impact on improving students' later decoding and reading comprehension abilities. Rapid naming, knowledge about print conventions and concepts, the ability to write letters or names, and oral language skills were also good predictors, but teaching these has not consistently led to gains in reading success.

How the Common Core Factors into Literacy Development
With 46 states now working to implement the Common Core State Standards which include grade-specific K-12 standards in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language, educators may be required to adjust their lessons to align with the standards and assessments used to determine student progress.

But what if the road to success with those standards begins when the student was an infant, toddler, or preschooler? This question was clearly answered through the NELP's extensive research, which emphasized the importance of print knowledge, phonological processing abilities and oral language skills as important predictors of later literacy skills, and with evidence that teaching these early on can have long-term benefits.

Additionally, assessment of these early literacy skills is important for identifying children who are likely to need more intensive instruction to achieve success with literacy. By identifying and working with students across all literacy levels at a very early age, today's educators can take a proactive role in ensuring that students meet or exceed standards across the board.

Making a Difference: The Teacher's Role in Literacy Development
Interventions focused on fostering language aren't easy to develop or implement. The interconnected and complex nature of language comes with a long developmental history and draws on a broad range of linguistic and cognitive capacities.
Furthermore, interventions occur within a social context where motivational, behavioral, and social factors can impact the learning climate. Children's attention to language input and their willingness to respond to it are affected by a host of factors, including their interest in the topic of the conversation, their relationship to the speaker, the number and identities of other conversational participants, and the setting.

Even more vexing is the fact that teachers - the most important source of language input in preschool classrooms - have a history of using language in ways that may not be consistent with the interactions found by research to be conducive to language learning. Teacher's interactions that best encourage language learning include having conversations that stay on a single topic, providing children opportunities to talk, encouraging analytical thinking, and giving information about the meanings of words.

For teachers, key considerations for instruction include the fidelity of the implementation (an extremely important aspect); teaching children letter names and sounds by performing phonological awareness tasks; and understanding that there is no link between curricula with a systematic and explicit focus (i.e. teacher-directed) and negative social-emotional outcomes for children.

Response to intervention in preschool holds promise for successful early language development but several key issues must be considered. For one, preschools often serve disproportionate numbers of children who need Tier 2 or Tier 3 services, which causes staffing concerns. Also, more research is needed on the effect of interventions for children from low-income families, children with disabilities, English language learners, and children from underrepresented ethnic groups.
The NELP report, along with other studies of children's early language development, suggests that early oral language has a growing contribution to later reading comprehension - a contribution that is separate from the important role played by the alphabetic code. As such, improving young children's oral language development should be a central goal during the preschool and kindergarten years.

In the end, making strides in this area of a child's educational development can begin with a very simple exercise-shared book reading. Although various approaches have been found to improve young children's language, the approach of shared book reading has gained the greatest research support thus far, particularly when such reading is carried out dialogically, that is, with much language interaction between the reader and the child. Combining shared book reading along with other language activities with explicit decoding instruction in the context of a supportive and responsive classroom, can make the difference between a child whose literacy development is at or above standards or one who struggles with reading, writing, and literacy throughout his or her K-12 education.

References
Catts, H.W., Fey, M.E., Tomblin, B.J., & Zhang, X. (2002). "A longitudinal investigation
of reading outcomes in children with language impairments." Journal
of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 45, 1142-1157.
Catts, H.W., Hogan, T.P., & Adlof, S.M. (2005). "Developmental changes in reading
and reading disabilities." In H.W. Catts & A.G. Kamhi (Eds.), The connections
between language and reading disabilities(pp. 25-40). Mahwah,
NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Justice, L.M., Mashburn, A., & Petscher, Y. (in press). "Very early language skills
of fifth-grade poor comprehenders." Journal of Research in Reading.
Kintsch, W., & Kintsch, E. (2005). "Comprehension." In S.G. Paris & S.A. Stahl
(Eds.), Current issues in reading comprehension and assessment (pp. 71-92). New York, Routledge.
Metsala, J. L., & Walley, A. C. (1998). "Spoken vocabulary growth and the segmental restructuring of lexical representations: Precursors to phonemic awareness and early reading ability." In J. L. Metsala & L. C. Ehri (Eds.), Word recognition in beginning literacy (pp. 89-120). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Perfetti, C.A. (1985). Reading ability. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Stanovich, K.E. (1980). "Toward an interactive-compensatory model of individual differences in the development of reading fluency." Reading Research Quarterly, 16, 32-71.

Timothy Shanahan, Ph.D., and Christopher J. Lonigan, Ph.D., are the editors of Early Childhood Literacy: The National Early Literacy Panel and Beyond, available from Brookes Publishing Co. They are two of the nation's top childhood literacy experts and served on the National Early Literacy Panel (NELP).

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The Role of Early Oral Language in Literacy Development - Language Magazine

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Timothy Shanahan and Christopher Lonigan explore the connection between early oral language development and later reading comprehension success Supporting young children's language and literacy development has long been considered a practice that yields strong readers and writers later in life. The results of the National Early Literacy Panel's (NELP) six years of scientific research synthesis [...]