Supporting
Language and
Early Literacy:
at Home
and in
Early Childhood
and Community
Settings
Session 5:
Providing Effective
“Read Alouds”:
Evidence-based
Approaches
Your
…
• (insert your name/title here)
• Insert your co-presenter’s name/title here)
for this Session …
Participants will:
• Develop skills needed to implement shared reading
strategies
• Demonstrate how shared reading can support
components of early literacy learning
• Use a systematic process to select, teach, and
reinforce vocabulary words
• Demonstrate dialogic reading strategies using the
“PEER” process and “CROWD” prompts
• Identify strategies for engaging families in shared
reading to promote language and literacy
development
for today’s Session
Check-in activity
Discussion in pairs or small groups:
• What do you hope to achieve by participating
in this session?
• What’s your expectation of the facilitator(s) in
this session?
Guidance from the Wisconsin Department
of Public Instruction:
• deliver content-rich curriculum with challenging but
achievable goals in ways that honor and respect the
unique learning needs of young children
• Use a play-based curriculum to develop self
regulation, language, cognition, and social
competence
• Core universal curriculum should include support
for all developmental domains and content areas as
described in the WMELS
The Wisconsin Model for Response to Intervention: Applications in Early Childhood Settings. WI Dept.
of Public instruction, June 2012 http://www.collaboratingpartners.com/curriculum-assessment-rtl-forpreschool.php
Dual Language Learners (DLLs)
“Children, birth to 5, who are learning 2 or more
languages at the same time, as well as those
learning a second language (English) while
continuing to develop their home or first language.”
Reinl, R. Language in Play: Introduction to the Early English Language Development (E-ELD) Standards,
Webinar 2013 www.wida.us/EarlyYears
• Universal practices, the foundation for meeting
the needs of all children, includes differentiated
instruction
• Adaptations and modifications to
meet the needs of individual children
essential – it’s Developmentally
Appropriate Practice (DAP)!
Dual Language Learners (DLLs)
For guidance and support for serving DLLs, refer to
the following resources:
• WIDA Early Years
www.wida.us/EarlyYears
• Wisconsin Early Childhood Collaborating Partners
Serving Dual Language Learners Facts and Tips:
http://www.collaboratingpartners.com/dual-languagelearners-facts-and-tips.php
• Office of Head Start
Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center
https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/culturallinguistic
Exposure to print, books, and
read alouds are important, but
not enough to prepare children
to become readers and writers.
 Intentional teaching - using shared (dialogic)
reading, shared writing, and multiple opportunities
to interact with writing, letters, sounds, and
spoken words - is necessary.
 Children might also need some explicit
developmentally appropriate instruction to learn
vocabulary, phonological awareness, the alphabet,
and print concepts.
WISCONSIN MODEL EARLY LEARNING STANDARDS
Teaching Cycle
Assessment
Gathering information to determine what the child
can do and what the child is ready to learn
• Data Collection
• Data Analysis
Implementation
Providing meaningful,
experiential activities that
support individual and group
goals guided by supportive
interaction and relationships
Planning and Curriculum Goals
Deciding what should be done to
promote development and what we
want children to learn
• Needs Identification & Prioritization
• Planning (Strategy/Indicators)
Research-based Early Literacy Content Areas
• Oral Language
(WMELS A. Listening & Understanding & B. Speaking &
Communicating)
•
Vocabulary
(WMELS A. Listening & Understanding & B. Speaking &
Communicating)
• Phonological Awareness
(WMELS C. Early Literacy)
• Alphabet Knowledge
(WMELS C. Early Literacy)
• Concepts about Print
(WMELS C. Early Literacy)
•
Writing
(WMELS C. Early Literacy)
National guidance
Children need 3 sets of interrelated skills and
knowledge, taught and cultivated over time,
to reach reading proficiency:
• language and communication skills
• content knowledge
• “mechanics” of reading
A Governor’s Guide to Early Literacy: Getting All Students Reading by Third Grade,
National Governors Association, Washington, DC., 2013
http://www.nga.org/files/live/sites/NGA/files/pdf/2013/1310NGAEarlyLiteracyRep
ortWeb.pdf
Shared or Interactive Reading
… a strategy where “the adult
involves a child or small group of
children in reading a book that may
(or may not) introduce conventions
of print and new vocabulary, or
encourage predictions, rhyming,
discussion of pictures, and other
interactive experiences”
National Center for Family Literacy, 2009
Shared Reading Strategies
• Know child’s interests. Follow the child’s lead when
looking at a book together
• Ask questions. What/how/why questions; open ended
questions that require more than a one-word answer.
“Can you tell me about …?”
• Answer if the child does not know the answer, but
WAIT/Give the child time to respond (count to 10 in your
head or 5 seconds)
• Repeat child’s answer and add more words. (Child:
“Horse.” Adult: “Yes, horse. It’s a big brown horse.”)
• Ask another question
• Show your enthusiasm – offer encouragement
Dale, P., Crain-Thoreson, C., Notari-Syverson, A., & Cole, K. (1996). Parent-child storybook reading as an intervention
technique for young children with language delays. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 16, 213-235
Language is the Key, 2010 http://www.walearning.com/products/language-is-the-key/research-and-references/
Step 1: Select the Text
For high quality, developmentally appropriate books,
consider:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Age and developmental levels of your children
Children’s interests/variety of topics
Number and size of words (text) on page
Illustrations – Interesting? Attractive?
Format – board books, over-sized, interactive, etc.
Genre -nonfiction/informational; fairy tales, narratives
(stories), predictable text, concept books, poetry, nursery
rhymes, wordless books, etc.
Bennett-Armistead, VS., Duke, N.K., & Moses, A.M. Literacy and the Youngest Learner:
Best Practices for Educators of Children from Birth to 5, Scholastic, New York, NY, 2005
Types of Texts
Balance:
Literature & Informational
Text
Literature
Informational
Text
Grade 4
50%
50%
Grade 8
45%
55%
Grade 12
30%
70%
http://www.corestandards.org/assets/CCSSI_ELA%20Standards.pdf
CCSS for ELA, p. 5
Step 2. Select a Purpose
• Consider children’s interests
and developmental levels
• Your goals and curriculum
• Applicable early learning
standards
• What can I teach/reinforce by
sharing this book?
Shared Reading Supports Early Literacy
Purposes
Techniques
Develop a love
of reading
Be positive, keep it fun! Ensure child’s success and enjoyment
Oral Language
Ask questions/listen to child’s responses; provide more
information; expand on what the child says
Vocabulary
Phonological
Awareness
Intentionally select words to teach
Plan for opportunities to learn these words and use them in
conversations and routines; check for understanding (assessment)
Select books with rhyming words; nursery rhymes; that
blend/stretch/substitute/match sounds
Embed clapping, marching, other rhythm activities
Alphabet
Knowledge
Point out letters found in children’s names (i.e. - “my letter”)
Stress letters and their corresponding sounds
Concepts of
Print
Point to words as you read them
Note punctuation and spaces between words
Point out how size and other changes in text have meaning
Writing
Drawing; shared writing opportunities after reading
AN EXAMPLE: VOCABULARY
AND SHARED READING
Evidence-based principles for
vocabulary instruction
Effective vocabulary instruction …
… is explicit
… requires careful selection of vocabulary targets
… is intentionally designed
… is delivered with repeated exposure and practice
… is linked to assessment
Spencer, E.J., Goldstein, H., & Kaminski, R. Teaching Vocabulary in Storybooks: Embedding Explicit
Vocabulary Instruction for Young Children, Young Exceptional Children, DEC, vol. 15, No. 1, March
2012
Embedded vocabulary instruction
#1 – select words to teach
• Review story book
• Consider “tiered” words
• Choose Tier 2 words for universal instruction, based
on frequency/ease of definition/ significance to
story/illustrations
• Can choose Tier 1 words for some children (with
delays/disabilities or learning English)
(Spencer, Goldstein, & Kaminski, 2012)
Embedded vocabulary instruction
#2 Design explicit instructional activities
• Generate list of new words
• Develop consistent language to use in instructional process:
=>Say the word
=>Define the word / connect the new word to a word the child
already knows (i.e. - “Enormous – it means really big. Say
‘enormous’ with me.”)
=>Have children repeat the word; respond to prompt, “what does
____ mean?” Call attention to new words
=>Point to the picture in the book that illustrates the word (if
available)
• Embed use of word(s) in child’s daily experiences
• Share words with families
(Spencer, Goldstein, & Kaminski, 2012)
Summary:
Shared Reading Vocabulary Support
• Prior to reading, review the book
• Consider words that would be ‘next step’ vocabulary;
useful in conversation
• Generate list of new words
• Call attention to new words; say the word
• Tell what the word means
• Point to the picture in the book that illustrates the
word (if available)
• Connect the new word to a word the child already
knows (i.e. - “Enormous – it means really big. Say
‘enormous’ with me.”)
• Use the new word in conversation during the day;
encourage children to use it, too
AN EXAMPLE: VOCABULARY
AND SHARED READING
Activity time!
Shared Reading Supports Early Literacy
Purposes
Techniques
Develop a love
of reading
Be positive, keep it fun! Ensure child’s success and enjoyment
Oral Language
Ask questions/listen to child’s responses; provide more
information; expand on what the child says
Vocabulary
Phonological
Awareness
Intentionally select words to teach
Plan for opportunities to learn these words and use them in
conversations and routines; check for understanding (assessment)
Select books with rhyming words; nursery rhymes; that
blend/stretch/substitute/match sounds
Embed clapping, marching, other rhythm activities
Alphabet
Knowledge
Point out letters found in children’s names (i.e. - “my letter”)
Stress letters and their corresponding sounds
Concepts of
Print
Point to words as you read them
Note punctuation and spaces between words
Point out how size and other changes in text have meaning
Writing
Drawing; shared writing opportunities after reading
Thoughts on Shared Reading
Sometimes it’s OKAY
to JUST ENJOY a good book!
• Don’t over teach. Keep it fun!
• Good to re-read the same book multiple times
• Can focus on different purposes during
different readings
Dialogic Reading
• A form of shared reading where the adult and
child switch roles so the child becomes the storyteller
while the adult assists as an active listener
• Requires multiple readings of the same book
• Adult uses higher-level prompts to encourage the child
to go beyond naming objects/actions to higher level
thinking
• http://community.fpg.unc.edu/connectmodules/resources/videos/video-6-2
(Dr. Lonigan)
PEER:
the dialogic
process
REPEAT
the question to check
for comprehension or
to see if the child has
more to add (“What
kind of animal is this
story about?”)
PROMPT
the child with a
question about the
story (“What kind of
animal is this story
about?”)
EVALUATE &
EXPAND
on the child’s response
to your question (“Yes,
it is a dog. He is a very
big, red dog.”)
CROWD questions/prompts
C
• Completion questions – child says a word
or phrase to complete the sentence
R
O
• Recall questions – tells the reader about
the child’s comprehension of the story
• Open-ended questions – can’t be
answered with one word or yes/no;
requires more words
W
• Wh questions who/what/where/when/why
D
• Distancing questions - guide the child to
see connections between the story and
their own experiences
PEER & CROWD together
Dialogic Reading
Preparing for dialogic reading using sticky notes:
• http://community.fpg.unc.edu/connectmodules/resources/videos/video-6-5
Reading Carrot Soup:
• http://community.fpg.unc.edu/connectmodules/resources/videos/video-6-8
Another example:
• http://community.fpg.unc.edu/connectmodules/resources/videos/video-6-10
More Dialogic Reading!
• OVERVIEW OF DIALOGIC READING
PRACTICES
• Introducing the book- Carrot Soup
• Reading the book- Carrot Soup
Activity time!
Review/Additional Tips
• Prepare your prompts before reading
the book to the children
• Share the story more than one time; focus on a
different aspect of literacy with each reading
• “What do I want children to learn from this
book experience?” Rhyming? Oral language?
New vocabulary? Letter awareness?
• Make the book available for children to ‘pretend
read’ throughout the day
• Intentional questions can provide assessment
information or be used as a transition activity
Final Thoughts –
Grouping for read alouds
• Evidence mixed on group size
• Large groups of children - less opportunity
to engage but more models for language
and vocabulary
• Small groups of 2-3 children – more
opportunity to engage; less role models for
literacy behaviors
• Offer both formats depending
on your purpose
Source: Shanahan, T. & Lonigan, C. Early Childhood Literacy: The National Early Literacy Panel and
Beyond. Brookes Publishing, Baltimore, MD, 2013
Double Focus!
Highly effective teachers and caregivers…
provide daily, intentional language and early
literacy learning opportunities for the children they serve,
and …
engage families in providing daily, intentional
language and early literacy learning opportunities for their
own children!
Winton, P.J., McCollum, J.A., & Catlett, C. Practical Approaches to Early Childhood Professional Development: Evidence,
Strategies, & Resources. Zero to Three, Washington, DC., 2008
Wrap-up
• Share a new concept or specific strategy you
learned that you will use.
• What questions do you still have about
teaching early literacy?