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LET’S READ IT AGAIN!INTERACTIVE READ-ALOUDS

TEACHER’S GUIDE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Importance of Reading Aloud With Young Children ............................................... 5

From Conversation to Comprehension ....................................................................... 6

Supporting Comprehension With Questions and Comments ................................ 7

Reading Aloud With Young Children .......................................................................... 8

Using HighScope’s Let’s Read It Again! Interactive Read-Alouds ............................. 9

Suggested Vocabulary ............................................................................. 10

Teacher Planning ..................................................................................... 10

Getting Ready to Read .............................................................................. 11

Reading the Book .................................................................................... 11

After Reading the Book ............................................................................. 11

Effective Read-Aloud Strategies for Dual Language Learners ........................................ 12

Strategies for Supporting Exceptional Learners During Read-Alouds ............................. 14

Key Literacy Components and Focus Points ................................................................ 16

Comprehension ............................................................................................. 17

Vocabulary .................................................................................................... 18

Craft and Structure .......................................................................................... 19

Phonological Awareness .................................................................................. 19

Alphabetic Knowledge ................................................................................... 20

Concepts About Print ..................................................................................... 20

Book Knowledge ............................................................................................ 21

Reading ......................................................................................................... 21

References ........................................................................................................... 23

LET’S READ IT AGAIN! TEACHER’S GUIDE | 5

The Importance of Reading Aloud With Young Children

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Reading aloud with young children and providing opportunities for them to actively engage with text is an important part of a comprehensive language and literacy curriculum. According to literacy experts, when adults intentionally engage children in this interactive process, read-alouds can be the single most important activity for children’s later reading success (International Literacy Association, 2018; Neuman, Bredekamp, & Copple, 2000).

The general consensus is that reading aloud with children — intentionally and interactively — supports the development of skills that children need prior to formal schooling, including vocabulary, alphabetic and phonemic knowledge, print concepts, and comprehension strategies (Lonigan, 2004; Teale & Sulzby, 1986; Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998).

In fact, the International Literacy Association (ILA, 2018) points to decades of research that offers evidence of the instructional benefits of read-alouds and identifies a “direct causal relationship” between reading to young children (starting in infancy) and their future school outcomes (p. 2). In addition to the significant academic benefits that come with interactive read-alouds (i.e., an increase in children’s vocabulary, listening comprehension, background knowledge, and word recognition skills), the ILA also points to significant intangible rewards: Reading aloud with young children fosters social interactions, a love of literature, and a lifelong passion for reading.

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From Conversation to Comprehension... ...

Simply inviting children to talk during a book-reading experience is not enough to promote growth in literacy development. It is the type of talk that matters.

The most effective read-aloud experiences are those in which children actively partici-pate in discussions about the book before, during, and after reading the book (Morrow & Gambrell, 2001). As children ask and answer questions, make predictions, and connect to the text through their own expe-riences, they engage in analytical thinking and conversation, which supports their overall literacy development (Dickinson & Smith, 1994).

Conversations during interactive read-alouds also provide opportunities for discussions

about a range of topics, building children’s background knowledge in significant ways (Koralek, 2003; Wiseman, 2010).

Researchers Bennett-Armistead, Duke, and Moses (2005) suggest that the types of questions and comments that teachers make while reading books aloud can build children’s comprehension, helping them to understand the details, structure, and plot of the story and to make connections to their own experiences. Questions and comments may focus on factual details, inferences, children’s opinions, connections, or predic-tions (see p. 7 for examples of these kinds of questions). Teachers are encouraged to be selective in asking children questions during book reading so as not to interrupt the flow of the story.

LET’S READ IT AGAIN! TEACHER’S GUIDE | 7

QUESTION/COMMENT TYPE EXAMPLE USE WHEN…

Factual detail What does Ruthie find at school? The detail is important to understanding the text.

InferentialWhy does the boy run back home?

The text does not ask the question directly, but the answer is important.

OpinionWhat do you think they should do?

There is the potential for many different answers.

Bridging to experience Have you ever…? Text content may relate to the child's experiences.

PredictingWhat do you think will happen next?

Emphasizing reading for purpose or using textual clues.

Focusing on text structure

What is the problem for Ruthie? Teaching story structure.

Labeling What does [word] mean? Focusing on developing vocabulary.

Intertextual linksHow does this remind you of another book we have read?

Text or content is similar to something else you have read.

Adopting authorshipIf you were the author, how would you end the story?

Focusing on teaching children to think like authors.

Pointing out Look at that fox hidden there.

When children are unlikely to notice an important detail on their own.

ExplainingThese are what the water comes through.

Dealing with an unfamiliar word, concept, plot, etc.

SummarizingWhat was this whole part of the book about?

Teaching children to sum up and synthesize.

Supporting Comprehension With Questions and Comments

Bennett-Armistead et al., 2005.

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Reading Aloud With Young Children... ...

Interactive read-alouds should be a regular part of the daily routine, occurring at the same time every day. As a distinct compo-nent of the program day, with a specific focus on reading, read-alouds should not be combined with other activities. Full-day classrooms may decide to include several read-alouds in their schedules.

For optimal engagement, divide the class-room of children into small groups so that each teacher can read to a small group of children. Establish a consistent read-ing place for each small group and keep children in the same groups so they know where to meet each day.

Promoting Optimal Child Outcomes

Interactive read-alouds are most effective when teachers use the following strategies:

• Make interactive read-alouds a part of the daily routine. • Carefully plan the read-aloud experience.• Select high-quality books representing a variety of genres.• Include multiple readings of the same book.• Identify a literacy focus for each reading.• Plan opportunities for children’s active engagement.• Pay close attention to children’s developmental levels. • Use scaffolding strategies designed to support and extend children’s learning.

Beck & McKeown, 2001; Dickinson & Smith, 1994; Laminack, 2009; Shedd & Duke, 2008; Wasik & Bond, 2001.

LET’S READ IT AGAIN! TEACHER’S GUIDE | 9

Using HighScope’s Let’s Read It Again! Interactive Read-Alouds

Interactive read-alouds offer teachers effective ways to support the development of children’s comprehension skills through interactive reading, sustained conversation, and deliberate teaching (Bennett-Armistead et al., 2005).

The interactive read-aloud booklets for the 20 children’s books in the Let’s Read It Again! set are based on a selection of high-quality fiction and nonfiction texts that will engage children in rich language and compelling narratives as they develop key literacy concepts and skills.

Interactive and engaging experiences with fictional texts provide children with op-portunities to hear and appreciate literary language, discuss social issues introduced in the text, and develop a keen interest in

books and reading. Experiences with storybooks are also an effective way to sup-port the development of the “two pillars” of learning to read: oral language and print knowledge (Mol, Bus, & Sikkema-de Jong, 2009, p. 1001). Similarly, nonfiction and informational texts help to broaden chil-dren’s knowledge base and strengthen their vocabulary about various topics.

Each read-aloud booklet in Let’s Read It Again! includes the following introductory information: the title of the book, the names of the author (or authors) and illustrator, and the genre of the book (e.g., fiction, nonfiction, poetry). The literacy focus identifies key literacy components and specific focus points (see pp. 16–21) that are emphasized during each reading.

The booklets also include multiple read-aloud activities, each with a specific liter-acy focus, for repeated readings of each book throughout the week. These multiple

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Key Literacy Components and Focus Points

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COMPREHENSION

• Predicting

• Recalling facts

• Retelling

• Making connections

• Synthesizing

• Inferring

• Summarizing

VOCABULARY

• Understanding what a word means

• Using vocabulary in oral language to express ideas

CRAFT AND STRUCTURE

• Describing the roles of the author and illustrator

• “Reading” illustrations and making connections between pictures and text

• Identifying genres

PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS

• Recognizing and producing rhymes

• Recognizing and producing alliteration

• Segmenting words

• Identifying beginning sounds

ALPHABETIC KNOWLEDGE

• Naming upper- and lowercase letters

• Associating letters with their sound(s)

CONCEPTS ABOUT PRINT

• Recognizing that written words represent spoken words

• Understanding directionality

• Identifying the starting point in a line of text

• Distinguishing single words in a line of text

• Recognizing the use of graphic features

BOOK KNOWLEDGE

• Identifying parts of the book

• Developing book-handling skills

READING

• Reading symbols and words

LET’S READ IT AGAIN! TEACHER’S GUIDE | 17

COMPREHENSION FOCUS POINTS

Predicting: Saying what might happen next based on current understanding

Recalling facts: Remembering rele-vant information in a text

Retelling: Recalling actions and events from stories

Making connections: Relating pic-tures and text to personal experiences and prior knowledge

Synthesizing: Integrating information presented in the text to form new ideas and understanding

Inferring: Drawing conclusions that are implied from contextual clues rath-er than from explicit statements in text

Summarizing: Briefly restating the main ideas of a text

To comprehend stories, children must gath-er information and use what they already know (background knowledge and prior experiences) and what they learn from the illustrations and text to infer meaning. This process involves understanding explicit in-formation directly stated in text and illustra-tions, as well as uncovering implicit infor-mation not directly stated (e.g., characters’ feelings or motives, why an event unfolds as it does), to construct the story’s meaning. To comprehend informational text, children must again draw upon their current knowl-edge and prior experiences related to a topic and integrate that understanding with new information presented in the text.

Teachers model comprehension strategies that successful readers use when they en-gage with a book, such as studying the front and back covers of the book before reading, gathering information from illustrations, and referring to previous pages for clarifi-cation. Teachers also help build children’s text comprehension when they ask children to make inferences about story characters and actions; connections between the text, “real life,” and their own experiences; and predictions based on events and graphics in the text.

Comprehension

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Reading aloud is an effective way to sup-port children’s development of knowledge and vocabulary that they will need for later reading comprehension. In fact, picture books are two to three times as likely as parent-child conversations to include rare and uncommon words (Massaro, 2015). In-teractive reading is an opportunity for adults to explicitly teach vocabulary by providing child-friendly definitions; visual supports such as book illustrations, objects, photos, and gestures to help convey meaning; and opportunities to talk about the words children encounter in the text. Engaging children in this process is a powerful way to enhance their reading comprehension and promote future academic achievement.

When encountering rare or new words during reading, teachers can use some of the following teaching strategies:

• Ask children to think about what the word might mean based on their prior knowl-edge of the topic and/or text or picture clues (e.g., you might say, I wonder what this word plank means. Let’s look at the pictures for a clue. What do you think?).

• Provide child-friendly, easy-to-understand definitions for children (e.g., you might say, The word exclaimed means that someone has said something in an excited way).

• Connect new words with words children already know (e.g., you might say, This

VOCABULARY FOCUS POINTS

• Understanding what a word means

• Using vocabulary in oral language to express ideas

Vocabulary

word says imaginable. Do you hear the word imagine in that word? Listen…imag-inable. If something is imaginable, that means you can imagine it and picture it in your mind).

• Label objects and describe features of illustrations using the new word(s) (e.g., you might say, You’re noticing that the color of her dress is red, but the word says crimson. That’s another word for red).

• Use the same new words in meaningful contexts throughout the day and in subsequent days (e.g., during snacktime, ask the children to pass the crimson cup).