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Reading Aloud: Mia and Dad
It has been a busy day for Mia. After getting ready for bed, Mia heads for the low bookshelf in her room. Some of the books are from a recent library visit. Others are Mia's own books. Some are well-worn favorites. Mia and her parents have placed tactile symbols—small objects, textures, or raised outlines—on a number of the books' covers so Mia can identify them herself. She runs her fingers over the books, which face outward on the shelf. Suddenly she smiles, stops, and takes a book. She heads to the kitchen where her dad is cleaning up—"Read this one!" she says. Her dad sets aside the dishtowel and follows Mia back to the living room, where things are now quiet. Mia hops on the couch as her father settles comfortably beside her. Mia holds the book, turning it right-side-up, and shows her father the front cover.
Dad: Oh, this looks like a good choice. This is one of our new books. We haven't even put a symbol on the cover yet. The title of the book is Sydney's Bad Day. It says the author is [he reads and points with his finger] Maria Thompson. There's a picture on the cover of a boy with a Band-Aid on his knee! . . . Do you remember—last week you needed a Band-Aid on your elbow after you fell?
Mia: I hurt my funny bone.
Dad: You scraped it pretty good. Not too funny, I'd say!
Dad: So what do you think this story is about?
Mia: The boy hurts his knee?
Dad: It could be about how the boy hurts his knee, maybe about putting a Band-Aid on his knee—that's a really good guess.
Dad: You know what might be a good symbol to put on this book?
Mia: A Band-Aid!
Dad: I think you're right. I wonder, maybe the boy's name is Sydney . . . Let's find out! Open the book for us and find the first page.
Mia: This page has braille on it.
Dad: You're right! One day you'll be reading the braille. It also has a picture. The boy is sitting on the ground by his tricycle, and he's holding his knee. The braille says, "Last Tuesday, Sydney fell off his bike. 'Ouch, ouch, oweee!' Sydney howled.— [Her father moves the fingers of both hands from left to right, along the braille and invites Mia to put her hands over his as he moves them across the braille words.]
Mia: [laughs and repeats] Ouch, ouch, oweee . . .
Although Mia and her father have just settled in to read the book, a number of literacy behaviors have already been reinforced and quite a bit of learning has taken place.
- In many ways, it is clear Mia already thinks of herself as a reader and takes an active role in the read-aloud experience. Reading is part of her daily routine. She has a variety of books within easy reach, and the books on the shelf face out, so she can explore them easily. Most of them have tactile symbols that help her identify them since Mia is not yet able to read braille. All of this helps Mia initiate reading aloud and choose the book she wants to read. Her parents encourage her, following through on Mia's request to read and commenting positively on her book choice.
- Usually, Mia chooses the symbol she wants to use for a particular book. By choosing and applying the symbol herself, she gives the symbol its meaning, which may help her understand what symbols are and how we use them. She's also more likely to remember which symbol goes with each book.
- Mia is encouraged to practice book-handling skills. Her father lets Mia handle the book, orient the book correctly, and turn pages in order as he reads. She is learning that pages are read from left to right and turned as the right-hand page is finished.
- Mia is learning other book-related conventions. Her father reads aloud the title of the book and the name of the author, a concept Mia's parents have introduced in previous books. From many read-aloud experiences, Mia knows that the title and author usually appear on the cover and sometimes on the title page inside the book.
- As her father reads the first page, he moves his hands from left to right tracking across the braille words. Doing this as he reads helps Mia associate the motion of her father's hands and fingers with the braille and the spoken words of the story. When she was younger, she asked about the bumpy dots she felt on the pages of some books. Mia's parents explained that this was braille and that the braille "told the story." Mia has learned to look for the braille and has begun to connect it to her father's spoken words, realizing that the written text is what is read.
- As he tracks across the lines of braille, Mia's father invites her to place her hands on his. With his hands under Mia's hands, he models the light touch and smooth motion used to read braille. Mia's fingers extend beyond his so she can touch the braille with the pads of her fingers. However, she has control over the use of her hands, so the interaction is never forced. This casual modeling exposes Mia to the practice that written language is read from left to right, moving from the top to the bottom of the page—important, basic conventions of written language in both print and braille. When a book is in braille, Mia is now able to locate the braille and sometimes runs her hands and fingers lightly from left to right along some of the braille on her own. Mia's father does not always track across the braille as he reads, or expect that Mia will always track the braille. Mia is 3 years old, so her interest in this aspect of reading is building. She explores the braille when it interests her, and her father supports her exploration without pushing her.
- Ouch, ouch, oweee are words that sound funny, so Mia and her father play with the sounds, contributing to Mia's phonological awareness.
- Mia and her father talk a bit about the book's picture, its title, and relate this to Mia's own recent experience of hurting her elbow. Her father encourages Mia to use her knowledge to predict what the story might be about, and some possible story events. This is a comprehension strategy used by good readers.
Reading Interactively
If we continued to observe Mia and her father as they read, we would notice that they stop from time to time to talk about the story. During these interactions, her father and Mia check and support her understanding of the story. They do this as partners, constructing the meaning of the story together. Mia's parents know her well, and are alert to things in the story that Mia may not understand. They help their daughter understand the story by linking events in the story to Mia's real world experiences. They adapt their reading of the story, at times, summarizing parts that are too long for Mia. Sometimes they pause to talk more about parts she finds interesting and ask questions about the story's characters and events. Mia's parents model other comprehension strategies—talking about unfamiliar words and asking Mia to retell parts of the story. Retelling the whole story is hard for Mia, but her father gives her little prompts as they do the retelling together.
This interactive style of reading aloud engages a child, involving her in making sense of the story, and keeping her interest at a high level. Interactive reading is a little like "thinking aloud." It allows the adult reader to model comprehension strategies used by mature readers (Gold & Gibson, 2001) and fit the story to the child's level of understanding. Both Mia and her parents actively participate, showing this interactive way of sharing the story. Mia's parents follow her lead, keeping the interactions playful and game-like. They realize read-aloud time is not a lesson but an adventure to be shared.
- Mia's parents relate the story to Mia's own experiences. If she lacks firsthand experiences and concepts, they provide these before reading the story.
- As they read aloud, they pause occasionally to recall what happened just before, predict what may happen next, and talk about cause/effect occurrences. Often, the end of a page is a good place for this kind of pause and reflection, or just after a significant story event.
- Occasionally, Mia's father stops to ask her a question to help her check her own understanding. Then he extends Mia's responses, just as her parents did with her early attempts at learning language. These can be who or what questions, or more difficult how and why questions. He may ask about what just happened or what will happen next, or how the story's events made a character feel.
- If Mia has a question, they think through the answer together, sometimes backing up to answer a more basic question that will lead them to the answer.
- They talk about unfamiliar words; and when Mia seems confused by something her father has just read, he rephrases it using shorter sentences and words that Mia already knows.
- They sometimes add noises related to the story, making animal sounds—stomping for the giant in "Jack and the Beanstalk" or imitating a character's voice or gestures.
- They compare what they are reading to what is happening in the pictures. (Mia does not see these, so her father describes them to her.) Sometimes they gather objects related to the story and use them to act out parts of the story. (Suggestions for making and using a story box are included later in this chapter.)
- They share their opinions of the story, its characters, and how it makes them feel. Emotions are an important avenue for learning and remembering (Bloom & Capatides, 1987).
As they read, Mia's father watches to make sure she is enjoying the story and their interactions about the story. He's noticed that Mia likes to spend time talking about the story, but there are times when she wants to talk less and just listen to him read. And there are also times when Mia falls asleep or gets "antsy" before the book is over. When this happens, they put the book away to finish later. Mia's parents have learned to fit the read-aloud experience to their daughter's needs and interests. Mia has grown to love reading, so it usually isn't long before she brings this or another book to her parents for more reading. Research confirms that Mia and her parents are on the right track as they read interactively, follow her lead, and make her a full participant in the read-aloud experience (Justice & Kaderavek, 2002; Neuman, Copple, & Bredecamp, 2000; Arnold & Whitehurst, 1994).
Research shows interactive reading is associated with the greatest amount of benefit for the child. Studies find that children read to in this way become better readers than children who are not read to interactively (Heath, 1982; 1983).
"By modeling how fluent readers think about the text and problem solve as they read, we make the invisible act of reading visible" (Gold & Gibson, 2001, p. 4).
* Note — This textbox begins with a Research Icon
Dialogic reading
A well-researched and specific read-aloud strategy called "dialogic reading" uses a particular method of questioning and prompting to encourage children to think about the story as the adult reads aloud. It has been proven to boost a child's language skills (Vukelich & Christie, 2004).
For more information, check out the following articles.
Whitehurst, G. J. (1992). Dialogic reading: An effective way to read to preschoolers. Available from http://www.readingrockets.org/articles/400
Whitehurst, G. J., Falco, F. L., Lonigan, C. J., Fischel, J. E., Debaryshe, B. D., Valdez-Menchaca, M. C., & Caulfield, M. (1998). Accelerating language development through picture book reading. Developmental Psychology, 24, 552-559.