1. An effective way to read to preschoolers
Dialogic Reading
An effective way to read to preschoolers

2. What is Dialogic Reading?
An interactive technique used when reading with children
Based on the extensive research of Grover J. Whitehurst, Ph.D.
Encourages children to communicate with the adult while being read to
The adult uses prompts with questions that engage children in discussions while reading to them

3. What does the research say?
Children who have been read to dialogically are substantially ahead of those of those who have been read to traditionally on tests of language development
Children can jump ahead several months in just a few weeks of dialogic reading

4. Why is Dialogic Reading so important for preschoolers?
Over one third of children who enter schools lack vocabulary, sentence structure and other basic skills required to do well academically
This readiness gap leads to the achievement gap
Picture book reading provides children with many school readiness skills
§Vocabulary
§Sound structure
§The meaning of print
§The structure of stories and language
§Sustained attention
§Analytical skills
Children who are read to three times per week or more do much better in later development then children who are read to less than three times per week

5. How does Dialogic Reading work?
The adult does not read to the child while the child passively listens – Instead, the adult helps the child become the teller of the story
The adult is the listener, questioner, and audience for the child
Children are actively involved in reading
The PEER sequence is used as a short interaction between child and adult
P – Prompt the child to say something about the book
E – evaluate the child’s response
E – expand the child’s response by adding information to it
R – repeat the prompt to make sure the child has learned from the expansion

6. Example: Imagine the parent and child are looking at the page of a book that has a picture of a fire engine on it.
The parent says “What is this?” (PROMPT) while pointing to the fire truck. The child says “truck”.
The parent says “That’s right” (EVALUATION) “It’s a red fire truck (EXPANSION). Can you say fire truck?” (REPETITION).
Read the book straight through on the first time and do less reading each time afterwards encouraging children to discuss the story
Use PEER on almost every page

7. How do we prompt children?
CROWD
C – Completion Prompts: Leave a blank at the end of a sentence for the child to complete (fill in the blank)
§This provides children with information about the structure of language that is critical for language later
R – Recall prompts: These are questions about what happened in the book a child has already read.
§Recall prompts help children understand story plot and sequencing events
§When a child has read a book before, these prompts can be used at the beginning and end of the book
O – Open ended prompts
§These focus on the pictures in the book
§Helps children with attention to detail and expressive fluency
W – Who, What, When Where How, Why Questions
§These questions should focus on the pictures in the book
§Allows children to learn new vocabulary
D – Distancing Prompts
§These ask children to relate a memory or experience they have had to that in the story
§These prompts help children bridge between the book and the real world, verbal fluency, abilities to hold conversations, and narrative skills

8. Things to Remember
Almost every picture book can be used with dialogic reading
Always follow your child’s interests
Distancing and recall prompts are more difficult for children and may take time/practice for adults to create
Don’t push children with more prompts than they can handle
Dialogic reading is just children and adults having a conversation about a book
Adults who are not able to read in the language the book is written in can also use this technique by asking questions about the pictures in the story
HAVE FUN