Dialogic Reading

As you scroll down on this page, you will view the following sections:

  • What is Dialogic Reading?

  • What does the research say?

  • What are PEER and CROWD Prompts?

  • Lesson Plan

  • Aligning Resource Support

  • Post lesson comments

  • References and Readings

  • Lesson Plan (printable version)

What is dialogic reading?

What is dialogic reading?

  • Children and adults having a conversation about a book.

  • 4 reads (whole class)

  • Reading 1: read for pleasure

  • Reading 2, 3, 4:

    • 4-6 new words each reading

    • Use PEER and CROWD promts

Main goals:

  • Increase vocabulary knowledge

  • Increase verbal Interactions through Q&A

  • Making connections (to life or beginning of story to end of story)

What type of words should be prioritized?

  • Similar French/root words

  • Homonyms or words with multiple meanings (cards, face)

  • Verbs

  • Academic vocabulary

Who is it appropriate for?

  • Children from ages 3-7

Source: Reading Rockets


What does the research say?

  • "Listening comprehension-which is built through language interaction-is, after all, an essential precondition of reading comprehension" (Catts, Adolf, and Ellis-Weismer 2006; Gough and Tunmer 1986; Hoover and Gough 1990; Nation et al. 2010; Lervag, Hulme, and Melby-Lervag 2017 as cited in Burkins and Yates, 2021 p. 11)

  • "Children who have been read to dialogically are substantially ahead of children who have been read to traditionally on tests of language development. Children can jump ahead by several months in just a few weeks of dialogic reading." Grover J. (Russ) Whitehurst, Reading Rockets

What are PEER and CROWD Prompts?

Use PEER and CROWD after first read.

  • Prompts the child to say something about the book (adult)

  • Evaluates the child's response (adult)

  • Expands the child's response by rephrasing and adding information (adult)

  • Repeats the prompt. (child) This ensures that the child has learned from the expansion.


Completion prompts

  • Leave a blank at the end of a sentence and get the child to fill it in. These are typically used in books with rhyme or books with repetitive phases.

  • For example: you might say, "Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the ____, " letting the child fill in the blank with the word clock.

  • Completion prompts provide children with information about the structure of language that is critical to later reading.


*Recall prompts

  • These are questions about what happened in a book a child has already read. Recall prompts work for nearly everything except alphabet books.

  • For example, you might say, "Can you tell me where Stellaluna lives in this part of the story?" Recall prompts help children in understanding story plot and in describing sequences of events.

  • Recall prompts can be used not only at the end of a book, but also at the beginning of a book when a child has been read that book before.


Open-ended prompts

  • These prompts focus on the pictures in books. They work best for books that have rich, detailed illustrations.

  • For example, while looking at a page in a book that the child is familiar with, you might say, "Tell me what's happening in this picture."

  • Open-ended prompts help children increase their expressive fluency and attend to detail.


Wh- prompts

  • These prompts usually begin with what, where, when, why, and how questions. Like open-ended prompts, wh- prompts focus on the pictures in books.

  • For example, you might say, "What's the name of this?" while pointing to an object in the book.

  • Wh- questions teach children new vocabulary.


*Distancing prompts

  • These ask children to relate the pictures or words in the book they are reading to experiences outside the book.

  • For example, while looking at a book with a picture of animals on a farm, you might say something like, "Remember when we went to the animal park last week. Which of these animals did we see there?"

  • Distancing prompts help children form a bridge between books and the real world, as well as helping with verbal fluency, conversational abilities, and narrative skills.

*These types of prompts are more difficult.

Source: Reading Rockets

Article by: Grover J. (Russ) Whitehurst


Lesson Plan

Focus of lesson: Dialogic Reading

Appropriate grade level: Cycle One

Teacher: Classroom or Remedial

Number of sessions: This lesson plan includes 4x15 minute lessons

Book or YouTube video: Beekle by Dan Santat


Beekle Reading #1

Purpose: reading for pleasure

Read the book straight through, stopping to explain only when necessary.

Beekle Reading #2

Time: 10-15 minutes

Preparation:

  • There are no page numbers. I started where the story starts.

  • Prepare reading by placing sticky notes with prompt on appropriate page.

  • If students supply an appropriate answer to a vocabulary prompt:

    • repeat their answer, correcting sentence structure (if needed)

    • add a word to the student's sentence, whenever possible (expand)

    • continue reading

    • If they cannot supply a brief definition, provide one and continue reading.

  • Teach appropriate expectations for turn and talk.

Prompts:

p.1-2: What does imagine (ed) mean? Hint: French word

p.7-8: What does rather mean?

p. 13-14: What does reached mean?

p. 17-18: What does familiar mean? Hint: French word

p. 21-22: Open-ended prompt.

  • Can you describe what is happening in this picture?

  • Turn and talk

  • Teacher leans in and listens to a few students during turn and talk

  • Teacher asks one student to answer the prompt.

  • Teacher uses PEER on the student's response.

p. 25-26: What does below mean?

p. 27-28: Open-ended prompt.

  • Can you describe what is happening in this picture?

  • Turn and talk

  • Teacher leans in and listens to a few students during turn and talk

  • Teacher asks one student to answer the prompt.

  • Teacher uses PEER on the student's response.

p. 29-30: What does just right mean?

p. 31-32: Open-ended prompt

  • How do you make friends?

  • Turn and talk

  • Teacher leans in and listens to a few students during turn and talk

  • Teacher asks one student to answer the prompt.

  • Teacher uses PEER on the student's response.

p. 37-38 What could unimaginable mean?

Beekle Reading #3

Time: 10-15 minutes

Preparation:

  • There are no page numbers. I started where the story starts.

  • Prepare reading by placing sticky notes with prompts on appropriate page.

  • If students supply an appropriate answer to a vocabulary prompt, repeat their answer and move on. If they cannot supply a brief definition, provide one and keep reading.


Prompts:

Review:

Before we start, let’s discuss the root word imagine (imagining or imagined).

  • What does it mean?

  • How can they help us learn the word imaginary? (imaginary friend)

  • p. 3-4: Open-ended prompt.

  • Can you tell me what is happening in this picture?

  • Turn and talk

  • Teacher leans in and listens to a few students during turn and talk

  • Teacher asks one student to answer the prompt.

  • Teacher uses PEER on the student's response.

  • p. 11-12 What does journey mean?

  • p.11-12 Wh prompt:

  • What is this activity called? (sailing)

  • Teacher asks one student to answer the prompt.

  • Teacher uses PEER on the student's response.

p. 15-16: What does strange mean?

p. 21-22: Distancing Prompt:

Can you think of a time that you were wishing and hoping for something to happen?

  • Turn and talk

  • Teacher leans in and listens to a few students during turn and talk

  • Teacher asks one student to answer the prompt.

  • Teacher uses PEER on the student's response.

p. 31-32: What does the word neither mean?

p. 33-34: What does the word adventure mean?

p. 37-38: Recall prompt:

How have Beekle’s feelings changed from the beginning of the book to the end of the book. Why?

  • Turn and talk

  • Teacher leans in and listens to a few students during turn and talk

  • Teacher asks one student to answer the prompt.

  • Teacher uses PEER on the student's response.

Beekle Reading #4

Time: 10-15 minutes

Preparation:

  • There are no page numbers. I started where the story starts.

  • Prepare reading by placing sticky notes with prompt on appropriate page.

  • On the 4th reading incorporate completion prompts.

  • If students supply an appropriate answer to a vocabulary prompt, repeat their answer and move on. If they cannot supply a brief definition, provide one and keep reading.

Prompts:

  • Recall prompt: Can you tell a partner what happened to Beekle at the end of the story?

  • Turn and talk

  • Teacher leans in and listens to a few students during turn and talk

  • Teacher asks one student to answer the prompt.

  • Teacher uses PEER on the student's response.

  • p.1-2 Completion prompt: He was born on an _____. What is an island?

  • Use PEER on the student's response.

  • p. 9-10 What does unimaginable mean?

  • p. 11-12 Distancing prompt. Can you think of a time when you had to use courage? (ensure students understand the meaning of courage)

  • Turn and talk

  • Teacher leans in and listens to a few students during turn and talk

  • Teacher asks one student to answer the prompt.

  • Teacher uses PEER on the student's response.

  • p. 22-23: Distancing prompt: Can you think of a time that you felt alone?

  • Turn and talk

  • Teacher leans in and listens to a few students during turn and talk

  • Teacher asks one student to answer the prompt.

  • Teacher uses PEER on the student's response.

  • p. 33-34: Completion prompt: They told funny _____. (jokes)

  • Distancing Prompt: Do you have an imaginary friend?

  • Turn and talk

  • Teacher leans in and listens to a few students during turn and talk

  • Teacher asks one student to answer the prompt.

  • Teacher uses PEER on the student's response.

Aligning Resource Support

Things to notice:

Target oral language instruction if:

  • The student uses the same words over and over again in talking and/or writing.

  • The student expresses that they do not like to read on their own because they don’t understand the words in the book

  • Unable to retell an event in a way that makes sense.

  • The student misuses common words.

  • The student has questions about a lot of word meanings in a grade appropriate text.

  • The student seems to have a weak vocabulary.

  • The student is not able to make connections among words in various texts.

Adapted from Reading Rockets

Suggestions to offer help

  • Increase the number of opportunities for listening comprehension activities to help build oral language skills:


-dialogic reading (see lesson plan 1)

-dialogic conversations

-storytelling

-interactive read-alouds

  • Use dialogic reading in a small group setting to increase vocabulary acquisition and sentence structure.

  • A smaller group/individual instruction will provide multiple opportunities for the child to interact orally.

  • Provide instruction about the important, useful, and difficult words before students read a text.

  • Explicitly teach the meanings of common prefixes, roots, and suffixes.

  • Offer students many opportunities to encounter target words beyond the context in which they are taught.

  • Use text sets to build background knowledge

  • This is not an exhaustive list.


Post lesson comments:


Post lesson teacher comments:

  • Students enjoyed turn and talk. It was a beneficial practice, allowing the students to move and talk, on a particularly hyperactive day.

  • Maximizing minutes: Incorporating dialogic talk during breakfast club has carved out an opportunity for the teacher to talk one-on-one with each student.

References and Readings:

Jan Burkins, & Kari Yates. (2021). Shifting the Balance : 6

Ways to Bring the Science of Reading Into the Balanced Literacy Classroom. Stenhouse Publishers.



Lesson Plan (printable version):