Articles: Reading: Dialogic Readers Have More Fun
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| Dialogic Readers Have More Fun! |
Dialogic reading is a term used by educators to describe how readers can engage listeners to be active, rather than passive, participants. The idea is to interject now and then with open-ended questions to encourage comprehension, critical thinking, and verbal skills building.
The technique is straight-forward enough, yet many parents don’t think to read to their children this way. Maybe parents are in the mindset that books should be read from start to finish without interruption. Maybe it just feels awkward. Certainly, if you are reading a book for the first time or the book has very rhythmic text, dialogic reading could be disruptive. However, you’ll find that most other reading and listening experiences will be enhanced by allowing yourselves to stop and talk about what you’re reading as you read.
Ask open-ended questions. Ask open-ended questions, which do not allow for a “yes” or “no” response. With babies and young toddlers, simple questions like, “What kind of animal is that?” or “What sound does a pig make?” are good. For older toddlers and preschoolers, dig deeper. Ask questions such as, “What’s happening in this picture?” or “Look at his face. What do you think he’s feeling/thinking?” or “What do you think he will do next?” If you have a child who is reluctant to say anything, try sharing your own thoughts first and then asking her for her thoughts. Rephrase her answer back to her and expand it to reinforce that you understood what she said. That will help build her confidence.
Make connections. Help your child make a connection between an aspect of the story and something that recently happened in her own life. For example, “She’s going to visit her grandmother. What were some of your favorite things that you did with grandma last summer?”
Let him finish the rhyme. If you are reading a story with text that rhymes, every so often read the first part of the rhyme and then let your listener try to guess the word needed to finish the rhyme.
Summarize. After reading the story aloud together, ask, “So, what happened in that story?” or “How did the bug find his way home?”
Research shows that dialogic reading helps little kids’ develop their pre-reading skills faster. It gets kids involved, which makes the story more interesting and relevant. That, in turns, makes the kids want you to read to them more, which is exactly what they need you to do to help them grow up to be good readers themselves.
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