Texts are an often-ignored element in studies of interactive read-alouds in early childhood settings. In this article, the author addresses this research gap by examining 60 preschool books for the vocabulary affordances they provide for young children. There were five types of books in the study: narrative, informational, interactive, alphabet,…

This article introduces the results of a research survey that involved 443 preschool and classroom teachers. The objective of the investigation was to discover teachers' views on making picture book reading a part of the teaching process, how picture book reading was incorporated, and how a productive visual response to a picture book was…

Recent study on gender representation in children's literature has focused on the representations themselves, while there is less research regarding how children talk about these depictions in texts. Our work, a qualitative study of how kindergarten-aged children discuss gender during picture book read-alouds, examined how children drew on the…

For d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing prereaders who communicate predominately in spoken and/or signed English (DHH-English), Teachers of the d/Deaf (TODs) read books aloud to increase English skills, auditory-verbal comprehension, sequencing skills, verbal reasoning, background knowledge, and sight word recognition. Teachers struggle to select…

The enquiries in this study were directed towards the reading of children's literature in preschool with the aim of describing and analysing how read-alouds were carried out in 39 preschools in the northern and southern parts of Sweden. How often were read-alouds performed? How long were they? How was literature chosen? Who initiated the…

Enhancing young children's early literacy achievement is a top priority in many countries. There is a considerable body of research demonstrating young children's language development as a critical factor in reading and later academic success. Implementation of high quality literacy instruction has the potential to improve literacy…

The Read Aloud strategy is uniquely suitable for the preschool classroom. On the peripheral, the Read Aloud is a natural, relaxed activity. With the increase of accountability and assessments in formal education (Meier, 2003), it has become more crucial for educators to prevent interruptions in the acquisition of emergent skills by preschoolers.…

Sharing high-quality storybooks and nonfiction books not only is enjoyable for young children and teachers--it is also a powerful way to build crucial literacy skills. This engaging guide provides effective strategies for selecting books and using read-alouds to develop children's oral language, vocabulary, concepts of print, alphabet knowledge,…

Early childhood and special educators are under growing demands to develop children's language and literacy skills through evidence-based practices. One promising research-based strategy for vocabulary and language development is dialogic reading (DR), which is an interactive picture book reading technique developed in the late 1980's by…

The purpose of this study is to explore whether storybooks designed to elicit talk about letters and sounds, termed "alphabet-storybooks" will generate more print referencing behaviors from Head Start teachers than traditional storybooks, and if there is a concomitant positive impact on the learning of the children in these classrooms.…

The early years are a time of joy and a period of great learning for young children. They are beginning to interact with print and experience the delights of being read to. This article presents the experiences of a kindergarten teacher during her class' independent reading time. Aside from just plain fun, children can acquire a wide range of…