Few studies examine young children's multimodal responses to nonfiction picture books, and even fewer examine teaching practices that encourage these responses. This case study of a kindergarten class illustrates how one teacher regularly conducted interactive whole-group read-alouds using nonfiction picture books. After examining the multimodal…

Activating joy is a rigorous and serious pursuit in literacy education. In this article, we guide educators through the framework of culturally and historically responsive education and its five pursuits: identity, skills, intellect, criticality, and joy. Our focus is on the fifth pursuit -joy-- and we support elementary school teachers in…

Experiences with books before age three predict children's motivation to read (Bus et al., 1995), and can support the development of vocabulary, communication, and symbolic skills (Scarborough, 2001). Sharing books with infants and toddlers is different than reading aloud to older children. For example, it is important to attend more closely to…

In this article we report the results and classroom implications of a qualitative study that explored third-grade students' interactions with each other as they partner read. Participants included 10 students, each of whom engaged in three readings with a partner during recorded observations. All students had been taught structures for partner…

Immersion into fiction is associated with many educational and social benefits. The current study compared read-alouds of a historical fiction novel and a nonfiction textbook to determine whether differences were observed in student's transportation, content learning, and socio-emotional development. In all, 41 students between the ages of 9 and…

The responses children make during read-alouds bridge meaning from stories. Educators must grasp the value of children's responses and reactions to literature. Children's discourse is central to the reading process; thus, children must be allowed to participate in this learning process. Due to this, the read-aloud process in the classroom should…

This article (a) explores the experience of an early childhood teacher researcher as she intentionally uses interactive read-alouds to promote social justice and to encourage critical consciousness in her preschool classroom and (b) offers guidance for educators to embark on their own social justice journey. Over the course of a 2-year study, the…

Many elementary teachers shy away from using expository literature for interactive read-alouds in their classrooms, preferring and privileging narrative texts over this type of nonfiction. This article first shares the complementary benefits of moving beyond fiction and narrative nonfiction in educators' read-aloud practices. Affordances include…

In this manuscript we show how readalouds can significantly enrich student vocabulary and comprehension by demonstrating enhancements that will foster student learning and language development. We anchor our examples to empirical evidence demonstrating that the content of a readaloud (i.e., the what we teach) as well as the quality of the…

Multiple racial issues in America have been brought to the forefront by the recent deaths of African Americans, yet many teachers feel unprepared to engage with students around issues of race. Their discomfort is likely because traditional textbooks omitted the experiences of non-dominant, marginalized groups, thereby denying readers an…

This study examines the types of interactions and early literacy development that occur when non-verbal 4-year-old children on the autism spectrum engage with family members in read-alouds using authentic children's literature. Findings indicate the importance of quality children's literature for read-alouds. A key implication of the study is that…

There is value in integrating social-emotional learning with academic development as a way to support children's abilities to effectively communicate ideas, collaboratively solve problems, and strengthen early literacy practices. In this article, we discuss suggestions for using picturebook read-alouds as stepping stones for integrating…

Interactive read-alouds are versatile in that teachers can teach an array of literacy skills through this instructional strategy. However, our observations of six primary grade teachers and prior research revealed that teachers' implementation of interactive read-alouds varies. Without the necessary planning and preparation for interactive…

Read-alouds of picturebook biographies offer children engaging windows into the lives and work of famous (and sometimes not-so-famous) mathematicians to observe and discuss their ways of learning and doing mathematics--their mathematical practices. The Standards for Mathematical Practice (SMPs), although generally embodied in the work of…

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,…