INTERACTIVE BOOK READING

OVERVIEW

Interactive book reading is a reading strategy intended to promote the development of language and literacy skills in young children.  In a study of the program’s effectiveness among children from low-income families, pre-school teachers were randomly assigned to receive or not to receive training in interactive book reading strategies.  15 weeks after the training, children whose teachers engaged in the training scored significantly higher than did children whose teachers did not engage in the training on measures of both receptive and expressive vocabulary.   

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

Target population: pre-literate children from low-income families

When reading in an “interactive” manner, teachers engage in discussion with students about the book being read.  Teachers ask children open-ended questions and encourage them to make use of vocabulary from the book.  The strategy is similar to that of dialogic reading, but, whereas adults generally work one-on-one or in small groups with children when engaging in dialogic reading, interactive reading is an appropriate teaching method for use with whole classes.

A major goal of interactive reading is providing children with multiple opportunities to use book-related words.  In this vein, prior to reading a book aloud, a teacher will select from that book target words – common words that are likely to be unfamiliar to children, but are necessary for story comprehension.  Teachers will introduce these words to students before reading the book (often using concrete objects), alert children to their usage in the book, and, after reading the book, engage in activities with children that allow them to make use of these words.

EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM

Wasik, B.A. & Bond, M.A.  (2001).  Beyond the Pages of a Book: Interactive Book Reading and Language Development in Preschool Classrooms.  Journal of Educational Psychology, 93(2), 243-250.

Evaluated population: 121 four-year-old children from low-income families served as the study sample for this investigation.  The children were drawn from four pre-school classes at a Title I early learning center in Baltimore, Maryland.  95% of students at this center were eligible for free or reduced lunch and 94% were black.

Approach: Each class was randomly assigned to either the treatment group or the control group.

Treatment group teachers were trained in interactive book reading and book reading extension activities.  Training included instruction in defining vocabulary words, providing opportunities for children to use words from the books, asking open-ended questions, and providing children with opportunities to talk and be heard.  Because teachers would be conducting large-group interactive reading sessions, they were also given instruction on how to help children listen to their peers.  Teachers were provided with books to read to their students and props representing target vocabulary words from the books.

Control teachers received all the books treatment teachers did.  These books were read as often in control classrooms as they were in treatment classrooms; however, control teachers did not receive the training that treatment teachers did.

For the first four weeks of the intervention, an experienced teacher modeled the shared book reading techniques in each treatment classroom and assisted with reading extension activities.  For the next 11 weeks, treatment teachers ran the program on their own. 

All children were pre-tested individually on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test – III, a measure of receptive vocabulary skills.  Following the 15 week intervention, children were re-assessed on the PPVT-III.  Children were also tested on their knowledge of target words on a receptive and an expressive measure.  In addition, teachers were observed during a 20-minute activity session in weeks nine and eleven, and their use of ten target words was recorded.

Results: At post-test, treatment classes scored significantly higher on the PPVT-III than did control classes.  Treatment classes also scored significantly higher on their knowledge of target vocabulary words.  Classroom observations found that teachers in the treatment group were significantly and substantially more likely than control teachers to use the target words during related activities.

SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION

References:

Wasik, B.A. & Bond, M.A.  (2001).  Beyond the Pages of a Book: Interactive Book Reading and Language Development in Preschool Classrooms.  Journal of Educational Psychology, 93(2), 243-250.

Program categorized in this guide according to the following:

Evaluated participant ages: 4

Evaluated participant grades: pre-school

Program age ranges in the guide: early childhood

Program components: early childhood education

Measured outcomes: education & cognitive development

Program information last updated 7/24/07