Read-Alouds in Preschool

"The reading of literature has a given place in preschools, it is to entertain or offer children knowledge about the world, about language as well as experiences of the relations between humans and other people's living conditions. The doors of unexplored worlds open and processes of envisioning literature may socialize children into trusting their own experiences, the text and their own knowledge. The processes of meaning-making stimulate children's thinking and are constantly affected by the interactions and experiences in the classroom, thus creating conditions for change while fostering the ability to think from multiple perspectives" (Damber, 2014, pg. 1).

"Read-alouds in preschool - A matter of discipline?," by Ulla Damber, carried out a study directed towards the reading of children's literature in preschool with the aim of describing and analyzing how read-alouds were carried out in different preschools in Sweden. The three researchers involved in this research project were teacher educators. Read-alouds were seldom used as an opportunity to expand the children's world knowledge or linguistic knowledge. Linguistic knowledge, world knowledge, and social aspects are linked to one another, according to Damber. As these aspects are linked together, Damber believes that it is possible to visualise how our mapping of read-alouds can depict different foci in activities, a skills focus, a content focus, and a social focus, thus indicating different theoretical perspectives on early literacy.

At the beginning of this research project, Damber asked: How is children's literature used to support language development and knowledge development, as well as identity formation and other social aspects of the learning processes in literacy activities? Against this background, Damber set out to explore "who had agency in read-alouds, how read-alouds were conducted and how language versus content focus was distributed" (pg. 8). The following questions guided Damber's explorations:

• How often are read-alouds conducted and how long are they?
• How are books chosen?
• Who initiates read-alouds?
• In what learning context do read-alouds take place?
• What activities precede, accompany and follow on from reading sessions?
• How are language-stimulating activities linked to read-alouds?

Damber found that reading occurred on a regular basis, but the frequency of reading sessions was often low. On average, read-alouds were conducted six times a week and occurred mainly before or after lunch, during the so-called 'reading rest' time. The most common length of reading sessions was between five and ten minutes. A pattern emerged of allowing the children to choose books for reading. "On 65% of reading occasions, the children chose the book" (pg. 13). The preschool teachers took initiative in 60% of reading sessions, whereas read-alouds were intitiated by the children on 35% of occasions. As mentioned previously, reading sessions most often occurred in connection with meals and 'reading rest' time. In 94% of the total number of reading sessions, the read-aloud was a standalone event, without further connection to other activities taking place within the boundaries of the curriculum. 

In one of the narratives, a student describes how the pictures were hidden so that the children could not get too interested in the content of the story, which brings us to the purpose of read-alouds. The purpose here, seems to have been to create peace and quiet or somewhat of a disciplinary focus. 

In order to enhance children's knowledge, children's literature provides a shared learning context, a meaningful context which provides recurring opportunities to use new vocabulary in different statements and varying situations. Teachers need to embrace meaning-making and emergent literacy afctivities aimed at preparing children to decipher the alphabetic code, as well as real-world engagement (Freebody and Luke, 2003). Teachers need to instill an interest in literature that aims at children's personal development or the enhancement of literacy skills. Teachers also need to take an important step in the creation of a foundation for children's engagement in words as well as in the world.

Damber, Ulla. "Read-alouds in Preschool - A Matter of Discipline." Journal of Early Childhood Literacy (2014): 1-25. Print.

Inclusion

The article, "Inclusion as an instructional approach: Fostering inclusive writing communities in preschool classrooms," written by Erin McClockey, explores how a writing community in an inclusive preschool classroom promoted social engagement and literacy learning of all students. McClockey takes a close look into the life of one student, Ray, to showcase one way in which divergent theories of literacy learning might be bridged.

McClockey begins by explaining how children in the USA who are identified as preschoolers with disabilities can be placed in a range of inclusive preschool settings and there are many differing definitions of what constitutes an inclusive classroom. She mentions how some preschoolers with disabilities are placed in 'true' inclusive classrooms where all special education services are brought into the general education classroom, while at other times preschoolers with disabilities are removed from the general education classroom to receive special education services in other locations. While included in general education classrooms, the preschoolers with disabilities participate in the same activities as children developing 'typically'.

In many preschool settings that are described as inclusive, therapists and special education teachers remove children entitled to receive special education services from their classrooms so that the service provider may address the specific goals in their IEPs. McClockey points out that removal from the classroom, in part, creates a secondary disability that Vygotsky describes as "a disability based on the social implications of an organic impairment (primary disability)" (pg. 51). The message sent to the other students in the classroom, as well as the teachers, is that the child being removed is different and cannot be taught adequately in the classroom. The child is disabled by this removal because he or she is led to believe that instruction must be different for them to learn. During the course of this study, McClockey observed Ray trying to manage these removals. Ray was in an inclusionary preschool classroom, but only up to a point. While Ray leaves the classroom to work privately or with a small group of children who are also classified as preschoolers with disabilities, there are social implications. McClockey asks, "How can inclusion be considered as an instructional approach to avoid this?" (pg. 52).

One way to support the learning and instruction of all children is inclusive writing communities in preschool classrooms. McClockey defines inclusive writing communities as "spaces where all children can sit around the table and create marks, drawings, words, and stories while talking and listening to each other" (pg. 52). In facilitating this inclusive writing community, an instructional goal for the teacher is to recognize each child's strengths as a place from which to support further learning.

McClockey states that if children are taught in classrooms that celebrate the diversity of learning, beginning at the preschool level, it would then be a natural environment as they continue in their schooling. She also notes that an IEP should, at its very core, be detailing how instruction ought to be focused to maximize strengths and facilitate development, and yes using percentages to quantify literacy learning makes its impact as an instructional tool unproductive. A better format might be to describe the instructional environment and a guiding question could be, 'What learning environment would be best to foster the literacy development of all students while providing support for students who are working on social skills?'

Instructional approaches that work from a child's strengths to foster growth provide a context for students to notice each other's strengths. Inclusive environments are classrooms in which 'the attitude is that all students belong everywhere, with everyone else, in the school community' (pg. 62). When preschool teachers utilize an emergent perspective on literacy development, they can notice and support the progress in learning that all students are making. "All students then have an individualized literacy plan, one that honors their strengths and promotes engaged learning" (pg. 63).




Mccloskey, E. "Inclusion as an Instructional Approach: Fostering Inclusive Writing Communities in Preschool Classrooms." Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 12.1 (2012): 46-67. Print.

Mother-child Story Book Interactions

Joan Kaderavek and Lori Pakulski, literacy researchers from University of Toledo, explored literacy interest or orientation of pre-school children with hearing impairment during mother-child story book interactions. These story books included both narrative and manipulative book genres. Analyzing results from the Modification of the Book's Text Rating, Kaderavek and Pakulski found three important aspects of reading and language learning:

1. children should have more than one opportunity to explore and interact with a book before orientation is assessed
2. children demonstrated a higher mean level of orientation to manipulative books versus narrative books across the three interactions, and
3. modification was negatively correlated with children's age (i.e. the text was more likely to be read verbatim with younger children).

Kaderavek and Pakulski stress that story book reading is a critical language learning opportunity. "Story book reading contributes to oral language development and provides a fundamental learning opportunity associated with later reading ability" (pg. 49). Shared parent-child story book interactions are considered to be important contributors to a child's early literacy growth.

The importance of early literacy experiences for children with significant levels of hearing impairment (HI) has been well documented. Children with HI are likely to have language delay and are at risk for reading difficulties. These factors underscore the need for children with HI to experience consistent positive, mutually engaging, and extended story book interactions throughout their pre-school years (pg. 50).

During parent-child story book interactions, children who are hearing impaired have a particular set of challenges that come into play. "Children who are hearing impaired are likely to have a more limited set of world experiences as compared to their hearing age mates (pg. 51). Children who have HI but have hearing parents do not have access to immediate language immersion in contrast to children born to parents who are HI and use sign language. Kaderavek and Pakulski note that this general lack of world experience can limit the underlying language foundation supporting children's comprehension of more sophisticated an decontextualized literate language forms. On the other hand, families who converse in sign language early and fluently may not use story book reading to expose children to the textual features associated with written English. Thus, children with HI are likely to be read to less frequently than their peers.

Two book genres are examined within this study. Narrative story books, where there is a plot or storyline that is communicated by the text and illustrations, and manipulative books that, along with text, contain physical components to engage children (i.e. flaps that can be opened, dials that can be turned). Kaderavek and Pakulski explain that narrative books expose children to story structure or plot, which is a critical early literacy skill that often poses challenges for children who are HI. They also explain that manipulative books, with their increased opportunities for nonverbal participation, may be facilitative for children who are reluctant to participate in book interactions (pg. 52).

Repeated exposure to a book has shown that children developing typically become increasingly familiar and comfortable with the book's concepts, vocabulary, and advanced sentence structure. This results in children reducing labeling behavior and increasing comments on story content. Children also ask fewer questions about the pictures and more questions about the meaning of words and the story.

Through this entire study, Kaderavek and Pakulski found that children showed higher levels of orientation in response to the monipulative versus the narrative book. In general, parents need to maintain and focus on the 'fun and playful' aspects of story book interactions rather than being overly concerned about 'reading the book' at the early stages of literacy exposure. This is particularly relevant for children with HI. Since children with HI are likely to fall behind their typical peers in reading development, it is crucial to maintain high interest and engagement in early exposures to written text in early parent-child book reading interactions.

One aspect of this study that intrigued me was the idea of the 'broccoli effect'. "Just as 'forcing' a child to eat a disliked vegetable increases a child's dislike and avoidance, 'forcing' a child to participate in a story book interaction when the activity is perceived as unpleasant is likely to increase a child's resistance and may inadvertently result in avoidance of future interactions" (pg. 65). The broccoli effect, when applied to literacy, counters the general assumption that reading to chidren 'can never hurt'. Kaderavek and Pakulski argue that the introduction of parent-child literacy experiences in a highly engaging context is one way to minimize the 'broccoli effect'.

The findings of this study have important educational and clinical implications. In order to fully understand the trajectory of children's literacy development, it is necessary to examine children's social-contextual home literacy interactions. While parents and teachers want to expose children to many book genres, manipulative books may be a logical first step or appropriate book type for the reluctant reader.




Kaderavek, J. N., and L. A. Pakulski. "Mother--child Story Book Interactions: Literacy Orientation of Pre-schoolers with Hearing Impairment." Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 7.1 (2007): 49-72. Print.

Assessment and Sharing With Families

In a classroom, deciding what kinds of strategies  you will use for assessing students' learning can be difficult. Since time is so valuable within the tight boundaries of things like testing, goals, and numerous students, assessments should not take time away from learning. Assessments can be learning experiences in themselves and finding the strategy that fits best for your student's individual needs is probably going to save you more time in the long run. We need to be using learning assessments that are beneficial for students' learning and that help motivate them to keep learning.

In "Catching Readers Before They Fall," chapter ten focuses on assessments that are inseparable from teaching. Some of their topics include:

• The importance of authentic, ongoing, and informative assessment
• How we use informal and formal assessment tools to gather information
• What ongoing assessment looks like in a classroom
• How we analyze the information we gather to find out how a child is progressing in constructing a system of strategic actions
• How we use assessment data to inform our teaching
• Several methods of documenting and organizing the information collected and how we share this information with all the teachers working with a child

We use the information we collect to tell us which students are struggling and in what areas, as well as which students are ready to move on to greater challenges. Ongoing assessments that actually involve students in the assessment process. This might look like students setting goals with teachers and teachers letting the students feel in control of their successes. These type of assessments encourage students to try their best because they begin to believe in themselves once they see their successes.

Running records are a type of formal assessment tool and are described as "a tool for recording and then interpreting how children work on texts" (Clay 2001, 45). These records have a coding system to record on paper what a child says and does while reading. Looking at running record errors and self-corrections after a child has read will help teachers see if a child was using meaning, structure, and visual information to solve words.

Chapter ten reminds us that "as we continually collect data, we are simultaneously planning our instruction for the whole class, small groups, and one-on-one teaching" (pg. 187).

Every parent wants to know: "How's my child doing?" "Is my child's reading improving?" Chapter eleven in "Catching Readers Before They Fall," explains how many teachers ward off many of these questions by finding ways to communicate with their students' families right from the beginning of the school year to help expand their understandings of how reading works, explain classroom practices that support all readers, and inform them about expectations of what will come home throughout the school year (pg. 200). It is important to carefully draft a welcome letter to the new families. This letter should stress the importance of working together and being partners in their child's education. It is our job to not only teach the children in our classrooms each year but also to help families understand how they can best help their children at home.

Playshop: An Adventure With a Princess

When I found out that I would be creating a film for class, I panicked. I was clueless. I didn't know the first thing about filmmaking, and I had no idea where to start. As I started to calm down, I saw in my syllabus that we would also have to share these films in class. Yikes!

Since the semester was coming to an end, I found myself having less and less time to work on a film with my case study student, *Ryca*. I decided that I would ask my student to tell me what kind of movie he would've wanted to create if we would've had the time. I shared with him that he could create a story, choose/describe characters, and pick a setting, and I would put all of the pieces together and create the movie at home. He shared with me that he wanted an adventure, but not just any adventure. He wanted an adventure with a princess, prince, king, guards, and evil monsters. He wanted there to be a castle for the princess, king, and guards and a cave for the evil monster. He also wanted the prince to come from far away to marry the princess. My smile grew bigger and bigger as I was taking mental notes of his requests. It was really interesting to see how quickly Ryca came up with a story. This reminded me that children have minds full of imagination and creativity, and are just waiting for the right opportunities to share it all with anyone and everyone. As I was waiting for Ryca to fill in the details of the story, he just paused and stared at me. Smiling, he said, "Why don't you make the story?" I gave you the characters and places where they live, so it's your turn now! Make a story!". His final request took my by surprise. It was a really nice reminder that kids think others can be creative as well, and that at times kids like to share with others -whether it's toys, ideas, stories, etc... I was excited to start on this project at home, but first I needed to borrow some toys from my wonderful friend *Nicole*.    :)

In order to create a film, I needed some extra hands. I recruited a friend to help me with the film clips and had him "be" the characters by manipulating the toys. We did take after take after take, and I realized that filmmaking is incredibly difficult. It takes an endless amount of patience to make an entire film come together. We had to create the different voices for the characters, practice each scene before recording, figure out which angles the characters would enter and exit from, and countless other details. It was quite a frustrating experience. Halfway through creating the film, I realized that kids probably don't spend time with details such as these. They probably just have fun bringing these characters to life and just playing with them. I decided to forget about those details and just tried to enjoy playing with toys with my friend. I found just having fun to be a much more fulfilling experience and it turned out to be a hilarious film in the end!

I knew that I would come to class with Ryca's vision of an adventure and my story in pieces, ready to be edited and shared in class. I wasn't sure what to expect for the final version, but I was excited to add some sound effects and music to make the film more interesting.

Although I did not have enough time to create and edit this film with Ryca at school, I think these types of projects are excellent ways to play and tell stories. If I had fun making this film at home, who knows how much fun Ryca would have had making it at school? Projects like these are really engaging for children and give children the open space they need to let their imagination flow.

Click on Me!

Article 5 of my Reading Research Article Collection.

Literacy researcher, Cynthia Smith, explores the ways a young child's play revealed his understanding of technology in contextual and decontextualized ways. In her article, "Click on Me! An Example of How a Toddler Used Technology in Play," she takes a close look at one boy, James, and how he learned how to share CD-ROM storybooks with his mother - who is Cynthia Smith fyi! This article examines the relationship between technology, play, and literacy.

I watched as James and his father enjoyed peanut butter and honey sandwiches at our kitchen table. Between bites, James looked at his father and exclaimed, 'Daddy, click on me!'. Following James's request, his father pointed toward James and said, 'Click!'. James immediately behan singing a nonsense song, as a hypertext item might do when clicked. When he finished his song, he turned to his father and clicked him, by pointing his finger and saying,'Click!'. His father responded by taking a bite of his sandwich and exclaiming, 'Yum, yum!'.

This lunchtime experience is not typical for father and son. In the example above, James and his father are pretending to be hypertext objects that come to life when clicked on the computer screen. 

This article is part of a larger case study involving a comparison of storybook sharing experiences for types of storybooks: traditional, Language Experience Approach (LEA), and CD-ROM. Smith videotaped a variety of activities and looked at the interactions between James and his mother while sharing various storybook media. Smith was interested in analyzing the similarities and connections across these interactions. The data for the study included prompted summaries, parent diary entries, and data sheets. Smith found that the three storybook experiences combined "to create the whole of [James's] storybook knowledge, and his definition of story expanded" (pg. 7). In other words, 'story' became something that James read, created, and did.

In order to understand exactly what Smith was looking at when she explored James's understanding of technology, we need to understand what CD-ROM storybooks are.

CD-ROM storybooks (also called Talking Books) are animated and 'hypertext' versions of traditional storybooks. There are a wide-range of CD-ROM titles, such as Stellaluna (Cannon, 1996), The Polar Express (Van Allsburg, 1996), Sheila Rae, the Brave (Henkes, 1996), Green Eggs and Ham (Seuss, 1996), Just Grandma and Me (Mayer, 1994), and The Adventures of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny (Potter, 1995-6). The hypertext is a unique component of CD-ROM storybooks. Information in hypertext is designed to encourage individual readers to flexibly explore the relations among intertextual segments. Smith points out "while engaging the hypertext does not change the primary text, the hypertext can elicit various forms of supplementary text...and supports the act of meaning making" (pg. 8). For example, the reader can click on a character within the storybook and the character might sing a song, utter a phrase, or sentence, dance, or serve as a link to a video segment complete with music, oral text, and movement.

Here are some examples of what CD-ROM storybooks look like:

As a result of exploring CD-ROM storybooks, Smith found that James developed a new understanding of the technology, which was revealed through his play. James would often comment on the action of the hypertext and also made predictions about what the hypertext items would do. For James, story became something that you do as well as read. Because of the hypertext component, James's experience with CD-ROM storybooks was multidimensional. "He listened, responded, and repeated text as the narrator read the story, but he also predicted what characters would say when they were clicked and tried to control their actions" (pg. 12). He was able to create meaning through the use of the written text and oral hypertext.

Smith also found that James's experience with complex interactive text led to the decontextualized re-enactments like the play behaviors illustrated during the lunch with his father. "The initial reactions that occurred during the CD-ROM storybook experience became internalized and resulted in dramatic play that occurred outside of the experience" (pg. 13).

James's experience suggests that we as educators must consider how the tools of technology impact the way children think and develop literacy. The majority of today's students have been exposed to technology from a young age and, according to Smith, raises several important questions for this new millennium of learners.

What does technology mean to this new generation of learners?

How has it become internalized?

How will it shape their thinking?

How will it be revealed in their play and how will this play affect their literacy development?

Smith, C. R. "Click on Me! An Example of How a Toddler Used Technology in Play." Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 2.1 (2002): 5-20. Print.

Diva Starz

Article 4 of my Reading Research Article Collection.

At one point or another, we have all found ourselves wandering through the toy sections of a large hypermarket, like Target. What do you notice when you travel through each aisle?  In her article, "'I'm in a bad mood. Let's go shopping': Interactive dolls, consumer culture and a 'glocalized' model of literacy," Victoria Carrington takes a close look at Diva Starz, a line of interactive dolls aimed at young girls for current model of literacy. Carrington argues that "these dolls have much to tell us about the construction of children as consumers, our views about 'childhood', and the models of literacy instruction most appropriate for giving children the skills and knowledge needed to deal with the complex pedagogic texts characteristic of childhood in contemporary consumer culture" (pg. 83).

These dolls are visually unique. There is a symmetry of oversized body parts, with eyes that dominate the face and the entire physicality of the dolls. The exaggerated eyelashes and eyeshadow emphasize this dominance. The eyes with permanently dilated pupils take up a third of the face. They have a small mouth and nose, and no ears. These Divas parallel standard Barbies by height, production, and packaging. However, unlike a standard Barbie, Divas talk to you and to each other.The Divas have their cultural pedigree inscribed on their faces. The facial formation is typical of anime and seems to reflect its increasing influence on contemporary consumer culture. This connection to anime characters connects the Divas directly to entire genres of popular culture -- films, computer games, comic books, and all related merchandising. These dolls are a blending of western and Asian cultural forms.

Carrington explains how the Divas are teaching young girls how to be consumers as well as 'girls'. "Divas demonstrate how to use many of the accessories of the modern childhood presumed by the dolls – mobile phones, stereos, diaries.They also model consumer activities and discourses such as malls and shopping, and each child’s development of desire for and purchase of the doll models the processes of adult consumption" (pg. 89). Many of the key themes identifiable in the recorded dialogue and on the packaging relate to social acceptance, secrecy, ownership and contemporary relevance. They offer demonstrations of how to be older - the kinds of concerns, conversational topics and thematics which characterize older girls; they offer friendship and peer acceptance - not only be providing friendship ('I just know we'll be the best of friends') but also by giving little girls the savvy and street smarts to find peer acceptance ('Let's go to the mall with our friends...'). they even manage to invoke the theme of 'retail therapy' ('I'm in a bad mood. Let's go shopping' and 'I'm so sad. I so need a new school outfit') (pg. 89).

Example of Diva Starz:

When girls assume roles of femininity through playing with these dolls, they are engaging in literacies beyond the scope of traditional models. Carrington argues that "the emergence of consumer culture and the dominance of information technologies in the workplace and as a cultural icon have resulted in a change in the nature of 'text'" (pg. 93). Messages can now be transported across time and place in an increasing number of media and modes. The texts of popular culture often speak directly to 'you'. They do not offer an alternate time, space, or reality. Instead, they are firmly rooted in the here and now. Carrington stresses how these texts are highly relational in ways beyond traditional children's textbooks.These texts rely heavily on a direct connection to the world outside the text, in direct contrast to the texts traditionally associated with childhood. In this sense, the texts of consumer culture are outward looking. Their role is to engage children with the flows of consumer culture rather than insulating them in a distinct, child-appropriate world (pg. 94). As a result, we must now understand 'text' to extend beyond print.

Children require new and different literacies, as they are operating in new and different social landscapes characterized by new texts and technologies. As Carrington points out, toys are one such text - "one such medium for transporting a message across time and place" (pg. 95). Diva Starz then, are pedagogic, training children in appropriate ways of being and making known selected discourses and knowledges. The take-home point from Carrington's article is that "as educators, we must ask ourselves what kinds of literacies are best matched to successful participation in this world of multi-modal and evolving texts.



Carrington, V. "'I'm in a Bad Mood. Let's Go Shopping': Interactive Dolls, Consumer Culture and a 'Glocalized' Model of Literacy." Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 3.1 (2003): 83-98. Print.