Preschool aged children can develop a strong, positive relationship to books and reading time with consistent exposure and encouragement. One way to make reading time meaningful is through repeated, interactive read alouds. These are reading sessions in which the adult presents the same book multiple times with varying types of augmentations and interactions that encourage the children’s understanding of the text. In this post, the adult will generally be referred to as a teacher, but could also be a parent or other adult as well. For a read aloud, teachers will choose a colorful book that will be enjoyable for children and that also has some new, challenging vocabulary. Read, Write, Think reminds us that the question, “Do the story and the illustrations present cultural diversity?” is an important one for teachers to ask when selecting a read aloud text.

In many read aloud formats, the teacher carries out multiple readings of one text. The first couple of readings are often used to help the students explore the story effectively with teacher prompts. In the first, the teacher may summarize the story plot as they proceed, point out vocabulary, and engage students to describe the story with a variety of questions. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) explains that the questions might be factually based or they may require students to make inferences, such as, “Why do hockey players wear skates?” Children may also be asked to predict what might happen next in the story. The first reading might end with questions that challenge children’s understanding of the book, e.g., “Why did the duck decide to stay at home? Why didn’t she go to the fair?” Teachers can give hints and share their own thoughts to encourage student responses.

The following reading will occur a day or two after the first and, while it will be similar, it will include more verbal definitions and more inferential questions. In the third or last reading, students can help the teacher reconstruct the story from memory and provide their own reflections, explanations, and responses. Reading Rockets recommends that the last reading conclude with another “why” question, or one with the format of, “What would have happened if…?” Extending the reading is another important element of focused, repeated, interactive read alouds. For example, after the story is finished, teachers will tie in a craft, science, movement, or take-home activity to reinforce understanding and absorption.

When a teacher or other adult takes the time to plan and carry out a repeated, interactive read aloud, they are supporting preschool literacy in a variety of ways. They model fluent reading, encourage text interaction, build student confidence, and facilitate student conversation and comprehension, all of which are very beneficial to English Language Learners.

For many schools, a challenge might be to reach out to parents of the students. The Latino Family Literacy Project can train teachers to work with parents to increase the parent involvement efforts at their school with Hispanic parents.