What is Dialogic Reading and How Can it Help My Child?
As a teacher I absolutely love the opportunities to read one on one with a student. Discussing a story is a great way to get to know a child and explore their thinking patterns. As a parent many of the best interactions I have had with my children happen over a story book. At my house we are currently reading Dory Fantasmagory by Abby Hanlon. This book is a hilarious portrayal of a 6 year old with an overactive imagination. This book has spurred many crazy what if questions and discussions as well as conversations about social etiquette. The following is a small bit of one of those conversations.
5yo- “Mamma what if I pretended I was a dog all day tomorrow?”
Me- “ Well, I think you find yourself in a lot of trouble just like Dory.”
5yo- “Why?”
Me - “ Because you may need to interact with people and they might not appreciate Woof as an answer”
5yo “ What does interact mean? “
This is an example of dialogic reading. Dialogic reading is simply having a dialogue while reading. These dialogues and conversations during reading are what makes reading aloud beneficial to young children’s language development and vocabulary. In my example, the conversation is initiated by my child, but many times the conversations are initiated by the adult to promote a line of thinking or highlight a concept.
When you ask your child a question about the book based on the text or pictures you are engaging in Dialogic reading. It is important to use open ended questions to allow room for your child to add his/ her own ideas, for example, ask How is the mouse feeling? Instead of, Is the mouse happy? Acknowledge your child’s answers to questions and provide feedback or expand their answers for them , Yes that mouse is happy, they look very happy and excited!
Dialogic reading is a wonderful way to have joyful meaningful conversations with your child. The dialogue will change from book to book, whether it is a new book or one that you have read a thousand times before. Remember that you do not need to have a conversation about every page or every book; sometimes it is just fun to read through and enjoy the flow of a book.
For a handy acronym to help you facilitate dialogic reading conversations with your child check out the PEER strategy at Reading Rockets.Com.
