Purpose: This study contributes to the science of teaching reading and vocabulary by illustrating how a ubiquitous classroom practice -- read alouds -- can be enhanced by structured supplements. This experimental study examines whether and to what extent providing structured supplements can improve student comprehension outcomes by helping…

Research substantiates that inferencing is a critical component to making sense of texts. The ability to make logical inferences is a key characteristic of proficient comprehenders that can be developed before children become fluent readers. This article argues for teaching inferencing via teacher or parent read-alouds to help young readers…

Autistic children experience challenges with narrative language and theory of mind (ToM). This pilot study examined the effects of a parent-led narrative intervention on the ToM of eight school-aged autistic children. Parents read three storybooks over a six-week period emphasizing ToM constructs (i.e., visual perspective-taking, emotion…

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…

A large extant research base documents the positive effects shared book reading (SBR) can have on children's language development, reading comprehension, and other reading-related outcomes. Most studies examined the effects of researcher directed SBR, with an assortment of components that go beyond simply reading the text. It is possible, however,…

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…

Early literacy skills such as print knowledge are essential building blocks for children's later reading and academic outcomes. Shared book reading activities in early childhood classrooms offer rich opportunities through which educators can support children's print knowledge development by explicitly referring to a book's print. Such references…

Kindergarten students commonly receive a limited amount of exposure to scientific concepts and informational texts. The present study used a multiple probe design across participants to determine the effects of shared reading instruction on three kindergarten students' science-related vocabulary acquisition in a virtual classroom during the…

This article outlines the collective reading tasks using interactive book media. Due to the importance of stimulating aspects of child development, the writers attempt to report a qualitative case study research on the effectiveness of collective reading tasks via interactive book media to stimulate early childhood development in language,…

This article explores the unique contributions of 2nd-grade emergent bilingual (EB) students' talk-turns vs. those of their teacher on students' expressions of comprehension during interactive read-aloud discussions in a pull-out classroom. They engaged in eight video-recorded, interactive read-aloud discussions across four books. This mixed…

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…

In this study, the effect of dialogic reading practices on the development of fluent reading skills of primary school 2nd grade students under the guidance of teachers and parents was examined. In the study the quasi-experimental design of the quantitative research approach was applied. A total of 30 students (first experimental group: 10, second…

Previous research has demonstrated that immediate effects of language interventions tend to fade, but has also suggested that differentiating language skill types may be essential for understanding fade-out processes. This paper examines the longer-term effects of participating in a shared-reading intervention. Method The study included 464…

Reading comprehension is a very integral element of encouraging lifelong learning amongst kindergarten students. The main objective of this research is to investigate teachers' perspectives on the effectiveness of interactive read-aloud (IRA) in improving reading comprehension skills amongst kindergarten students in Saudi Arabia. The study's…

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…