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Dialogic Reading for Children: Can It Work in a Library?
By Maureen Wade
For the past sixteen years I have been director of Grandparents and Books (GAB), a program of the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) in which volunteer adults read aloud to children in the library and listen to the children read to them. GAB's philosophy is to introduce children to the sheer fun of reading without the pressure of performance and grades they might experience at school. We believe if children associate reading with enjoyment, they will want to continue reading throughout their lives. GAB teaches volunteers to read with expression and to use props, flannel boards, and other techniques to involve the children. Make it fun! We do not want our volunteers to tutor children.
Tutoring creeps in
What we have observed, however, is that volunteers often overdo pointing out and explaining things in a book to the children. Several children we interviewed made remarks such as, "I'm not dumb, I can see that is a cat in the picture!" Also, many of our volunteers are very concerned that the children in their community are below the national reading levels and they want to turn this around. In their zeal they can turn kids off reading.
Recently I learned about a technique that addresses these concerns without losing GAB's reading-for-enjoyment philosophy. For the past year I have included it in the GAB training workshops and in training children librarians. It is called dialogic reading. I was introduced to dialogic reading in a one-hour presentation given by Dr. Virginia Walter, professor of the Graduate School of Education and Information Science at UCLA. It is a process in which the adult reader encourages young children to discuss what is going on in a book as they read it together, creating a dialogue. This research-based method is promoted by the Public Library Association (PLA) and the Association of Library Service to Children (ALSC), divisions of the American Library Association, in their "Every Child Ready to Read @ your library" program. Research indicates that these children develop language skills and reading skills at a faster rate than their peers who are read to using traditional methods.1
I have heard a number of people ask, "What's the big deal about dialogic reading? People do it anyway." Actually, they don't. Many readers have been taught that interrupting the narrative of a book is inappropriate under any circumstance, and many people do not know how to initiate a dialogue that invites free, spontaneous responses from children. Instead of asking open-ended questions, they point things out or ask closed, yes-or-no questions that only direct the children toward a specific, expected response like "uh-huh." That is not a brain-stimulating dialogue.
Teaching this method has its challenges
GAB training comprises two workshops that are three hours each. At the first workshop, volunteers practice how to read an entire picture book aloud without making comments, so children can enjoy and discover the book on their own. For homework we distribute articles about dialogic reading's impact on learning to read, with handouts describing how to apply the technique. At the second workshop, we discuss what the volunteers read about dialogic reading and what kinds of books lend themselves well to it. Books such as No, David! (Blue Sky Press 1998) by David Shannon, The Stray Dog (HarperTrophy 2003) by Marc Simont, or Trucks (Dutton Children's Books 1984) by Anne Rockwell are excellent examples because they have a minimal amount of text. We demonstrate how asking open-ended questions such as "What's happening on this page?" or "What do you think will happen next?" or "Why does the mouse want a cookie?" is an easy way to start a dialogue with the children. By repeating what the child says the reader can encourage more responses. Then we have the volunteers try their hand at it. Some of the trainees say that this technique feels forced and awkward at first. However, as they continue to practice, everybody starts to relax and see the fun and value in it. Our approach is very low key. Some volunteers do not feel comfortable with this technique at all, so we give them the option not to use it. Our overall goal is to have a positive experience, not only for the child, but also for the volunteer as well. When the volunteers start reading at the branches, the children's librarians continue to encourage the method.
So, does it work?
I recently queried LAPL's children's librarians to see if dialogic reading was really being applied by volunteers and librarians; whether this technique is workable in a library setting; and, if so, how we can improve our training. Here are some typical responses.
Martha Sherod at Wilmington Branch says that one volunteer finds it works well with talkative children, but not with shy children, so she uses it on a child-by-child basis or tries it after a child gets to know her. Martha finds that at both storytime and class visits, children like predicting the next event in the story. She uses Eric Rohmann's Clara and Asha (Roaring Brook Press 2005) which has a few wordless pages that kids enjoy expanding upon when she asks them what's happening on each page and what they think will happen next.
Heather Daugherty at Westwood Branch says her volunteers use it according to their audience size, finding that it is easier to use dialogic reading in one-on-one sessions than with groups of children, where it is hard to keep them focused. In her storytimes Heather uses the dialogic technique of making connections between the story and a child's real-life experience, or even an experience of her own, and expanding on it. For example, while reading a story about snow, she asks them to share their experiences in the snow. If no one responds, she shares her own experience, which gets them talking. She keeps it short to keep them on track and engaged.
Linda Israelson of Children's Literature at Central Library finds that "some books naturally suggest the use of dialogic methods." She uses Dear Zoo (Simon & Schuster 1999) by Rod Campbell, a lift-the-flap picture book about animals. The children enjoy calling out the names of the animals revealed, and she often asks them what sounds the animals' make. They can show off a little and release some energy in a participatory manner. With some books, Linda finds that the dialogic methods detract from the story. For instance, she would not want to interrupt the beautiful flow of language in Erica Silverman's Don't Fidget a Feather (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing 1994), nor would she disturb the rhythmic, suspenseful context of Hungry Hen (Richard Waring, HarperCollins 2001).
Children's librarian Lisa Palombi at Benjamin Franklin Branch has taught dialogic reading skills to parents at toddler and preschool storytimes. She finds that parents definitely need modeling by the librarian to learn how to ask open-ended questions and need to practice several times with the librarian's assistance before they learn to do it comfortably.
Even though we have only been using dialogic reading for a short time, those who have used it believe that it is manageable and beneficial in the library setting. Appropriately used, dialogic reading enhances reading aloud by encouraging children to be active, not passive listeners. It engages them without condescending and brings the child and the reader closer together. Parents who observe our volunteers and librarians using this method can learn another way to interact with their children, giving children the opportunity to be better readers and providing a fun experience that hopefully their children will pass on to their own children.
Learn more
For more information about dialogic reading, visit the American Library Association website. Type "dialogic" into their search box and you will find several pertinent articles.
For more information about GAB, e-mail Maureen Wade at mwade@lapl.org. •
1 Arnold, R. "Charming the Next Generation." School Library Journal, July 2005.
Margolis, Rick. "Start Spreading the News: Librarians have an opportunity to change the nation—one toddler at a time." School Library Journal, July 2005.
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Maureen Wade is a Senior Children's Librarian-Trainer of Children's Librarians and Director of GAB (Grandparents and Books) of the Los Angeles Public Library. She has presented GAB trainings for the American Library Association and the California State Library.
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About the author:
Maureen Wade is a Senior Children's Librarian-Trainer of Children's Librarians and Director of GAB (Grandparents and Books) of the Los Angeles Public Library. She has presented GAB trainings for the American Library Association and the California State Library.
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