Preschool teachers' reference to theory of mind topics in three storybook contexts: Reading,reconstruction and telling

The study investigated preschool teachers' references to Theory of Mind (ToM) topics in three storybook contexts: reading, reconstruction, and telling. One hundred teachers introduced and discussed three picture books with groups of five children. The findings indicate that teachers used more mental-state utterances, especially cognitive mental states, during telling compared to the two other contexts, and more during reconstruction than during reading. They referred to false belief more during reconstruction and telling than during reading. The findings can assist in guiding teachers how to read and tell stories with children while integrating ToM topics.     

ELL preschoolers’ English vocabulary acquisition from storybook reading

This study investigates the effects of rich explanation, baseline vocabulary, and home reading practices on English language learning (ELL) preschoolers’ sophisticated vocabulary learning from storybook reading. Eighty typically developing preschoolers were pretested in L1 (Portuguese) and L2 (English) receptive vocabulary and were assigned to experimental or control groups. Eight books were selected and paired. Experimental participants heard books read three times over a 3-week period with rich explanations of target vocabulary. Controls heard stories read without explanations. Parents completed questionnaires about the frequency, content, and language of home reading practices. Rich explanation, initial L2 vocabulary, and frequency of home reading make significant contributions to sophisticated word learning from storyreading. Findings have important implications for L2 vocabulary acquisition in ELL preschoolers.     

Joint storybook reading and joint writing interventions among low SES preschoolers: differential contributions to early literacy

This study compared two interventions: one focusing on language and storybook reading and the other on alphabetic skills and writing. Seventy-one preschoolers aged 3–5 from a low SES township in central Israel (35 in the reading program and 36 in the writing program) participated in evaluation of the interventions. Twenty-four untreated preschoolers served as a control group. The children were tested twice, at the beginning and at the end of the school year, in: phonological awareness, word writing, letter knowledge, orthographic awareness, listening comprehension, receptive vocabulary, and general knowledge. Both programs involved games and creative activities. The writing program encouraged letter knowledge, phonological awareness, and functional writing activities. The reading program utilized 11 children's books for focusing on language and exploring major concepts raised by these books. Results indicated that children in the two literacy programs progressed significantly more than the control group on phonological awareness and orthographic awareness. However, the joint writing group significantly outperformed both the joint reading group and the control group on phonological awareness, word writing, orthographic awareness, and letter knowledge. We also found that children as young as 3–4 years gained from literacy programs as much as did older children, aged 4–5, on all the measures assessed in our program.     

A comparison of preschool teachers’ talk during storybook and information book read-alouds

Storybooks are the most frequently chosen genre for read alouds in preschool classrooms. However, growing evidence suggests that genre may influence the quantity and quality of talk produced outside of the text. The current study compared twenty preschool teachers’ extratextual talk across read-aloud sessions with a storybook and an information book. Results revealed that teachers used significantly greater numbers of extratextual utterances during the information book read-aloud compared to the storybook read-aloud after accounting for differences in duration. Teachers’ extratextual utterances also were coded for content, including behavior management, feedback, print and book conventions, and four levels of cognitive demand (with Levels 1 and 2 being concrete and Levels 3 and 4 being cognitively demanding). Rates did not differ across genre in the categories of behavior management, feedback, print, and Level 4; however, rates did differ significantly in the content categories of Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 on the continuum of cognitive demand, with the rates always being significantly higher in the information book read-aloud compared to the storybook. Teachers also reported less favorable perceptions toward reading information books aloud compared to reading storybooks aloud. This may be attributable to differences in how teachers read information books compared to storybooks. Teachers’ level of education and the age of the children in the classroom in some cases were related to the teachers’ talk during the read aloud.     

Preschool teachers’ literal and inferential questions and children's responses during whole-class shared reading

This study examined the extent to which preschool teachers used literal and inferential questions during classroom-based shared reading. Specific foci included (a) investigating the association among the level of literal or inferential language in the text, teachers’ text-related questions, and children's responses using sequential analysis, and (b) examining the relation between teachers’ inferential questioning and children's vocabulary outcomes. Participants included 25 preschool teachers and 159 four-year-old children. Teachers videotaped their whole-class shared reading of an informational narrative text. Teachers and children's extratextual talk was analyzed and children completed standardized vocabulary assessments in fall and spring of the academic year. When reading this informational narrative text, teachers posed, on average, slightly more inferential questions than literal questions. Significant sequential associations were observed between the level of teachers’ questions and child responses, with inferential questions consistently eliciting inferential child responses. Few characteristics of teachers’ questions were associated with children's vocabulary outcomes. Results suggest that preschool teachers can use inferential questioning to encourage children to participate in conversation at complex, inferential levels; informational texts appear to provide a successful context for this inferential discourse. Implications for teachers and allied professionals are discussed.     

Sharing information books with kindergartners: The role of parents’ extra-textual talk and socioeconomic status

The purpose of the study was to explore how features of parent–child extra-textual talk during information book-sharing might vary across different socioeconomic backgrounds, and to determine if certain interactional patterns might mediate their effects on children's receptive and expressive vocabulary development. Sixty parents and their 5-year-old children were audio-recorded reading an unfamiliar information book in their home. Holistic coding on six parent and two child engagement scales, examining low to high cognitive demanding talk was conducted. Results indicated that lexical richness and contingent responsiveness positively predicted receptive and expressive vocabulary. Further, contingent responsiveness appeared to mediate the influence of socioeconomic status on children's receptive and expressive vocabulary, suggesting that positive environmental contexts and supportive parent–child interactions can have a powerful influence on children's development.