1. Dialogic Reading Foundations and Framework Volume 1
© 2012 California Department of Education (CDE) California Preschool Instructional Network (CPIN) 04/12/12

2. Outcomes
Understand the language and literacy foundations with a focus on dialogic reading.
Understand the language and literacy strategies outlined in the framework that focus on dialogic reading.
Become familiar with the research supporting dialogic reading.
These are the outcomes for today.
Consider posting outcomes on a chart for reference while going through each agenda item.

3. Teacher views What is her dilemma?
What is she looking for in an answer?
What are some things that you do for similar results?

4. Early Learning System
Briefly go over the 5 elements. Each of these 5 elements can support the dilemma discussed in the video clip.
Element 1: At the center of the system are the Learning and Development Foundations which describe the learning and development infants and toddlers typically demonstrate with appropriate support at around 8, 18 and 36 months. It also describes the learning and development for preschool children that is typically demonstrated with appropriate support at around 48 and 60 months of age. Having statewide foundations provides all teachers and programs with knowledge of the expectations and goals for children in California to use as they plan activities, the environment, and interactions.
Element 2: Infant and Toddler and Prekindergarten Learning and Development Guidelines present information about how to provide high-quality early care and education, including recommendations for program policies and day-to-day practices that will improve program services. In addition, the Preschool English Learner Guide provides teachers with the knowledge and tools they seek to educate preschool English learners most effectively.
Element 3: The first and second volumes of the Curriculum Frameworks. These publications are a resource for teachers to support setting up environments, selecting appropriate materials, supporting children’s self initiated play and learning, and planning and implementing teacher guided learning activities. The frameworks are not a curriculum.
Element 4: The fourth component of the system is the Desired Results System. It is a continuous improvement system that is intended to improve program quality. The system consists of: the Desired Results Developmental Profile© which measures children’s progress towards the Desired Results, the Parent Survey which measures parents’ satisfaction with the program, the Environment Rating Scales which assesses the classroom environment, and the Program Self Evaluation which assesses program quality.
Element 5: In California, numerous professional development opportunities are available to assist programs. These include the Program for Infant/Toddler Care (PITC), California Preschool Instructional Network (CPIN), California School-Age Consortium (CalSAC), Family Child Care at Its Best, the mentor programs, pre-service, the CDE/ECE Faculty Initiative Project, the Child Development Training Consortium and the Desired Results Training and Technical Assistance Project. 4 4

5. Two California Department of Education Resources
We will be using two CDD resources during this session.
(Click to reveal) Preschool Learning Foundations, Volume 1.
This is the Preschool Learning Foundations, Volume 1 (PLF). The foundations describe how children develop, grow, and learn.
The preschool foundations are for all children and reflect the diversity found in California.
(Click to reveal) Preschool Curriculum Framework, Volume 1.
This is the Preschool Curriculum Framework, Volume 1(PCF). This framework presents strategies and information to help teachers enrich learning and development opportunities for all of California’s preschool children.
Volume 1 contains the Language and Literacy domain which is what we will focus on today in discussing Dialogic Reading. 5

6. Foundations At 48 and 60 months After 1st or 2nd year of preschool
With appropriate support
High-quality program
©2012 California Department of Education (CDE) California Preschool Instructional Network (CPIN) 04/17/2012

7. Framework Strategies Developmentally appropriate
Reflective and intentional
Individually and culturally meaningful
Inclusive
Teachers address ideas and concepts that children can grasp at their developmental level and then progressively build on what children already know and understand. This approach applies to all children, including children with various abilities, disabilities, or other special needs (such as delays in language, cognition, or physical ability). PCF, Vol. 2, p. 227
©2012 California Department of Education (CDE) California Preschool Instructional Network (CPIN) 04/17/2012

8. Curriculum Framework Guiding Principles
Encouraging and building on child's self-initiated play
Selecting appropriate materials
Planning and implementing teacher-guided learning activities.
Click to reveal each in turn
Guiding Principles
Encouraging and building on child's self-initiated play,
Selecting appropriate materials, and
Planning and implementing teacher-guided learning activities.
Topics in the Curriculum Framework include guiding principles (in particular, the vital role of the family in early learning and development); the diversity of young children in California; and the ongoing cycle of observing, documenting, assessing, planning, and implementing curriculum.
The preschool curriculum framework takes an integrated approach to early learning and describes how curriculum planning considers the connections between different domains as children engage in teacher-guided learning activities.
PCF, Vol. 2, Message from the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, p. v
©2012 California Department of Education (CDE) California Preschool Instructional Network (CPIN) 04/17/2012 8

9. Why the focus?
Within the classroom, studies conducted with preschool children have shown that intervention-enhanced teacher-child interactions have positive effects on the children’s language skills
PLF, Vol. 1, p. 84
Turn to page 84 in the PLF. Find and read the paragraph that contains the quote on the screen.
Within the classroom, studies conducted with preschool children have shown that intervention-enhanced teacher-child interactions have positive effects on the children’s language skills (e.g., syntactic forms at the sentence level) (Arnold and Whitehurst 1994; Karweit 1989; Valdez-Menchaca and Whitehurst 1992). PLF, Vol.1, p. 84
©2012 California Department of Education (CDE) California Preschool Instructional Network (CPIN) 04/17/2012

10. Dyer, & Samwel, 1999; Lonigan & Whitehurst (1998).
Take a Bite of Research
Dialogic reading by families and caregivers results in substantial positive change in language development.
Read your quotes
Choose the two that your table group connects with the most
Visually represent them to the group
Draw, skit, dance, etc.
Arnold, Lonigan, Whitehurst, & Epstein, 1994; Lonigan, Anthony, Bloomfield,
Dyer, & Samwel, 1999; Lonigan & Whitehurst (1998).
Ice Breaker - Research Bites
INTENT: The intent of this activity is for participants to become familiar with the supporting research that highlights the need for language and literacy intervention.
OUTCOMES: Participants will choose some research information that they find particularly meaningful and will share a visual representation of that research.
MATERIALS REQUIRED: Research Bites. Chart paper. Markers.
TIME: 15 minutes
PROCESS: Guide participants to find the research bites in the middle of their tables. Have them read the research bites as a table group. Groups should choose two bites that are particularly meaningful to them, discussing why they are so compelling. Groups will then create a visual representation of the research bites they have chosen. They will share this visual representation with the entire group. They can create a picture, a skit, a dance, etc. While each group is sharing their visual representation, the rest of the participants will guess which quote the group is representing.
SUMMARY: As participants read and analyze the quotes, they will make connections between the research and their personal experiences, helping them form a strong impression regarding the importance of language and literacy interventions. 10

11. Such practices as shared reading, when conducted over time, provide children with a sense of the purposes of literacy…and the processes and skills involved in shared reading.
PLF, Vol. 1, p. 84
More Research…
Such practices as shared reading, when conducted over time, provide children with a sense of the purposes of literacy…and the processes and skills involved in shared reading. PLF, Vol. 1, p.84
©2012 California Department of Education (CDE) California Preschool Instructional Network (CPIN) 04/17/2012

12. What is Dialogic Reading?
This optional video can be used to define dialogic reading.

13. What is Dialogic Reading?
An interactive form of storybook reading In which an adult helps a child become the storyteller.
“Building a Foundation for Preschool Literacy” by Carol Vukelich and James Christie
Dialogic reading is an approach to sharing books with children which emphasizes conversational interactions between adults and children in small groups. With this approach, the teacher guides the conversation by using questioning strategies.
The intent of dialogic reading is to use book sharing as an opportunity to enhance children’s vocabulary and cognitive growth by using multiple readings of the same text.
Dialogic reading is a method of reading in which the adult helps the child become actively involved in the story.
The adult becomes the listener, the questioner, and the audience for the child.
Dialogic reading is most effective when done in small groups.
©2012 California Department of Education (CDE) California Preschool Instructional Network (CPIN) 04/17/2012 13

14. Support for Dialogic Reading
Children whose language continued to develop the most productively in the early years were those who not only heard language spoken, but who also learned to take part in that talk through the conversational interaction of listening to and responding to one another.
Hart and Risley 1999
Support for Dialogic Reading
Although this research is not specifically about dialogic reading, it supports some of the components involved in dialogic reading:
“there is evidence that preschool children’s participation in talk about book reading enhances the growth of children’s literacy skills.” Dickinson and Tabors, 1991
©2012 California Department of Education (CDE) California Preschool Instructional Network (CPIN) 04/17/2012

15. Dialogic Reading Example

16. Reflect What did you see? What did you feel while watching?
What are you still thinking about after watching?

17. Turn to page 100 in the PCF and read the paragraph under the guiding principle: Language and literacy work together.
Guiding Principle: Language and literacy support each other. Children with well-developed oral language are likely to succeed in reading comprehension in later grade levels than children with less well-developed oral language. Children with strong oral vocabularies are likely to make more progress in developing phonological awareness. In addition, language and literacy learning often occur together in the same context. For example, talking with a child about what happened the day before supports both language development and narrative skills. Helping children find their names on the helper chart and explaining how the helper chart system works support both literacy and language. PCF, Vol. 1, p. 100
Did your discussion about the video clip reflect the idea that language and literacy work together?
Overarching Principle: Intentional teaching enhances children’s learning experiences. Effective curriculum planning occurs when teachers are mindful of children’s learning and are intentional or purposeful in their efforts to support it. PCF, Vol. 1, p. 7
Did your discussion about the video clip reflect this idea that intentional teaching is important?
Did your discussion about the video clip reflect the planning necessary for intentional teaching?
Dialogic Reading Planning is essential.
Language and literacy work together. PCF, Vol.1, p. 100 Intentional teaching enhances children’s learning experiences. PLF, Vol. 1, p. 7
©2012 California Department of Education (CDE) California Preschool Instructional Network (CPIN) 04/17/2012

18. The Five Components of CROWD
C stands for completion prompts
R is for recall
O stands for open-ended prompts
W are who, what, where, when, why, and how
D is for distancing prompts
Refer participants to Handout 1: Dialogic Reading
©2012 California Department of Education (CDE) California Preschool Instructional Network (CPIN) 04/17/2012

19. Completion Prompts
Leave a blank at the end of a sentence and get the child to fill it in.
These are typically books with rhymes or repetitive phrases.
With each description, weave in thinking about dual language learners. What level are your language learners at? What would specifically support these children?
With each description, weave in thinking about children with special needs. What are the special needs of your children? What would specifically support these children?
Completion prompts provide children with information about the structure of language that is critical to later reading.

20. Recall Prompts
Asks questions about what happened in a book with which the child is familiar.
Recall helps the child to understand the plot, and to describe a sequence of events.
Recall works for almost all books except alphabet books.
With each description, weave in thinking about dual language learners. What level are your language learners at? What would specifically support these children?
With each description, weave in thinking about children with special needs. What are the special needs of your children? What would specifically support these children?

21. Open Ended Prompts
Prompts that enable children to wonder about the book.
Children may make their own version of the story.
There is no right answer.
With each description, weave in thinking about dual language learners. What level are your language learners at? What would specifically support these children?
With each description, weave in thinking about children with special needs. What are the special needs of your children? What would specifically support these children?

22. Wh Prompts Questions that ask who, what, where, why, when, or how.
Usually focuses on pictures that the teacher points to asking, “What’s the name of this?”
Teaches children new vocabulary.
With each description, weave in thinking about dual language learners. What level are your language learners at? What would specifically support these children?
With each description, weave in thinking about children with special needs. What are the special needs of your children? What would specifically support these children?

23. Distancing Prompts
Asks children to relate the pictures or words in the story to experiences that they have had.
Helps the children form a bridge between the book and the world in which they live.
Helps with verbal fluency, conversation, and narrative skills.
With each description, weave in thinking about dual language learners. What level are your language learners at? What would specifically support these children?
With each description, weave in thinking about children with special needs. What are the special needs of your children? What would specifically support these children?

24. PEER
Strategies for asking questions and responding to children when reading a story:
PROMPT
EVALUATE
EXPAND
REPEAT

25. Review: Dialogic Reading in Action!
Take out the Dialogic Reading Template (Handout 2).
Fill in the CROWD questions as the teacher in the video facilitates the story.
Have participants get out their video viewing guide and use the provided form to take notes. They will need these notes later in the presentation.
(Presenters: Watch DVD up until Darla)
Have participants share which prompts they saw/heard in video with an elbow partner.
Have participants share out as an entire group. 25

26. Dialogic Reading Technique
Completion (fill in the blanks)
Recall (remember the story)
Open-ended questions (expand thinking)
What do you think? What could happen? How could you? What would you do?
Who? What? Where? When? Why/How? (ask questions)
Distancing (relate questions to life experiences in class or home)
Optional summary slide.
CROWD is an acronym used to define and remind teachers about the use of questions. (Whitehurst, 1992)
CROWD techniques promote comprehension through the use of questioning strategies.
Skillful use of dialogic reading requires careful planning of prompts prior to reading a book with children.
Completion prompts frame the sentence. Sentence frames begin the sentence and teach sentence structure.
Text is used to spur the recollection of personal experiences, provoke questions about general knowledge, draw inferences, or make predictions to get children talking. 26

27. Quick Check Get your paddles ready Choose a scribe
Listen to the question
Write the type of question
Hold your paddle high
Quick Check
Quick Check CROWD Question
INTENT: The intent of this activity is for participants to practice creating CROWD questions while trainers check for understanding.
OUTCOMES: Participants will experience creating and identifying completion, recall, open-ended, w, and distancing questions as a team. Trainers will check for understanding as participants practice creating the questions.
MATERIALS REQUIRED: CROWD signs (completion, recall, open-ended, w, and distancing). White board paddles for each table group. Short book for modeling dialogic reading.
TIME: 10 minutes
PROCESS: Guide table groups to find the white board panels and have them nominate a “scribe” for the activity. Share the intent of this activity with the participants. Let them know that, after listening to the story, they will have an opportunity to create CROWD questions to be used for dialogic reading. Supporting trainers need to spread out around the room to help identify the order in which table groups hold up their panels. Model best practices while reading a short dialogic reading book to the entire group. Remind participants of what each letter in CROWD stands for. Explain that once the scribes are ready, the trainer will hold up a sign on which one of the CROWD components will be written (completion, recall, open-ended, w, or distancing). Each table group will then write a corresponding question on their panel, holding it up when finished. Once all groups have a question written, trainers will identify the group who was done first. Ask the first group’s scribe to read their question. Then ask the whole group if the question is appropriate. Use this time to check for understanding and to reinforce how questions are created. If the first table group to hold up their panel created an appropriate question, then they win the round. If their question was not appropriate, then groups will be called upon in the order that they raised their panels until and appropriate question is found. The first subsequent group with an appropriate question would then win the round. Repeat these steps at least 5 times (once for each type of question).
OPTIONS: Play the game in pairs instead of table groups.
SUMMARY: As participants practice writing questions, and analyzing the questions posed by other groups, they will become more confidently skilled in detecting the unique differences between the varied types of CROWD questions. Trainers will check for understanding as the participants write and analyze questions.
©2012 California Department of Education (CDE) California Preschool Instructional Network (CPIN) 04/17/2012

28. Dialogic Reading Reflections and Planning Questions
What is different from my current reading style?
What do I like about this method of reading?
What will be my planning process?
What strategies can I begin to use next week?
What books will I choose?
My small group will have ____ children.
Each day I will devote ____ minutes to small group reading.
These are questions that teachers can ask to help them reflect on their instructional practice and to inform their planning process.
Experiment with different schedules:
Back to back
Same time, use other staff
Stagger reading groups am/pm
Choose a reading area or space that already contains books:
Library
Use outer space separate from class
Modify new area
Group size:
Between 4 and 6
Group according to temperaments, language skills, personalities, or social dynamics
ELL children with each other or with others who they can learn language from
Doyle and Bramwell’s article, on page 560, has excellent implementation tips and
questions to help self assess and evaluate instructional practice.

29. Family Engagement
Dialogic reading by families and caregivers results in substantial positive change in language development.
Arnold, Lonigan, Whitehurst, & Epstein, 1994; Lonigan, Anthony, Bloomfield, Dyer, & Samwel, 1999; Lonigan & Whitehurst (1998).
©2012 California Department of Education (CDE) California Preschool Instructional Network (CPIN) 04/17/2012

30. Small Group Reading High quality instruction can be a mechanism for building relationships Theresa Roberts (2008)
We mentioned earlier that dialogic reading is done in small groups or one on one. The social/emotional benefits are enormous and include:
More opportunities to establish relationships of shared pleasure
Allows more of the support function of teachers to enter the relationship
More responsive to individual children
More opportunities for teacher-child shared talk (child- input)
Acknowledgement of the comments a child makes is child-centered instruction and shows that the teacher values the child.
More opportunities to individualize (show children that they are valued)
More likely to have positive teacher emotions because of less behavior
and materials management
Facilitates shared attention and mutuality (shared conversation/language exchange)
May be particularly beneficial for ELL and special needs students
Levels the playing field for children who have had less opportunity for social interaction
More physical contact
Information from Theresa Roberts 2008
©2012 California Department of Education (CDE) California Preschool Instructional Network (CPIN) 04/17/2012 30

31. Questions for Reflection
What are you already doing to connect home and school, and can you think of ways to strengthen this connection?
PCF, Vol. 1, p. 127
Family and community partnerships create meaningful connections
Strong connections with families grow from respecting and valuing diverse views, expectations, goals, and understandings families have for their children. Programs demonstrate respect for families by partnering with them to exchange information about their children’s learning and development and to share ideas about how to support learning at home and at school. Partnerships with families extend to the community where the families live, come together, and support one another. Building connections to the surrounding community allows a program to become known and make use of community resources. Getting to know the community also gives teachers insights into the learning experiences and competencies that children bring to the preschool setting and informs efforts to make preschool meaningful and connected for children.
PCF, Vol. 1, p. 7
©2012 California Department of Education (CDE) California Preschool Instructional Network (CPIN) 04/17/2012

32. Scaffolding for Instruction
Scaffolding involves the performance of some task elements by the teacher when a child is just beginning to learn how to do something. Over time, as the child is able to do more parts of the task independently, the teacher removes some of the scaffolding, and then all. PCF, Vol. 1, p. 309
Invite participants to turn to page 309 in the PCF and read the section of Appendix B titled, “Scaffolding in Instruction, Not in Assessment.”
Now invite participants to read the Meeting the Needs of All Learners handout.
Finally, invite participants to reflect on the game they played, and consider how they might scaffold the game for specific children in their programs.
Scaffolding involves the performance of some task elements by the teacher when a child is just beginning to learn how to do something. PCF, Vol. 1, p. 309
©2012 California Department of Education (CDE) California Preschool Instructional Network (CPIN) 04/17/2012

33. Universal Design for Learning as a guide for Best Practice
Best practice increases child engagement
Universal design provides for multiple means of
Representation
Engagement
Expression
Universal design provides for multiple means of representation, multiple means of engagement, and multiple means of expression.
In some cases, preschool children with disabilities or other special needs demonstrate their developmental progress in diverse ways. Recognizing that children follow different pathways to learning, this framework incorporates a concept known as universal design for learning.
©2012 California Department of Education (CDE) California Preschool Instructional Network (CPIN) 04/17/2012

34. Best Practice Strategies
Use visuals
Use movement and gestures
Use synonyms
Point to illustrations
Use rich explanations
Best practice strategies provide access to the curriculum and demonstrate multi-sensory learning.
Use props from the class or from children's homes.
Praise children’s efforts to name objects, or when they use any new words.
Use visuals when possible to support illustrations:
flannel board creatures
pretend animals
other tangible objects children can touch and hold
Challenges Can Be Overcome…
Children who are English Learners, as well as children with slow language and early literacy development:
Have the ability to learn
Skill in the first language transfers to other learned languages
They can make rapid progress when provided with:
Strong emotional support (reduce anxiety - make it fun!)
Opportunities to be drawn into conversations, through single words, gestures and pantomime
Through environments rich in language and literacy
Reading Research Quarterly Molly Fuller Collins 2005International Reading Association
©2012 California Department of Education (CDE) California Preschool Instructional Network (CPIN) 04/17/2012 34

35. Best Practice for Dual Language
Optional Slide and Audio
Best Practice for Dual Language
©2012 California Department of Education (CDE) California Preschool Instructional Network (CPIN) 04/17/2012

36. Best Practice Dialogic Reading Strategies to Support English Language Learners
Repeated readings are very important
Use a word in a sentence that is different from the sentence used in the book
Engage parental support by sending home translated versions of the story
Give explicit understandable definitions of words while reading aloud
Provide parents translations of key words that you will focus on in school
Handout 1: All the best practice information is listed on one handout.
All of these strategies promote English language vocabulary acquisition and can be used with all children to develop their vocabulary.
According to David Dickinson (2005)
Children have better long-term academic success when they have a strong first language. Teachers should value their first language and build children’s oral language skills from that foundation.
Repeated readings help English learners become familiar with new words and support them learning to retell the story.
Teachers can create translated versions of stories and send them home prior to reading the book in class.
Definition and synonym example:
Hesitant-reluctant = not so sure
Can you think of another word that you can give a child a simple definition of?
Dickinson (2005)

37. Practicing Best Practices
Find your CROWD questions
Brainstorm for ideas to enhance experience
Choose one idea to fully develop
Be prepared to share with the group
Practicing Best Practice
INTENT: The intent of this activity is for participants to try using best practice techniques to plan dialogic reading.
OUTCOMES: Participants will use multi-sensory techniques to better develop their dialogic reading skills.
MATERIALS REQUIRED: Carrot Soup book (or another chosen book). Video Reflection handout with CROWD questions. Preschool Curriculum Framework (PCF). Extra materials on back table (construction paper, markers, objects, instruments, etc.)
TIME: 20 minutes
PROCESS: Have each group take a storybook from the middle of the table. Ask groups to review the CROWD questions that they recorded earlier. Thinking about the best practice suggestions from the PowerPoint, ask groups to brainstorm for at least 5 different ideas to enhance the dialogic reading experience. After 5 minutes have passed, invite participants to choose one idea to fully develop. Let them know that they will be given 10 minutes to develop their ideas, after which they will share out with the entire group. Guide participants to the back table where they can choose any extra materials that they would like to use. After they have had 10 minutes to work on their idea, invite participants to regroup as a whole and begin sharing out. After each group has shared out, debrief with the following focused conversation questions: What ideas did you hear or see? What was the most exciting idea? Why was that idea particularly exciting to you? How would you implement that idea?
OPTIONS: If the group is too large, have table groups partner up and share out with each other.
SUMMARY: Participants will create best practice ideas to support the dialogic reading of a familiar story, and will share those ideas with one another.

38. I pinky promise to…… How can you implement dialogic reading?
How will it most benefit your class?
What are you excited about?
Tell your elbow partner
“I pinky promise to…”
I pinky promise to……

39. Bye… Thank you for coming!
Thank participants for coming.
©2012 California Department of Education (CDE) California Preschool Instructional Network (CPIN) 04/17/2012

40. References
Beck, I.L., McKeown, M.G., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing Words to Life: Robust vocabulary instruction. New York: The Guilford Press.
Biemiller, A. (2001). Teaching Vocabulary: Early, direct, and sequential. The American Educator, 25(1),
Biemiller, A. (in press). Vocabulary Development and Instruction: A prerequisite for school learning. In Neuman, S.B. and Dickinson, D.K. (Eds.), The Handbook of Early Literacy Research (vol 2). New York: The Guilford Press.