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Dialogic Shared StorybookReading: An InstructionalTechnique for Use with YoungStudents in Inclusive SettingsShannon Gormley a & Kathy L. Ruhl aa Department of Educational and School Psychologyand Special Education , Pennsylvania StateUniversity , University Park, PA, USAPublished online: 02 Sep 2006.

To cite this article: Shannon Gormley & Kathy L. Ruhl (2005) Dialogic SharedStorybook Reading: An Instructional Technique for Use with Young Students inInclusive Settings, Reading & Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties,21:3, 307-313, DOI: 10.1080/10573560591007353

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FOCUS ON INCLUSION

DIALOGIC SHARED STORYBOOK READING: ANINSTRUCTIONAL TECHNIQUE FOR USE WITH YOUNGSTUDENTS IN INCLUSIVE SETTINGS

Shannon GormleyKathy L. Ruhl

Department of Educational and School Psychology and Special Education,Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

Research shows that a child’s vocabulary is crucial to academic suc-cess (Baker, Simmons, & Kame’enui, 1995). Indeed, early languagedevelopment relates to later reading performance (Catts, Fey, Zhang,& Tomblin, 1999; Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998; Stanovich, 1986)and strongly contributes to academic success (Becker, 1977; Smith& Dixon, 1995). Based on this relationship, methods to increasevocabulary are vital for early literacy instruction in classrooms.Children acquire between 2000 and 3600 words per year (Nagy &Anderson, 1984), yet there is much variation in the rate of acqui-sition. With only one quarter the vocabulary of their middle-classpeers, children from low-income homes are more likely to start schoolbehind, and stay behind (Hart & Risley, 1995) and are ultimatelyreferred to special education, making up over half the populationof students served under Individuals with Disabilities EducationAct (IDEA) (U.S. Department of Education, 2002).

The literature is replete with recommendations for a variety ofboth direct and incidental methods to assist vocabulary development(Beck, Perfetti, & McKeown, 1982; Penno, Wilkinson, & Moore,2002). Typically, direct vocabulary instruction utilizes an explicit

Address correspondence to Shannon Gormley, Department of Educational and School

Psychology and Special Education, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

16802. E-mail: seg189@psu.edu

Focus on Inclusion is edited by Micheal E. Skinner.

Reading & Writing Quarterly, 21: 307–313, 2005

Copyright # Taylor & Francis Inc.

ISSN: 1057-3569 print

DOI: 10.1080/10573560591007353

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one-word-at-a-time approach but explicit vocabulary instruction can-not account for rapid increases evident in some learners. Thus, it isvital that students learn some vocabulary via incidental methods,such as independent reading. Yet many suggested instructional stra-tegies are not feasible for very young learners or those with disabil-ities who lack requisite reading skills to ‘‘read widely’’ and learnwords independently (Stahl & Nagy, 2000). These students need toengage in activities that promote language development and vocabu-lary growth independent of their ability to decode text. One suchactivity is shared storybook reading (SSR).

SSR offers a means to provide struggling readers learning oppor-tunities similar to those of their more successful peers. For example,through SSR, the struggling reader is given access to written ideasand concepts from books otherwise considered challenging. SSRcan provide exposure to novel events and ideas as well as repeatedexposure to words, a necessary feature in both acquisition andproduction of new vocabulary (Robbins & Ehri, 1994).

DIALOGIC SHARED STORYBOOK READING (DSSR)

SSR involves an adult reading aloud to a child or group of children.Two forms of SSR are evident in the literature: monologic and dialo-gic (Sulzby, 1994; Whitehurst et al., 1988). Monologic is a verbatimreading of the text with no pausing for questions or verbal interactionbetween adult and child. Dialogic SSR (DSSR) represents a moreexplicit approach and consists of verbatim reading with intermittentadult-child interaction to label, comment, or question. Researchliterature on SSR indicates that DSSR is the more effective procedurefor children’s vocabulary acquisition in school settings. We willaddress only dialogic SSR here.

DSSR’s effectiveness is likely due to the many vocabulary devel-opment methods it incorporates identified as effective for enhancingvocabulary learning in children with and without disabilities. Suchmethods include a teacher interacting with students in ways that:(a) expose students to high-quality oral language and specificallytargeted vocabulary; (b) demonstrate word learning strategies;(c) provide opportunities for meaningful vocabulary use; and (d)link new information to prior experience (Baumann, Kame’enui, &Ash, 2003; Carlisle, 1993; Stahl & Nagy, 2000). Additionally, DSSRfacilitates active student involvement. Based on Vygotskian ideas(1978), DSSR features a social interaction component throughwhich children acquire the necessary vocabulary that leads toimproved reading outcomes.

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Why Use DSSR in Inclusive Settings

Placing students with disabilities in inclusive settings requires teachersto address yet another set of needs. Consequently, any method recom-mended to meet those needs must be acceptable to an overextended tea-cher. Under the rubric of ‘‘treatment acceptability,’’ Polloway, Epstein,and Bursuck (2003) noted ways to increase the likelihood of teacheradoption of an intervention. These include the extent to which thepractice is: (a) helpful to students with special needs; (b) already inuse with peers without special needs; (c) practical to implement (ininclusive settings); (d) cost efficient in terms of time and resources;(e) accepted by the general population, and (f) equitable to nonspecialneeds peers. DSSR’s structure addresses all of these concerns.

In addition to incorporating many effective vocabulary develop-ment practices noted earlier, DSSR benefits students with disabilitiesin inclusive settings by providing them access to the same content andvocabulary as nondisabled peers. Rather than acting as a separateintervention, DSSR offers access to the general education curriculumin a more manageable way. Because reading aloud can benefit allchildren, meeting the needs of disabled students occurs within a fre-quently occurring preschool activity. Furthermore, DSSR is oftenjudged to be a low or no-cost, parsimonious instructional activityneeding little preparation or training.

Research Base for DSSR

Seven published experimental studies (Hargrave & Senechal, 2000;Karweit, 1989; Lonigan & Whitehurst, 1998; Notari-Syverson,O’Conner, & Vadasy, 1996; Wasik & Bond, 2001; Whitehurst,Arnold et al., 1994; Whitehurst, Epstein et al., 1994) specifically tar-get DSSR with at-risk or disabled populations in inclusive class-rooms. Six studies report specific positive outcomes in receptiveand expressive vocabulary for preschool-aged populations. Whilethere is room for more work in this area (i.e., older learners with dis-abilities), many variables influence DSSR’s effectiveness at improvingvocabulary skills in at-risk or disabled populations. Simply readingaloud to children, by itself, may not suffice as a means for vocabularyacquisition. Instead, the quality of book reading as well as the inter-active behaviors accompanying the activity appears to enhance itseffectiveness (Scarborough & Dobrich, 1994).

By studying interventions used in the six studies previously noted,combined with Karweit and Wasik’s review (1996), there are severalpractical suggestions for classroom teachers during DSSR that lead

Shared Storybook Reading 309

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to increases in vocabulary development for young students. However,given the nature of research design of studies in this area, isolating therelative contributions of individual teacher behaviors associated withvocabulary growth is difficult. All studies used combinations of beha-viors rather than manipulating one or more. However, general pat-terns evident in this research base support incorporating thefollowing activities when using DSSR with preschool-aged children(with and without disabilities): (a) questioning and prompting;(b) modeling; (c) praise=evaluative comments; (d) defining; (e) fol-low-up activities; (f) labeling; and (g) summarizing. See Table 1 forsample teacher-student dialogue.

Recommended Teacher Behaviors during DSSR

Questioning and PromptingQuestioning and prompting are the most commonly observed DSSRteacher behaviors. Teachers can engage in questioning and prompting

Table 1. Sample teacher-student interaction during DSSR

Teacher behavior

Sample interactions while reading ‘‘The Snowy Day’’

by Ezra Jack Keats

Questioning and

prompting

Fill-in-blank T: ‘‘Before Peter goes out to play in the snow,

he puts on his ________ .’’

Recall T: ‘‘Tell me some of the things Peter did while

playing outside in the snow?’’

Open ended T: ‘‘Tell me about what is happening on this page.’’

‘‘Wh’’ T: ‘‘What happened to the snow Peter put in his pocket?

Why do you think that happened?’’

Modeling Self Talk=Think Aloud T: ‘‘I think Peter’s having fun playing in

the snow–making footprints, carving angels, etc.’’

Repeat & Expand Comments S: ‘‘Peter put warm clothes on.’’

T: ‘‘Yes, Peter had to put on a snowsuit and boots.’’

Praise=encouraging

responses

T: ‘‘Jacob, good thinking about what will happen next. Who else has an

idea?’’ S: ‘‘Playing in the snow is fun.’’

T: ‘‘I agree! It’s neat to play in the snow. Who else thinks it is fun to play in

snow?’’

Defining T: ‘‘Everyone look outside. Today is a snowy day. A snowy day means

there is a lot of snow falling down.

Follow-up activities Dramatization, Art Activities, Story Props, Re-tell

Labeling T: ‘‘Footprints. Snow Angel. Snowsuit.’’

Summarizing Student summary T: ‘‘Tell me about the story The Snowy Day

that we read today.’’

Teacher summary T: The Snowy Day is a story about a boy named Peter

who wakes up one morning, sees that it snowed, gets dressed, goes

outside, and enjoys many activities such as. . ..’’

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before, during, or after reading. Question types include fill-in-blank,recall, open ended, and ‘‘Wh’’ questions. Prompting students to relatestory events to their lives, retell the story, and=or reflect on or predictwhat may happen next, enhance opportunities to interact with newvocabulary.

ModelingStudents with limited experience or language skills can observeteachers model self-talk or thinking aloud while reflecting or com-menting on the story. Teachers should also repeat student commentsand add more information to the utterance as needed to expand andprovide a more appropriate language model to all students.

Praise=Encouraging ResponsesTeachers, who create positive environments by reinforcing children’sresponses during DSSR, increase the likelihood of student respond-ing. Additional opportunities to respond provide more practice forvocabulary understanding and use.

DefiningOne traditional vocabulary instruction technique is explicitly teach-ing isolated concepts. Teachers can include explicit definitions as partof DSSR by visually presenting target vocabulary (via picture orobject) combined with an oral explanation.

Follow-Up ActivitiesStorybook ideas=concepts lend themselves to a plethora of activitiesthat reinforce and provide opportunities for practicing newlyacquired vocabulary. These include art activities, story props, flannelboard materials, or opportunities for dramatization and play.

LabelingLabeling can be in the form of flashcards related to story vocabularypresented before or after reading aloud or teachers may point to pic-tures that represent target vocabulary ideas=concepts. Labeling pro-vides students with repeated exposure to vocabulary as well asdrawing explicit attention to important words and concepts duringan otherwise implicit activity.

SummarizingAlthough summarizing occurs less frequently than the previoussix behaviors, it appears to benefit young learners. Summarizing pro-vides opportunity for review and may offer alternative wording tohelp with vocabulary understanding.

In conclusion, children with and without special needs who havepoor vocabularies are at significant risk for developing later reading

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difficulties. In early grades, classroom teachers can facilitate vocabu-lary learning by enhancing a regularly occurring classroom activity:Reading storybooks while engaging in various dialogic behaviors.DSSR is an interactive, social exchange that leads to vocabularylearning for young students and appears to meet guidelines for treat-ment acceptability. Therefore, based on this analysis, DSSR isan effective intervention for increasing vocabulary skills in youngstudents in inclusive settings and deserves some consideration for use.

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