Vignette 3.3. Interactive Storybook Read Aloud
Integrated ELA/Literacy and ELD Instruction in Kindergarten (cont.)Throughout the week, Mr. Nguyen keeps notes on what students are saying and doing.
So that he can strategically support students with varied needs, his teaching log has sections
for notes regarding those who need support with listening comprehension, those with special
needs, and ELs. On day four, Mr. Nguyen guides the children in an oral retelling of the story. On
day five, he engages them in jointly reconstructing the story as he writes it for all to see using
a document camera. He scaffolds their use of sophisticated language, helping them extend and
refine their ideas as they reconstruct the story together.
Teacher Reflection and Next Steps
At the end of the week, Mr. Nguyen reviews his teaching log. He notes that during the
initial reading of the story, his ELs at the early Emerging level of English language proficiency
struggled to communicate in English during think-pair-share, and that two used their primary
language to share ideas for a couple of the questions. However, by the third time he read
the story, these students were speaking English more confidently, using short phrases and
integrating the sentence frames he had previously provided. He makes a note to ask his
colleagues for ideas about supporting these students to participate more actively in English the
first time a story is read. At the same time, he is pleased that students listened actively during
the first reading and that after hearing the story repeatedly, they were able to communicate
their ideas more readily in English. Returning to his notes, Mr. Nguyen also sees that the three
children with moderate learning disabilities were very engaged during all three readings of the
book, which he attributes in part to the deliberate scaffolding and structure he provided.
Mr. Nguyen sends home an information sheet—in English and in the primary language of
the EL children—with some suggestions for how parents might interact with their children while
reading aloud to them at home.Resource
Bloom, Becky, and Pascal Biet. 1999. Wolf. New York: Orchard Books.Sources
Lesson inspired by
Beck, Isabel. L., and Margaret G. McKeown G. 2007. “Increasing Young Low-Income Children’s Oral Vocabulary
Repertoires through Rich And Focused Instruction.” Elementary School Journal 10 (3): 251–271.
McGee, Lea M., and Judith Schickedanz. 2007. “Repeated Interactive Read Alouds in Preschool and Kindergarten.”
The Reading Teacher 60: 742-751.
Ota, Tamaye, and Pamela Spycher. 2011. Powerful Academic Vocabulary Instruction for Young English Learners.
Presented at the annual conference of the California Association for the Education of Young Children (CAEYC),
Sacramento, CA, March 2011.Additional Information
Web sites- Colorín Colorado has read aloud tips for parents (http://www.colorincolorado.org/guides/readingtips/) in eleven
languages (http://www.colorincolorado.org). - D.E.A.R. (drop everything and read) with families short video (https://www.teachingchannel.org/)
Recommended reading
McGee, Lea M., and Judith A. Schickedanz. 2007. Repeated Interactive Read Alouds in Preschool and Kindergarten.
The Reading Teacher, 60 (8): 742–751. (http://www.readingrockets.org/article/16287).
232 | Chapter 3 Kindergarten