Description of the Practice

This is a widely used, highly effective practice to develop emerging literacy skills. It consists of an adult reading a story, book or picture book to an individual child, a small groups or a whole class. The listener is encouraged to listen carefully and to ask questions. Researchers (Hall and Moats) have concluded that this practice has many benefits for children, including the following:

• Developing background knowledge
• Building vocabulary
• Developing familiarity with rich language patterns
• Developing familiarity with story structure and patterns
• Developing familiarity with the reading process
• Encouraging reading as a pleasurable process

Some researchers have gone so far to state that it is the single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading, (Anderson et al. 1984)

Elements of the practice

Mrs. S., a teacher of 20 or more years with language-minority students, begins each day with circle time. In this particular instance, she gets the students' attention by offering a surprise in a bag. Students take turns guessing its contents. Some students actually touch the inside without seeing its contents. (It contained a butterfly, a focus of study in their science class with another teacher.) Mrs. S. uses a picture book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle to emphasize Standard Three of the NYC Primary English Standards: reading 25 books, teaching reading behaviors, discussing books and vocabulary building. She first reviews the structure of the book with children (i.e., the book's cover, author and illustrator, and the type of illustration- collage, not drawing or painting). She then reviews its plot and sequence, asking a series of open-ended questions. Students in their responses are encouraged to use full sentences, and relate their prior experiences with butterflies

Mrs. S. uses a chart to review new concept understanding, and to reinforce learnings. To further solidify learning, she has prepared (in advance) story strips which contain various questions designed to extend the students understanding and comprehension. These will be followed up both in future science and literature learning experiences.

Evidence that the Practice Is Effective

From their expressions and verbal comments, students show a high degree of task engagement. Students respond to Mrs. S.., i.e. they come quickly to attention when she starts a lesson. They focus and remain engaged for long periods of time, i.e. up to 45 minutes within a learning experience. An independent consultant who observed Mrs. S. concluded that this was an effective practice, or at minimum one of many such practices she uses to motivate children and improve their chances of being successful readers. He stated that the engagement of students was evident, and after analyzing her students' achievement profile, wrote that the average LAB score for Mrs. S.'s class was equivalent to an NCE of 13.5 in Spring, 1999. The corresponding score a year later was equivalent to 34.5 NCEs, for a statistically significant gain of 21.0 NCEs. (t=5.6. p> .001). Thus, at both the intuitive and statistical levels, the consultant found evidence of student progress and success.

Learner and School Contexts

This practice was observed in a Dual Language classroom of language-minority students whose home language is Spanish. These students are in their second year in program designed to last four grade levels (kinder through third grade). They are part of a selective program which partners ELLs with a class of English-dominant learners. Mrs. S. partners with a monolingual English teacher; they switch their classrooms daily to teach the other’s children in the opposite language. Thus, English-dominant speakers get 45 minutes of Spanish a day. Spanish-dominant students get 45 minutes of English a day beyond their regular exposure by a native speaker of English. Both sets of students regularly participate in joint cultural and language experiences. Most ELL students by the end of third grade are admitted into either regular classrooms, or self-contained ESL-only classrooms. By fourth grade, all students remaining entitled to bilingual/ESL instruction are primarily taught in English. They continue to receive instruction in Spanish as an enrichment language or heritage language.