Dialogic Reading - A Practice Session

I have recently been assigned the task of watching the toddler class at my church. Twelve kids from 18 months to almost four are in my charge for two hours every Sunday - eating snacks, playing with toys, singing songs, hearing a lesson, and occasionally trying to kill each other. Most people run from the job like a wildebeest running from a cheetah. I, on the other hand, was excited to do it because it gave me a chance to test out some of the skills I'm learning from this class. Also, it would be a good thing to put on my resume when applying for jobs as a children's librarian.

This last week, I thought I'd try something different and do some dialogic reading with my charges. I thought carefully about my choice of book and settled on Llama Llama Time to Share by Anna Dewdney. The rhyme was bouncy, the illustrations engaging, and the topic completely relevant to a group of kids who got into routine biting matches over the tea set. That's where my planning stopped. I hadn't thought about where I'd sit, so when I sat on the floor, there was a violent scrum in front of me, each of the kids elbowing the others to be able to see. My daughter, a member of class, was not helpful because she naturally assumed that if I was seated on the floor with a book in my hands, her rightful place was on my lap. Other than seating issues, I was unused to trying to read a book while holding it up for a group. I kept tilting it at an angle, obscuring the kids' view in order for me to see the text.

Still, we muddled through. I was impressed with how engaged and focused the kids were. I couldn't get them to sit still long enough to eat, but they were riveted to the book. They were able to answer Wh- prompts and Distancing prompts. I took it a step further and asked them to predict what would happen to the toy Llama Llama and Nelly Gnu were fighting over and all the kids had good suggestions.

A week later, the kids still remembered the story and I was able to use it as a reminder of the importance of sharing. However, I didn't bring a book the next week and nearly had a riot on my hands. Dialogic reading, although it requires some practice in advance, really engages kids without being too didactic. I really enjoyed it.