In last week's newsletter, we introduced the idea of shared book reading. Shared book reading is a special time when adults and children read and talk about a story together. This week's video from the Department of Education's video series builds on last weeks introduction and shows what shared reading looks like in action.
In this video, a parent and a child share a book together and this video demonstrates how reading together can become a rich, engaging conversation. Rather than simply reading the words on the page, the adult pauses to ask thoughtful, open-ended questions like “Why do you think the character did this?" or “How do you think the character is feeling?" These kinds of questions help children to think deeply, learn new words, and express their own ideas.
Why is this so important?
When we turn story time into a back-and-forth discussion, we're helping children:
- Building strong oral language skills, which form the foundation for reading and writing
- Develop thinking and reasoning as they predict, explain, and connect ideas
- Strengthen confidence and relationships as they share their thoughts and feel heard
This video reminds us that shared reading isn't about a child reading the book independently, its about talking, thinking and connecting through stories. Choose books with interesting pictures and topics your child enjoys and let the conversation flow.
Try this at home:
- Talk about what's happening in the pictures
- Ask, “What do you think will happen next?" or “Why do you think that happened?"
- Model your own thinking for example, “I wonder why the character looks worried"
Each of these small moments helps build your child's language and literacy skills in meaningful ways.
Have a great week everyone and happy reading!
Morgan Johnson
Speech-Language Pathologist at Deception Bay State School