Repeated Interactive Read-Aloud: Enhancing Literacy Using Story Props

Learning to read is one of the greatest achievements of childhood. Not only is the ability to interpret meaning from the written word exciting in its own right, it is also a fundamental skill necessary for development and all future learning. Many people believe that children learn to read once they begin formal schooling; however, emergent literacy actually begins as early as birth. Young children learn literacy skills through interactions with the adults around them and gain the most when those adults, particularly parents and teachers, are both knowledgeable and intentional in how they support and nurture early literacy. Repeated Interactive Read-aloud (RIR-A) is one research-based technique that has been effective in increasing children's engagement in and understanding and appreciation of reading in preschool and kindergarten settings. Disadvantaged children who have fewer at-home opportunities for literacy development can especially benefit. In this article, Rao, Newlin-Haus, and Ehrhardt provide a ...