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Remembering the Story

Family Reading Time

Research shows that having conversations with children during book reading can significantly improve their understanding of the book and build their early literacy skills. One way to increase conversation is to ask children questions during book reading, using dialogic reading prompts such as those developed by Grover Whitehurst. This video demonstrates the RECALL prompt, where adults ask children what they remember about different parts of the story.

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  • Family Reading Time:
    Remembering the Story

    (This video has captions. You can turn them on by clicking the CC icon at the bottom of the video.)
    Download a printable transcript.

    Introduction: And now, it’s Family Reading Time!

    Narrator: We know from research that families are important for helping young children gain skills they need to become good readers later on. One way to support your child’s learning is by asking her what she remembers about a story.

    Adult: Do you remember where Buzz hid?
    Child: What, in the garbage can?
    Adult: That’s where Fly Guy hid. “Buzz hid in the garden shed and shut the door.”

    Narrator: Asking questions lets you know how well your child has understood the story. It also encourages your child to listen closely and pay attention to the details of the story.

    Adult: Do you remember something that she said to him, or something that she did?
    Child: She um she scolded him and she said, Mama Llama loves you so, Mama Llama always near even if she’s not right there.

    Narrator: Family Reading Time Tip: Ask your child what he remembers about the story.

    Closing: Family Reading Time has been brought to you by the Windham Area Women & Girls Fund and the Center for Early Childhood Education at Eastern Connecticut State University.

  • Family Reading Time was developed under the Dialogic Reading for Multilingual Families project, funded by the Windham Area Women and Girls Fund of the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut. The project provided training to multilingual families, including high school students, on the importance of continuing to read to children in their first language. Trainings also included information on dialogic reading strategies for fostering oral language during book reading. Interested families volunteered to be videotaped reading to their children.
  • Producer: Julia DeLapp
    Director and Editor: Denise Matthews
    Production Coordinator and Editing Consultant: Ken Measimer
    Content expert: Ann Anderberg
    Videographers: Ken Measimer, Denise Matthews, Sean Leser (Eastern student), Amy Dillon (Eastern student)
    Narrators (English): Luz Ramos, Denise Matthews