Send page to a Friend January 2006 Literacy Tutoring Tip:  Dialogic Reading Dialogic Reading is an interactive reading technique between adults and children using very simple books and picture books. Adults ask "what" and "why” questions about what the child is reading. This is a particularly great technique to use with students who are learning English, or who may be shy about asking the questions that help to develop their comprehension or vocabulary skills. Reading with this technique allows students to take ownership of the story because they are encouraged to speak up and share their unique observations about what is happening.   Dialogic Reading: “What” Questions * Ask “what” questions * Follow answers with questions * Repeat what your student says * Help your student as needed * Praise and encourage * Follow your student’s interests Dialogic  Reading: Open Ended Questions & Expansion (1) Ask open-ended questions about the pictures If your student doesn’t know what to say about a picture, provide something and have your student repeat it. As your student gets used to open-ended questions, ask your student to say more. (Instead of using specific “what” questions like “What is this?” ask more general open-ended questions that require your student to answer with more than one word. For example, “What do you see on this page?” or, “What’s happening here?”)   (2) Expand what your student says Keep the expansions short and simple, but encourage your student to use longer phrases. (If your student says “The dog barked”, you might say “Yes, the dog was barking at the cat”. In this way, you fill in the little words and endings your student left out and provide a new piece of information. Later you might ask a question about this new information: “Who is the dog barking at?”)