Comprehension Strategy Instruction During Parent–Child Shared Reading: An Intervention Study

Abstract

This study examined the effectiveness of a series of workshops and at-home activities designed to teach parents to integrate comprehension strategy instruction into read-alouds with their pre-kindergarten-aged children. Twenty parent–child dyads were randomly assigned to condition and parents in the experimental (workshop) condition were taught to engage their children in retelling, recognition, and use of story structure elements, activation and use of prior knowledge, and talking about text. Results revealed significant changes in interaction patterns between parents and children in the experimental group reflecting the strategies, as well as significant effects on children's comprehension. Findings indicate that children are capable of strategically comprehending text well before they are reading connected text independently and that a low-intensity intervention with parents can facilitate the process.

Keywords:

• comprehension
• strategy instruction
• family literacy