Family Reading Time: Asking Open-Ended Questions

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 prompt for OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS, where the adult asks the child questions that do not have a simple yes or no answer. This gives the child the opportunity to use a lot of language, and the parent a chance to evaluate how well the child is understanding the story.