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Be very careful not to turn your reading sessions into question-and-answer sessions where only the teacher asks the questions and children raise their hands to answer the questions. Children should ask and answer as many questions as the teacher does, maybe even more! Keep in mind that children with limited language skills will need you to ask simple questions in the beginning. Questions like these will help them acquire some basic vocabulary, like the names of common objects and actions. A good way to do this is to ask simple who, what, when, where and why (WH) questions about the illustrations, like “What is this?” “Where are they?” “Who is this?” Remember, good readers are active thinkers, not passive listeners!

You will need to prepare ahead of time for interactive reading. What kind of books should you select for interactive reading? High-quality books, of course. Books that are high quality for interactive reading have clear and recognizable pictures. The illustrations are full-page, full-color, eye-catching and realistic rather than imaginary. The pictures vary within and across different pages. Books with single images in isolation do not work well for interactive reading. During interactive reading the pictures are used to help build content knowledge and understanding of word meanings and concepts, so the quality of the illustrations is very important. Try to use both story and informational books for interactive reading. Look for books with about two to six sentences for every two pages. Try to avoid books with labels only, or books with more text than illustration. Most of all, choose books that are interesting and fun for the children.

Read the story to yourself and pick four or five places to stop and ask one or two questions, make a comment, or ask for a prediction about what will happen next. Try to ask questions that require students to think and reason about what is happening in the story.

For example, when reading The Three Billy Goats Gruff you might ask your students, “Why is the troll willing to wait for the second billy goat?”

Keep in mind that as you encourage children to actively participate in conversations about the book, they might take you in an unexpected direction. They might see and understand what is happening in the book in a different way from what you saw and understood. Be willing to follow their lead. Encourage them to back up their statements with details in the illustrations or with their own experiences.