Read It Again Sam!

Seven children giggle and squirm on the rug around Lori Hamilton at the Hilltop site of Coshocton County Head Start, Ohio. They’re excited because they love story time with their preschool teacher. "Who can tell me what part of the book this is?" Hamilton pointed to words on the cover. Several said the name of the book, but one child, then another, said, "The title." Hamilton pointed to one of three names on the cover. "What did this person do?" she asked. "Wrote the words," several children said. "This person drew the pictures. What is she called?" "Illustrator," said a girl, struggling with the big word but getting it out. These children are only three to five years old and come from families living at the poverty level in rural Appalachia. Yet midway through the school year, they can identify the title of a book and tell what an author or illustrator does.

Lead teacher Lori Hamilton uses the free Read It Again curriculum at Coshocton County Head Start

The Head Start program began using Read It Again Pre-K (RIA) in 2008 as part of OSU Professor Laura Justice’s four-year, $3 million evaluation of the impact of the curriculum she created for at-risk preschool children with research scientist Anita McGinty, University of Virginia. Although the program’s role in the study is done, the teachers still use the free curriculum. "I was amazed," Hamilton said. "By the end of the year, even my three-year-olds had mastered skills they would not have gained in my other years of teaching until maybe four or five years of age." Hamilton described how RIA focuses on accelerating early skills in four areas considered essential to children’s development of reading:

• Understanding print and how books are used

• Narrative ability (explain a sequence of events)

• Vocabulary knowledge

• Phonological awareness (understand sounds of letters and language)

Carla Aronhalt, the education manager for Coshocton County Head Start, said the biggest change she has seen from RIA is more intentional teaching. "We’ve always prepared our children for kindergarten, but RIA helps teachers work on specific skills," she said. "RIA activities also carry over naturally during the day. While transitioning to lunch, the children will clap the syllables in each other’s names. When the teacher says ‘hall’ and ‘ball,’ the children call out, ‘that rhymes.’" Even visitors notice the difference RIA makes. A speech therapist from a local elementary school came to observe Hamilton’s classroom. "She was impressed by the skills the children were gaining at the preschool level," Hamilton said.

Laura Justice, a speech-language pathologist, has vast experience with children at risk, as reflected in the multimillion-dollar research projects she directs out of the Children’s Learning Research Collaborative (CLRC). She knows that many rural, economically disadvantaged preschoolers perform well below their same-age, more advantaged peers on understanding print and vocabulary concepts. Project Director Laura Slocum explains, "the RIA curriculum, plus a self-study workbook, is free and online. The program provides teachers with a plan for each lesson that can be implemented accurately with few supports." Many preschools have a required curriculum in place. So RIA is a supplement, taught in two 20- to 30-minute story times per week for 30 weeks using 15 low-cost, readily available storybooks. Yet it achieves positive results similar to those reported from more intensive and expensive curricula. "There are very few scientifically based curricula like it totally free of charge," Slocum said.

Justice and McGinty originally developed and pilot tested RIA for the West Virginia Department of Education, where it is still used in many preschool programs. Although one year remains of Justice’s federal evaluation, many educators have requested it. "We have enough proof of the benefits that we make it available to anyone who wants it," Justice said. "It is used in Croatia, Italy and Canada. We recently gave a copy to a doctor in China who wants to adapt it. It is used across the entire province of Tasmania in Australia and in all preschools in the Orlando, Florida, area." RIA calls for reading the same books over and over, yet everyone enjoys it. "You focus on a whole new group of ideas with each reread," said Hamilton, the Head Start educator. When asked what he likes about books, Nathan, a five-year-old, held up the book Hamilton had just read. A wide grin lit up his face as he pointed to the title and said, "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom." He likes the sounds, and yes, he wants to read it again. Read It Again Pre-K is available for free at www.myreaditagain.com .

This article is a reprint from The OSU's College of Education and Human Ecology's publication: EHE Inspire