Dialogic Conversation to Support Oral Language Development

Reading comprehension doesn’t start with reading. It starts with oral language comprehension. So, being intentional and strategic about helping young children develop oral language is an essential step toward positioning them for later reading success. Dialogic conversation can serve as a cornerstone to oral language development in the classroom and is described in Chapter 1 of Shifting the Balance, “Rethinking How Reading Comprehension Begins.”