6.4: Print Referencing

Print Referencing During Read-Alouds

What is Print Referencing?

Conducting read-alouds with print referencing is an effective way to teach print knowledge (Justice & Ezell, 2001, 2002). Print referencing during read-alouds is focusing children’s visual attention on print by explicitly commenting on, asking questions about, pointing to, and tracking text that is being read aloud in order to teach print knowledge. For example, you can explicitly teach the difference between a letter and a word by pointing to both in the text and explaining the difference.

Why is Printing Referencing Important?

Print referencing increases visual attention and print knowledge. When adults read to children while using explicit verbal and nonverbal print referencing, the children’s visual attention is significantly increased (Justice et al., 2008). Even more important is that using print referencing is an effective way to increase children’s print knowledge, including alphabet knowledge and concepts of print (Mashburn, Justice, McGinty, & Slocum, 2016).

Print referencing also increases attention to print. Typically, when adults read a story, children do not focus on the print on the page (Ezell & Justice, 2000; Hammett, van Kleeck, & Huberty, 2003; Phillips & McNaughton, 1990; Shapiro, Anderson, & Anderson, 1997). Instead, they usually focus on the pictures or the concepts of the book (Evans & Saint-Aubin, 2005; Phillips & McNaughton, 1990; Sonnenschein & Munsterman, 2002). Additionally, when being read to, children ages 3–5 typically do not ask questions about the print (Yaden, Smolkin, & Conlon, 1989), make comments about the print (Ezell & Justice, 2000), or look at the print (Evans & Saint-Aubin, 2005; Justice & Lankford, 2002; Justice, Skibbe, Canning, & Lankford, 2005). In fact, eye-gaze research shows that preschool children typically look at print less than 5% of the time while being read to (Justice et al., 2005). Without explicit references to print, just reading aloud to a child is not the most effective way to develop print knowledge. Incorporating print referencing into read-alouds can increase children’s attention to print and thus their print knowledge.

How Do I Use Print Referencing During Read-Alouds?

Print referencing during read-alouds is a way of reading and teaching that adults do not typically use when reading to children, but it can be easily learned. Using print referencing during read-alouds includes explicit verbal print referencing and explicit nonverbal print referencing (Justice et al., 2008).

Explicit verbal print referencing includes questions and comments about print. For example, a teacher asking, “Can you find the letter S on this page?” Another example is the teacher pointing to the word pretend and stating, “This word is pretend.”

Explicit nonverbal print referencing includes reading aloud while tracking, or running your finger under the words, as you say them.

It is important to carefully select books to use for print referencing read-alouds. Books with large and eye-catching letters, including alphabet books and other books with oversized text, can be especially helpful. Look for books with thought and speech bubbles, lists, and enlarged punctuation marks to use during read-alouds. In addition, the front covers and title pages of children’s books often have enlarged print that children can readily see. Big books can also be helpful in implementing print referencing because they are large and eye catching.

Print Knowledge: Key Terms and Definitions for Teachers
Print Knowledge Knowing letter names, letter sounds, and concepts of print.
Letter-Name Knowledge Ability to recognize and say the names of letters.	Letter-Sound Knowledge Knowing the spoken sound a letter represents.
Concepts of Print Understanding how print works (e.g., knowing the difference between letters and other symbols or pictures, knowing to read left to right, understanding that the words convey meaning).
Print Referencing A teaching strategy to increase children’s print knowledge that includes focusing attention on print and print features (e.g., commenting on features of print, pointing to and tracking text as it’s read aloud).

References

Evans, M., & Saint-Aubin, J. (2005). What children are looking at during shared storybook reading: Evidence from eye movement monitoring. Psychological Science, 16(11), 913–920.

Ezell, H. K., & Justice, L. M. (2000). Increasing the print focus of adult-child shared book reading through observational learning. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 9(1), 36–47.

Justice, L. M., & Ezell, H. K. (2001). Word and print awareness in 4-year-old children. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 17(3), 207–225.

Justice, L. M., & Ezell, H. K. (2002). Use of storybook reading to increase print awareness in at-risk children. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 11(1), 17–29.

Justice, L. M., & Lankford, C. (2002). Pilot fndings. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 24(1), 11–21.

Justice, L. M., Pullen, P. C., & Pence, K. (2008). Infuence of verbal and nonverbal references to print on preschoolers’ visual attention to print during storybook reading. Developmental Psychology, 44(3), 855–866.

Justice, L. M., Skibbe, L., Canning, A., & Lankford, C. (2005). Pre-schoolers, print and storybooks: An observational study using eye movement analysis. Journal of Research in Reading, 28(3), 229–243.

Mashburn, A., Justice, L. M., McGinty, A., & Slocum, L. (2016). The impacts of a scalable intervention on the language and literacy development of rural pre-kindergartners. Applied Developmental Science, 20(1), 61–78.

Phillips, G., & McNaughton, S. (1990). The practice of storybook reading to preschool children in mainstream New Zealand families. Reading Research Quarterly, 25(3), 196–212.

Sonnenschein, S., & Munsterman, K. (2002). The infuence of home-based reading interactions on 5-year-olds’ reading motivations and early literacy development. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 17(3), 318–337.

Yaden Jr., D. B., Smolkin, L. B., & Conlon, A. (1989). Preschoolers’ questions about pictures, print conventions, and story text during reading aloud at home. Reading Research Quarterly 24(1), 188–214.