📖 Talk Before You Read

Pre-Reading Vocabulary Strategies That Stick

Reading doesn’t have to start with the first page. In fact, some of the richest language learning happens before the book even opens.

Pre-reading conversation helps activate background knowledge, preview new vocabulary, and set the stage for deeper comprehension. And best of all—it builds excitement and connection.

🧠 Why Pre-Reading Matters

According to research from the National Institute for Literacy, children benefit from previewing unfamiliar words and discussing illustrations before reading. This helps with:

• 🧠 Vocabulary development

• 🔍 Prediction and inferencing

• 👂 Listening comprehension

  
  

It also allows caregivers and educators to scaffold meaning before children are expected to decode it.

🛠️ Practical Strategies by Setting

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 For Parents (At Home):

• Ask: “What do you see on the cover?” or “What do you think this story will be about?”

• Introduce new words with excitement: “This is a sloth. He moves very slowly!”

• Do a picture walk—flip through pages and talk about what you see before reading

  
  

🧑‍🏫 For Educators (Classroom):

• Pick a "word of the day" from the story and introduce it in circle time

• Preview vocabulary with visuals or props

• Let students guess what might happen based on the illustrations

  
  

🗣️ For Speech Therapists:

• Use pre-reading to target describing, categorizing, or function-based goals

• Preview target vocabulary with sentence frames: “I see a ___ that is ___.”

• Use book covers and images as conversation starters

  
  

🧩 Where Pre-Reading Fits

Pre-reading is a flexible, low-prep strategy that works well for:

• 🔁 Speech therapy warm-ups

• 🧑‍🏫 Whole-class or small group read-alouds

• 🌙 Home story time to build bedtime connection and engagement

👉 Tip: Pair with a vocabulary preview mat or character guessing card to enhance focus and recall.

💚 Dr. T

Author | SLP | Educator | Illustrator

Treetop Tales Publishing

www.readwithdrt.com