What is book chat?
Book chat is an informal discussion about books that accompanies the reading of high quality texts to and with children. It supports the development of a child's vocabulary and comprehension skills.
How can you encourage book chat?
In school, it might be that you encourage children to sit together in a comfy place with a book. Or that you have a chat about books with a colleague near a child. This could encourage their interest in the book that you are talking about.
Book chat is not just for school. At home, you can prompt book chat in a variety of ways. Here are just a few examples:
See what interests them about what they are reading and ask them questions about it. Remember to keep it informal though, so it doesn't feel like a comprehension exercise.
Make comments about the book and explain your personal feelings about it.
Leave pauses so children have the opportunity to speak
If there are illustrations then ask them about these.
Book chat might not feel natural to begin with, so it is important to build it up over time. Remember that the book chat should add to the enjoyment of reading. It is designed to be an informal chat rather than a comprehension exercise.
Book chat can be one way to help to build a reading for pleasure culture in school.Â
Pageticker and Book Chat
Pageticker will help teachers and parents to engage in book chat. This is because through our online reading record, they will be able to see a child's book stack. These are beautiful front cover collections of books. Find out more about Pageticker here.
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