Embedded Storybook Vocabulary and Comprehension Intervention for Preschool Children

Elizabeth Spencer, PhD, CCC-SLPHoward Goldstein, PhD, CCC-SLPThe Ohio State University

To effectively implement response to intervention in early childhood…

…how should we design Tier 2 interventions?

We need interventions that work in classrooms…

…and that don’t place additional demands on teachers.

We need to give children opportunities to respond.

So we designed an intervention.

Small groups of children participate in ‘listening 

centers.’

Scripted interventions 

are delivered under 

headphones. 

Repeated listening 

provides many 

opportunities to 

respond. 

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDA

Y

Weekly measures of 

intervention content.

What skills should we target in our intervention?

CONCEPT WORDSBobby Bear is tall…Suki Squirrel is short.

VOCABULARY WORDSPablo Porcupine has quills to protect

him.

VOCABULARY WORDSThe  Forest Friends gave Suki a surprise.

Marquez Monkeys Around

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONSWhat will happen in this story?

Marquez Monkeys Around

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONSWhy did the Jungle Friends laugh at Ellie?

What have we 

learned so far?

PRETEST

POSTTEST

We have some promising results...

…but there is still work to be done.

Development Team: Beth Spencer, Sean Noe, Trina Spencer, Naomi Schneider,

Laura Walaszek, Amber Sherman, Robyn Ziolkowski

Howard Goldstein

Research Director

Schoenbaum Family Center

The Ohio State University

hgoldstein@ehe.osu.edu

614-247-7366

http://crtiec.org

http://poverty.osu.edu

http://www.osu.edu/watch/45UtcAf-zJjJU

Selecting Words to Target

Curriculum review for the vocabulary domain consisted of lists of novel words and not so novel words introduced throughout the curricula.

Word bank with variety of norms

Context and content of storybooks

Tests of Basic Concepts

Basic Concept Words

Basic Concept Words

Embedded Intervention: Aroo aroo ….It’s time to play a word game. Point to the picture of Bobby Bear. Bobby Bear is big. Big. Say

big.

Lift Bobby to see something else that is big. An elephant is big!. Now, point to the picture of Suki Squirrel. Suki Squirrel is small. Small. Say small. Lift the flap to see something else that is small. A mouse is small! Awesome!

Novel Vocabulary Words

Select words that are:Likely to be unfamiliar to preschoolersLikely to have high utility

Avoid words that are:Too advancedToo easy (Beck & McKeown’s Tier 1 words)Too difficult to represent concretely or to define

Novel Vocabulary Words

Story Text: I will not hurt you! I would not hurt a flea! My quills are only here to help protect me!

Embedded Intervention: Pablo said that his quills protect

him. They

keep him safe. Protect. Say protect. Protect

means to keep someone safe.

What word means to keep someone safe? Protect! That’s right! You might wear a helmet to protect you when you ride your bike! Your

helmet keeps you safe. When you are in the car, you put your seatbelt on to protect you. Pretend you are putting on your seatbelt. Click! Great job! Tell me, what does protect mean? To keep someone safe.

Novel Vocabulary Words

Novel Vocabulary Words

Story text: The friends tapped on the door quietly at first. Then they banged so loud the door nearly burst!

Embedded Intervention: In the story, the friends banged so loud and it almost burst! The door almost broke into pieces. Burst. Say burst. Burst means to break in pieces. Tell me, what word means to break in pieces? Burst! Great! Have you ever had a balloon break into pieces? The balloon burst! Hmm…let’s pretend that we are blowing up a balloon so big that it will break into pieces. Ready…(sounds of blowing up balloon). Pop

! The balloon burst!

Tell me, what does “burst”

mean? To break in pieces, that’s right!

Novel Vocabulary Words

Comprehension

Comprehension involves knowing the meanings of words, forming conceptual relationships, understanding factual or literal content, and making inferences (Joseph, 2006). In several curricula, comprehension skills were presented under “Oral Language,”because children were required to respond orally to questions asked about stories.

Comprehension

Answering questions related to the story

Levels of questionsAnswering recall questions related to the story (e.g., Who got asurprise in the story?) Answering inferential questions related to the story (e.g., Whatwas Suki’s surprise?)

Hmmm…

I have some questions about the story. Who

was embarrassed in the

story? I hope you said Bobby. Why

was Bobby embarrassed in the story? He

sneezed on the doctor and he broke the scale! Way to go!!

Hmmm…I have some questions about the story. Who got a surprise in the story? I hope you said Suki. Suki got a surprise. What was Suki’s surprise? Her friends came to her party! Way to go!!

Vocabulary & Comprehension Content

Ellie's First Day Leo's Brave Face Marquez Monkies

Around

high, low all up, down

enormous, different brave, grin reckless, ignoreIn this story, it is Ellie's first day of 

school. She is going to meet some 

new friends. How do you think Ellie 

feels about meeting new friends? 

[Why?]

In this story, Leo goes to the 

dentist. How do you think Leo 

feels about going to the 

dentist? [Why?]

Hmm . . . I wonder what will 

happen in this story. Look at 

the picture and think about 

the title. What do you think 

will happen?

Where did Ellie go in our story?What did Leo learn from the 

dentist? 

Marquez was not being 

careful.  What was he doing?

At the end of the story, Ellie was 

happy. Why was Ellie happy?

At the beginning of the story, 

Leo was afraid of the dentist. 

What do you do when you are 

afraid?

At the end of the story, 

Marquez told his friends he 

was sorry. Why was he sorry?

Vocabulary & Comprehension Content

VocabularyPablo's Prickly 

Problem

Suki's Slumber 

Surprise

Fae's

Smelly 

Situation

Bobby's 

EmBEARassing

Moment

Basic Concepts largest, smallest first, last  both shortest, tallest

Target Words protect surprise, agree inhaled accident, delightedComprehension 

Qs

Level I

Level IIWhy is it a special 

day?

Who got a 

surprise in the 

story?

Who smelled 

yucky in the 

story?

Who was 

embarrassed in the 

story?

Level III

At the end of the 

story, Pablo made 

some new friends. 

How did Pablo 

feel?

What was Suki’s 

surprise?

Why did Fae Fox 

smell so yucky in 

the story?

Why was Bobby 

embarrassed in the 

story?  

Level IV

How do we know T2 is effective?

We routinely see students become more proficient with their responses as the week progresses.

Mastery monitoring probe - designed to track progress of the skills being taught that week.

Targeted Vocabulary WordsBook

1 enormous different2 brave grin3 soaked gorgeous4 reckless ignore5 unusual greet6 ill discover7 leap pause8 speedy unique9 ridiculous tumble

Rhyming Tasks included in 1st

6 books

Suki's Sleepover 

Surprise Fae's Nose Knows Snow Day for Fae

Rhyme IdentificationRhyme ID and 

Production Rhyme Production

Tell me, which word 

rhymes with doll: fish 

or ball.

Tell me, which word 

rhymes with doll: fish 

or ball.  Now, tell me 

another word that 

rhymes with doll.Tell me a word that 

rhymes with doll.