Activating literacy skills with STEM video read-alouds: A pathway to meaning making

Educators use a multitude of video STEM read-alouds across educational settings; however, much remains unknown about how children learn from them. This study examines how children learn from diverse STEM professionals reading aloud STEM-based storybooks asynchronously. Through a mixed-methods study, we shed light on the benefits, limitations, and possibilities of video STEM read-alouds to engage young children and activate their meaning-making skills of retelling, summarizing, and connecting to prior knowledge. Finally, we discuss the implications for using video read-alouds for literacy development within STEM teaching and learning and suggest recommendations for educators and future studies.