Research in social psychology has shown that reading
fiction impacts on social cognition skills. This research, both correlational and
experimental, has been conducted exclusively with adults. Given the greater plasticity
of young minds, there is reason to believe that reading fiction also impacts children.
Here we present the results of several research interventions conducted in elementary
and middle schools using cluster-randomized control trials methodology and
involving over 1,000 children in various regions of Italy. The findings suggest that
substituting the regular instructional activities children engage during some of the
school time with shared reading aloud of fictional narratives has significant effects on
their socio-cognitive development. In addition to presenting the specific findings,
among which the significant effect of shared reading aloud on the Cognitive
Assessment System, we will discuss the specifics of the shared reading aloud program
which has been developed over 20 years; the mechanisms through which the
program's activities enhance and scaffold children's socio-cognitive development; and
the efficiency and scalability of the intervention that we conduct. Finally, we will
discuss the importance of the shared aspect of the reading activities, by referring both
to developmental and social psychology theory and pedagogy theories, and presenting
teachers' diaries and anecdotal evidence coming from children and their parents
support this claim.