Emergent Literacy in the Kindergarten Classroom

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Emergent Literacy in theKindergarten Classroom

• By Cori Sweeney
• EDRD 630

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The purpose of this professional development is
to take a closer look at Reading Readiness and
Emergent Literacy. You will be learning about
the benefits of Emergent Literacy for your ESL
students and activities to use with all of
your Kindergarteners! ?
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• Reading Readiness
• From this perspective, it was believed that the
  mental processes necessary for reading would
  unfold automatically at a certain period of time
  in development.
• Researchers argued that good practice would
  provide an environment that did not interfere
  with the predetermined process of development in
  the child.
• Readiness is a function of ripening usually
  around are 7.
• Teacher directed
• Heavy focus on decoding.

During the late 1950s and 1960s, the dominant
theory shifted from reading readiness as
maturation toward readiness as the product of
experience. Proponents of this viewpoint argued
that if children had the appropriate experiences,
their reading readiness could be accelerated.
In response to this shift in thinking,
educators and parents were encouraged to use more
direct instruction and structured curriculum in
early childhood and kindergarten programs in
order to prepare children for reading. In reading
readiness programs children were considered ready
to read when they had met certain social,
physical, and cognitive competencies.
Teale and Sulzby (1986), Mason and Sinha (1993),
Morrow (2009)
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• Emergent Literacy
• Marie Clay (1966) first introduced the term
  emergent literacy to describe the behaviors used
  by young children with books and when reading and
  writing, even though the children could not
  actually read and write in the conventional
  sense.
• Literacy emerges before children are formally
  taught to read.
• Literacy occurs in a social setting.
• Child centered.
• Reading and writing develop at the same time and
  interrelatedly in young children, rather than
  sequentially.
• Children have been found to learn about written
  language as they actively engage with adults in
  reading and writing situations as they explore
  print on their own and as they observe others
  around them engaged in literacy activities.
• Child is an active participant.
• Literacy is defined to encompass the whole act
  of reading, not merely decoding.

Clay (1966), Teale and Sulzby (1986), Mason and
Sinha (1993)
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Time for discussion! Think about the literacy
practices and activities you are currently using
with your students in your classroom Pair up
with a partner Share your thoughts and ideas
with your partner!
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Now We will learn about important practices and
strategies to help support the implementation
of emergent literacy in the classroom.
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Activities and Strategies that Promote Emergent
Literacy in the Kindergarten Classroom Where do
I start?

• First, and foremost, Kindergarten teachers need
  to estimate where each child is
• developmentally and build on that base.
  Instruction will need to be adapted to account
  for
• childrens differences.
• For children with lots of print experiences,
  instruction will extend their knowledge as
• they learn more about the formal features of
  letters and their sound correspondence.
• For other children with fewer prior experiences,
  initiating them to the alphabetic
• principle, that a limited set of letters
  comprises the alphabet and that they letters
• stand for the sounds that make up spoken words,
  will require more focused and direct
• instruction.
• In all cases, however, children need to interact

NAEYC (1998)
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• Phonemic Awareness
• Kindergarten students should be taught word
  rhyming, syllable segmentation, beginning sound
  substitution, sound isolation, and phonemic
  segmentation. Provide many opportunities for
  children to explore and identify sound-symbol
  relationships in meaningful contexts.
• Concepts of Print
• Kindergarten students should be taught what a
  book is, why we have books, the directional
  movement of print ( left-to-right,
  top-to-bottom), the orientation of letters,
  sequences of letters in words, and sequence of
  words in a sentence, front cover including the
  title and author,
• printed words are different from pictures, words
  have meaning, and we hold a book and turn the
  pages in a certain way.
• This can be done through
• small group instruction (ex reading groups).
• Read Alouds - Frequently read interesting and
  conceptually rich stories to children.
• Shared Reading
• Shared Writing
• Morning Message
• Poetry
• Chants, and Songs
• Literacy Games
• Create a literacy-rich environment for children
  to engage independently in reading and writing.

NAEYC (1998)
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Environmental Print Have everything in your
classroom labeled to help students become
familiar with everyday objects. You can
have a center in your classroom with many
different objects such as newspapers, books,
journals, labels, menus, flyers, coupons, and
greeting cards for kids to explore. Try to have
them in different languages for your ESL
students.
Morrow (2009)
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• Vocabulary Development
• Listening to stories.
• Variety of genres including information texts as
  well as narratives.
• Explanation of vocabulary words prior to
  listening to a story is
• related significantly to childrens learning new
  words. This is especially important for ELLs.
• Asking predictive and analytic questions before
  and after readings
• produces positive effects on vocabulary and
  comprehension.
• Children should listen to stories through read
  alouds by the teacher, on the computer, and
  listening stations.

NAEYC (1998)
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• Comprehension
• Reading comprehension is the level of
  understanding of a text. This understanding comes
  from the interaction between the words that are
  written and how they trigger knowledge outside
  the text.
• Comprehension can be focused on during
• Read Alouds
• Morning Meeting and Morning Message
• Guided Reading
• Writing Activities students should participate
  in writing activities as much as possible. A
  great way would be to have a writing station in
  you classroom for the students to visit
  throughout the day with a variety of materials
  provided.
• Students share their thoughts about the text,
  including questions and connections they may have
  had during the reading. The teachers job is to
  ask open-ended questions to enhance comprehension
  and generate dialogue. The teacher listens to
  student retell the story.
• It is highly recommended that reading, writing,
  listening and speaking be integrated as much as
  possible throughout the curriculum for ELLs.

Avalos, Plasencia, Chavez, Rascon (2007)
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Books and Materials in Different Languages Have
books and other materials available in your
classroom for students who speak different
languages. This will show the students that you
value their language as well as your own. It will
also make them feel more comfortable in their
environment.
Morrow (2009)
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• Guided Reading for ELLs
• Set the scene or introduce the text The
  introduction sets a successful reading experience
  by mediating access to the text.
• 2. Shared Reading An excellent way to engage
  learning with texts, particularly learners from
  diverse backgrounds. The teacher can model
  fluency, discuss the story and vocabulary as the
  text is read aloud.
• 3. Reading the Text After the teacher has set
  the scene, introduced the text, and conducted
  shared reading the students read the book to
  themselves. This is an opportunity for the
  teacher to listen to individual students and take
  anecdotal notes and running records.
• 4. Returning to the Text When the students have
  completed their independent reading of the text,
  the teacher engages the students in a
  conversation similar to the introduction.
• 5. Responding to the Text Many books lend
  themselves to the extension of learning
  activities through art, writing, or drama in
  response to the reading, this expanding the
  meaning of the text.
• 6. Word Work ELLs learn more when new concepts
  are context embedded. Guided reading lessons
  provide optimal opportunities for students to
  apply and learn word-solving skills throughout
  the lesson.

Avalos, Plasencia, Chavez, Rascon (2007)
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ESL Students

• Assess Needs.
• Foster a sense of belonging.
• Assign a buddy.
• Teach key words.
• Read and reread books.
• Provide opportunities for success.
• Keep track of language progress.
• Value bilingualism.
• Encourage the familys involvement.
• Foster an appreciation of cultural diversity.

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• What are the Theories Behind our Practices?
• Why are we doing these things in our classrooms?
• Behaviorist Conditioned Learning 1960s
• Linguistics Natural Learning 1970s
• Psycholinguistics Natural Learning 1960 s
  1970s
• Information Processing Cognitive Psychologists
  1970s
• Sociolinguistics Sociocultural Learning 1980s
  mid 1990s
• Engaged Learning Present

Alexander and Fox (2004)
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Time for discussion! Think about what you have
learned in this professional development today.
What would you like to start using in your
classroom? Pair up with a partner Share
your thoughts and ideas with your partner. Plan
some new activities together that you can use in
your classroom!
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References
Alexander, Fox. (2004). Theoretical Models and
Processes of Reading A Historical Perspective on
Reading Research and Practice. (pp. 33-68).
Newark, DE International Reading. Avalos,
Plasencia, Chavez, Rascon. (2007) Modified
Guided Reading Gateway to English as a Second
Language and Literacy Learning. (pp. 318-329).
International Reading Association. Clay, Marie.
(1966). Emergent reading behavior. University of
Auckland, New Zealand. International Reading
Association (IRA) and the National Association
for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
(1998). Learning to Read and Write
Developmentally Appropriate Practices for Young
Children. Mason Sinha. (1993). Emerging
Literacy in the Early Childhood Years Applying a
Vygotskian Model of Learning and Development.
(pp. 137-150). New York Macmillan Publishing Co.
Morrow, Lesley Mandel. (2009). Literacy
development in the early years Helping children
read and write. Boston Allyn and Bacon. Teale,
William, Sulzby, Elizabeth. (1986). Emergent
literacy Writing and reading. Norwood, NJ Ablex
Publishing Corporation.