Offers some suggestions for articulating curricular objectives and activities based on the theoretical principles underlying emergent literacy. Suggests readings for extending and strengthening the knowledge and understanding needed to foster young children's language and literacy. (MG)

Discusses several questions about skill development from an emergent literacy perspective. (MM)

This book, a custom edition for the Ohio Summer Institute for Reading Intervention (Summer 2001), reprints selected chapters from two books, "Literacy Development in the Early Years: Helping Children Read and Write," Fourth Edition (Lesley Mandel Morrow) and "Literacy's Beginnings: Supporting Young Readers and Writers," Third Edition (Lea M. McGee…

An important goal in every first-grade classroom is to get children reading--but how? This book examines current research on first-grade literacy instruction and shows how it translates into what good teachers really do in the classroom. The book's authors, premier early literacy scholars and educators, describe several studies of effective…

Reveals that only three structures--confrontation, episodic, and plotless--accounted for 87 percent of the story selections in six basal reader series. (FL)

Describes research conducted in New Jersey as part of a five-state research project investigating exemplary first-grade literacy instruction. Observes six teachers' exemplary practices. Discusses interview data, physical environment in the classrooms, types of reading and writing experiences, how skills were taught, taking advantage of teachable…

Examines the problems of using standardized tests to measure the development of early literacy. Notes that assessment is used to design instruction, and should reflect the skills and knowledge that are developing in young children. Provides examples of informal assessment contexts, such as interactive dialogues, observation, and performance…

Discusses the benefits of reading aloud to preschool and kindergarten children. Notes that active participation accounts for many of these benefits. Suggests several interactive story reading strategies, including a Directed Listening-Thinking Activity and shared book experiences. (MM)

Suggests ways to provide special spaces and materials in early childhood classrooms that promote literacy development, including classroom library centers, writing centers, and content area centers. (MM)

Offers several suggestions for activities to be used with Big Books, including: tracking print, thinking along, cloze activities, and examining text features. (MG)

Suggests using daily journals to fuse language experience techniques with opportunities for independent writing more characteristic of an emergent literacy perspective. Explains that journals combine group dictation with independent writing to involve children in purposeful literacy activities. (MG)

Contrasts the effects of a storybook reading approach to traditional reading readiness approaches on the literacy development of urban at-risk kindergarten children. Finds that the storybook reading groups scored significantly higher on a variety of literacy measures. Finds no significant differences between the groups on standardized measures of…

Children develop language-related abilities simultaneously from infancy onward, and the conditions that promote first language learning are the same conditions that promote total literacy development: a social context involving immersion, approximation, opportunity to practice, feedback, and modeling. Intended for teachers, reading specialists,…