How does the teacher in this video support emergent literacy?

The teacher in this video supports emergent literacy by:

• Counting, saying the Pledge of Allegiance, and singing with the students as a group, acting as a model for students learning
• Giving children choices on which song they would like to sing for the day. Taking a vote like this allows students to practice their independence.
• Discusses how patterns are used in the song (ex. “they say it, then we say it”)
• Using arm claps and arm slides to count the syllables and then slide the syllables together when talking about the month of October.
• The teacher repeats directions multiple times.
• Using the concepts “more” and “least” when talking about the weather.
• Challenging students to rethink their thinking about which day of the week it is. (students did not know the day of the week so the teacher pointed to the board and said each day of the week until she landed on the correct one and let children fill in the blank)

I came up with what I believe is the perfect preschool schedule. This schedule gives children the chance to practice their literacy skills independently as well as participate in classroom activities set up by the teacher. Reading and writing activities will be linked to play within the preschool classroom.

8:00-8:30: Teacher will begin setting up the classroom for the day. Free play activities/centers are set up. Books in the library and reading stations are swapped with new books if necessary. Morning meeting activities and materials are put into place.

8:30-9:15: Children begin to arrive. Their belongings are put in their cubbies and their lunchboxes are put into the lunch bin. They will sign their names on the sign in sheet and then are helped to find an activity they want to begin with for free play.

9:15-10:00: Free play. Centers or stations are set up that will model or give hints to what will be taught that day. There will be a reading station, drawing/writing station, building station and pretend play station. Teachers will facilitate by engaging students in conversation. Students can choose to play independently or with peers.

10:00-10:30: Morning meeting/circle time. Students group up on the carpet or meeting area. Students will greet each other, read books, sing songs, practice skills they are learning (alphabet/numbers), the teacher will model how to write the date and ask for helpers, and teachers will discuss the structured centers available for the morning.

10:30-11:30: Structured center time. This is the time for teachers to create centers that allow students to practice language skills, math, motor, science, art and reading skills. For example, students may help teachers repot plants, practice counting or grouping objects, using different art materials, reading books with assisting teachers or writing their names.

11:30-12:00: Outside play or large motor skill work

12:00-12:45: Lunch time. Students will come inside, wash hands and find their designated spot to each lunch. Conversation should be initiated during eating.

12:45-1:30: Nap time. During this time teachers will set up activities for after nap time meeting and the rest of the days centers.

1:30-2:00: Children wake up and head to circle for an afternoon meeting. The teacher will read a book or facilitate a reading or writing activity, sing a song, or do a show and tell for students.

2:00-3:00: Afternoon centers: These centers will play off of the morning time centers. They will build off of the information children were learning from the morning. Teachers can also modify or add manipulatives to centers that may need adjusting from the morning. This can also be a time for teachers to work one on one with students.

3:00-3:30: Afternoon snack

3:30-4:15: Outside play

4:15-4:30: Pack up belongings and find free play activity to participate in until parents arrive.

As a future teacher, it is important to me that I support emergent literacy in my classroom by making sure my students are the best readers, writers, and speakers that they can possibly be. As they conclude the school year, I want them to reflect on the school year and think “Ms. Dooley made reading fun!” Helping my students develop their reading and writing skills is something I will work closely on as these skills are extremely important for their future education. According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, “identifications of delays or disorders in literacy development typically occurs in the upper elementary grades, but research also indicates that this may be too late for redemption” (2000). My hope as a teacher, that my students never feel as though it is “too late” to increase and develop their literacy skills. It will be my job, as their teacher, to make sure that I work with them from day one to immerse them in an environment that supports their literacy development.

In my classroom, I will focus on strengthening skills such as phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, as these are essential skills in developing literacy skills (National Reading Panel, 2001). I will focus on these skills by creating a classroom environment that fosters creativity, independence, and risk-taking. I want to set up my classroom so that there is a multitude of areas around the classroom that students can practice their reading and writing skills. I will have:

• a classroom library filled with both fiction and non-fiction books of many different genres
• an area of the classroom set aside for a “read-along” of students favorite books with headphones and a cassette tape
• labels, signs, lists, and directions posted around the classroom
• an area to read independently as well as with a partner or in groups
• a journaling area where students can practice their writing skills by producing pieces about whatever they please
• encourage conversation between classmates
• have games available, such as Scrabble or Boggle for children to play during free time to have them practice their literacy skills

I want to be a model for my students as well. I want to include my students in as well as help scaffold rich conversations where students can practice new vocabulary and making their voice heard. While speaking to the class as a group, I will also write important ideas on the board. I also believe that while I am talking, students can use their own personal whiteboards to write down the important ideas I am discussing.

I am also aware that there will be students in my classroom who need certain accommodations and adapted materials. To help these students learn to the best of their ability and participate in literacy-rich opportunities, I will:

• provide adapted materials around the classroom such as tactile books and manipulates
• incorporate brail and textured materials to instructions, labels, and signs throughout the classroom
• make diverse writing materials, such as markers and keyboards available for all students
• keep to a routine that allows students with disabilities to practice old as well as new skills

Emergent literacy does not only have to be practiced in the classroom. There are many things parents can do for their children to help them practice their literacy skills. It is a teachers job to offer up suggestions in order to help parents and further help their students. I have an idea to send home a “challenge slip” each Friday for parents to try with their children over the weekend. Examples could be:

• Write a story with your child about their favorite thing they did over the weekend (don’t forget to add pictures!)
• Read a book to your child that you enjoyed as a kid!
• Download an audiobook and listen with your child
• Go to the local library and have both you and your child pick out a book that interests you. Read them to each other!
• Have your child write a new ending to their favorite book.
• Help your child read a recipe to you as you cook together.

Little activities like this can challenge children to practice their reading and writing outside of the classroom walls and help them realize that their parents are invested and can help them with their learning the same way their teacher can.

“88 percent of students who were poor readers in first grade were poor readers in fourth grade” (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [NICHD], 2000,9). Once students reach fourth grade, most of the information they need is given to them in textual format where the focus changes from learning to read, to reading to learn.”

https://via.hypothes.is/http://www.readingrockets.org/article/literacy-rich-environments

This quote caught my attention because it really shows how important it is for children to be taught in literacy rich-environments. If a child is not given the opportunity in the early stages of their education to be immersed in a classroom that gives them a chance to practice reading, writing and speaking, their education is jeopardized. Having challenges reading in first grade can significantly affect their reading skills in the future. If teachers do not put emphasis on the importance of being a strong reader, their students will suffer the consequences. As a future teacher, it is important to me that no matter which grade I am teaching, students are given the appropriate materials and opportunities to practice their reading. That way, when they reach higher grade levels, that do not need to worry about their reading skills and can worry about learning the information they need in order to further their education. This quote made me realize that as a teacher, it is important to make sure that all of my students are reading to the best of their abilities. I feel as though a child’s lack of literacy skills may slip by the teacher without them even realizing. The student themselves may not even realize they are behind their peers. This is until they get to the next grade and because of their difficulties with reading, fall even further behind their peers.

“Self-talk and parallel talk are two adult-input strategies that provide frequent models of key linguistic forms and labels; these models are incorporated into children’s common daily routines.”

https://www.speech-language-therapy.com/pdf/papers/pullenjustice2003.pdf

I found this portion of the reading titled “Enhancing Phonological Awareness, Print Awareness, and Oral Language Skills in Preschool Children” by Paige C. Pullen and Laura M. Justice to be very interesting. I can see how using both self and parallel talk can be very beneficial for students and their oral language development. Using self-talk allows for the child to fully understand and make sense of what the teacher is doing. The teacher can use self-talk and parallel talk as a way to provide new vocabulary, comparison examples, and syntactic devices to students. This allows for the student to not only hear the teacher but learn to model their speaking. In addition, using parallel talk allows children to see the importance of what they are doing and learn how to have rich conversations about their actions. Using expansions during a conversation with students is also beneficial. Expanding on student’s speech gives them a language model that is just a bit more complex than their current language. This again teaches them new vocabulary, as well as semantic and syntactic language information.

https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/sites/default/files/pdf_files/SMMbooklet.pdf

This reading sparked my interest because it discusses the benefits of Morning Meeting as well as a sample schedule. It includes interesting questions for teachers to think about and reflect on before they conduct Morning Meetings in the classroom.

The teacher in the video showed evidence of inviting students to take intellectual risks. According to the CSDE evidence guide for intellectual risk in the Pre-K classroom, the teacher created an environment where “students are willing to take intellectual risks and are encouraged to respectfully question or challenge ideas presented by the teacher or other students” (CSDE, 2014, p.7). The students in this video were given the challenge to find an object in the classroom that was the perfect size for them, meaning it fit from the bottom to the top of their hand. The teacher did not simply ask if the object was perfect for them, she asked why. While watching the video, a young boy was having trouble explaining how and why he came to the conclusion that the items he chose were the perfect fit for him. The teacher invited the student to take intellectual risks by first asking him specifically how he knew the object was the right size and what he did to figure it out.

At first, the child had trouble answering this question. He answered that he “checked.” The teacher then challenged this by asking him how he checked. She then prompted him to physically show her what he had done and provided him with fill in the blank questions to help him organize his thoughts. For example, she asked the boy “Does it go from where to where?” The student clearly knew that the object was the right size for him, but the teacher helped him use his oral language skills to explain that the block went from the bottom to the top of his hand. The teacher also helped the student compare the size of two objects by asking questions to prompt his thinking. She allowed the student to answer her questions, and even if he was incorrect, she respectfully came up with new questions to help him. The child was put in a comfortable environment where he was not afraid or embarrassed to answer the teacher’s questions even if he was having trouble.

I also noticed something interesting in the beginning of the video. As one of the students was sharing their object, another student asked if the second object was a good fit. The teacher allowed the other student to ask the question and create an enviorment where the students could have a discussion.

After a long day at work, it might be tiring for a parent to sit down and try to have a meaningful conversation with their child. It would be much more simple to turn on the TV, put on the child’s favorite show, and leave them be, right? Wrong! Just sitting with the child and engaging in conversation about something that interests them (hint: that TV show you just put on) can increase their oral language development by leaps and bounds. When it comes to children’s oral language development, the two most influential models in their lives are their parents and teachers. Children gain much of their knowledge by listening to and imitating those around them. It is important for parents and teachers to practice having rich conversations with each other, as well as with their child or student, in order for the student to develop their oral and literacy skills. Children learn by observing. Children, with the help of their teachers and parents, should be involved in “cognitively challenging conversation” (Massey, 2004) that allows them to focus on ” the here and now, and encourages them to talk about past and future events” (Massey, 2004, p. 227).

Oral development can be increased in both the home and classroom in similar ways. As mentioned above, children need to be introduced to stimulating conversation. This can be done by asking children to elaborate on their ideas, instead of simply asking yes, no or concrete questions. This can be done in the classroom while reading books and during play time. As mentioned in the article “Teacher-Child Conversation in the Preschool Classroom” teachers can ask open-ended questions about the predictions students have about the plot of a book or help children facilitate conversation with peers during pretend play.

Parents can also do this in the home. While it may take some practice, parents can use these skills during the time they spend with their children. Parents should make it a habit to get their children to practice their conversation skills the same way they do in the classroom. If parents model this to their children by speaking that way to each other, it is likely the child will catch on. For example, if two parents are cooking dinner together, they may ask the child to help. Instead of simply listing the ingredients used, the parents can discuss with each other why certain ingredients are used and for what purpose. They can ask the child, for example, to explain which ingredients are vegetables and why they think our body needs them.

All in all, both teachers and parents can be great models for oral language development and set examples for children by asking questions that get the child’s brain turning.

“Unlike videotape cameras, we human beings do not merely record our lives; we interpret them.”

https://via.hypothes.is/https://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1186&context=bai

This quote moved me when I came across it in the reading about African American History and Oral Traditions. It is interesting to think about life in this way. I agree, that when we think back on important or fundamental points during our lives, we do not just re-tell the story, we focus on how it made us feel. These feelings, whether positive or negative, force us to make interpretations of our experiences. These experiences shape us into the people we are today and can have lasting effects on our lives moving forward. Oral traditions in African-American history do just this. While they tell the story of what happened in the past, they also embody the feelings of the people who had to experience slavery and racism. Each person interprets an experience different than the next, which is why I believe it was and is so important to let these first-person accounts be heard so we can better understand the details of the past.

“It is important for the adult to be stationary during playtime: teachers are two to three times more likely to engage in cognitively challenging conversation with children when they are stationed in one location rather than circulating around the classroom during playtime.”

http://edu305.jgregorymcverry.com/readings/massey2004.pdf

This quote from the reading titled Teacher-Child Conversation in the Preschool Classroom sparked my interest. In my prior experiences working in a preschool classroom, I have been advised by the head teachers to make sure I am giving attention to each child by circling the room. This always made sense to me, as it made sure I developed relationships with each student and kept them on task. However, after seeing this quote, I tend to agree with it much more than the advice from my cooperating teachers. Staying stationed, rather than floating through the classroom, quickly chatting with each student, will allow for myself and the children to engage in stimulating and impactful conversations that will increase their oral language development. After making sure this has happened, I can then move to the next student or group of students. I can still create strong relationships with students while also facilitating rich conversation among students.

“Toddlers and preschoolers have limited expressive language skills, but parents and teachers can “listen” to their behavior – be it yelling, pushing, crying, or withdrawing – reflect it back, and help them put a name to what they are feeling.”

https://via.hypothes.is/https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/40040/the-benefits-of-helping-preschoolers-understand-and-discuss-their-emotions

This reading proposed an interesting way to think about emotions! I never really thought about using the words “happy” or “mad” could be confusing for children. It is important for them to know that their actions and behaviors have emotions that go along with them. Naming these emotions during an issue that is arising or a happy moment can help the child understand what they are feeling and why they are feeling this way.