Literacy Rich Environment For Early Childhood Classrooms

3. Assessment of Literacy Development in Early Childhood is a research that was conducted by Johnson, Peter H, and Rogers, Rebecca. Both authors highly believe in assessing literacy development, since it is a huge aspect in students’ literacy development. Both authors state, “Most literacy assessment occurs in the school years because, at least in most Western countries, literacy learning is considered the responsibility of the school, though when school literacy instruction actually begins…In the United States, since the thirties, literacy-related assessment has occurred in the early years of schooling because of beliefs about the relationship between learning and development” (pg. 1).

Fact that the early childhood years are the most crucial to developing literacy skills among children

in the first language, and it is the language that children begin to construct their knowledge and form meaningful communicative relationships” (p. 1). According to Karen Ford (2017), “Parents are also instrumental in supporting early language development” (p. 3) in the ELL student. With that being said, successful early childhood programs build upon the knowledge the young learners bring from home. Children come to literacy learning with varying knowledge; henceforth, the pathway to literacy is developmental. It’s the educator’s responsibility to assess and start where that child is developmentally and build on `prior experiences and knowledge. Educators must know their students as individuals, including their interest, their attitudes about reading, and their school and home experiences to provide robust classroom instruction with learning opportunity to meet individual needs.

Competence and confidence in literacy, including competence in the three major areas, reading, writing, speaking and listening, are essential for progress in all areas of the curriculum. To broaden and enhance children’s literacy skills, opportunities need to be given by providing them with a wide range of different contexts in which to use and practice there skills. With reference to the aims of the Primary Framework for Literacy ‘To support and

Educators can aid in ensuring that these staggering statistics do not continue on to our future generations. Preschool and elementary teachers have the power to combat these literacy deficits by creating a solid literacy foundation within their classroom. The most important benefit of having a solid literacy foundation is its effectiveness in providing students with a variety of

Providing children with an environment that nurtures their social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development is the framework that will promote children’s optimal learning and development. Gaining knowledge about the child will help a teacher to develop and create programs that are suitable for the age and the stages of children’s development. Applying developmentally appropriate practices will support the excellence in early childhood education because it is based off of the knowledge of knowing each child as an individual and how they develop.

This paper is an academic critique of a research article by Karen L. Gischlar and Joanne P. Vesay entitled: Literacy Curricula and Assessment: A Survey of Early Childhood Educators in two States. I was attracted to this article because being an early educator myself, I know how important literacy instructions is in the early years. It intrigued me to read about the types of curricula and assessment used by other educators to assess young children learning. The purpose of the article was to survey early childhood educators regarding their literacy practices and the assessments implemented in their classroom. However, the goal was to determine to what extent preschool teachers addressed literacy skills areas through classroom instructions. (Gischlar & Vesay 2014, p. 298). The authors believed that teachers should be using literacy curricula to teach literacy skills and get proper training in how to monitor students’ progress. If such curricula are not being implemented, then explicit instructions in early literacy instruction should be conducted daily. This paper will provide a critical review of the methods used, the result of the study and the authors discussion of the article.

Children that are exposed to different types of print and books are better readers and writers than those that have not been exposed to print and books. There should be a lot of reading material in the child’s environment, home and school. Exposing your child to bookstores and libraries at an early age will foster the child’s interest in literature. Another way early childhood literacy can be formed is giving your child support and encouragement for your child’s progress in literacy. A caregiver can help increase a child’s literacy by reading storybooks to the child, getting the child involved in activities that help them in reading and writing and applying them. This is done by providing learning opportunities so the child can use what they have learnt and making sure there is the right print materials. Having the caregivers model literacy activities with the children enhances the child’s literacy and helps them to want to be engaged in it. (Strickland, D. S., & Riley-Ayers, S. (2006, April). When a child grows up in a place where an adult shows the child literacy behavior they will want to do the same behavior. This can be writing a letter, reading or just writing a shopping

Recently the term “reading readiness” has given way “emergent literacy” by which we mean the many skills children need for reading and writing. From the time they were born and continuing through the preschool years, each child picks up in his or her own way. Listening, speaking, reading and writing are all part of emergent literacy. Literacy really begins when an infant coos or babbles, then hears those sound repeated by a responsive and loving adults. These early conversation, which can make adults feel a little silly, and a gentle introduction to spoken language

Emergent literacy intervention is most beneficial when it begins early in the preschool period because these difficulties are persistent and often affect children's further language and literacy learning throughout the school years. Promoting literacy development, however, is not confined to young children. Older children, particularly those with speech and language impairments, may be functioning in the emergent literacy stage and require intervention aimed at establishing and strengthening these skills that are essential to learning to read and write.

“Literacy learning has a profound and lasting effect on the social and academic lives of children. Their future educational opportunities and career choices are directly related to literacy ability. Since early childhood is the period when language develops most rapidly, it is imperative that young children are provided with a variety of developmentally appropriate literacy experiences throughout each day, and that the classroom environment is rich with language, both spoken and printed. Early childhood teachers are responsible for both understanding the developmental continuum of language and literacy and for supporting each child’s literacy development.

Educators are charged with not only teaching the content of their subject, but also responsible for creating a learning environments that fosters communication, engagement, and reflection so that the students will be prepared for their future careers and learning. Creating a classroom that fosters reading and writing is one way to engage students while promoting that they reflect on the material and communicate their understanding or misconceptions of the content. In order to form a literacy-rich classroom educators need to increase the amount of time students interact with all forms of print and literacy and the classroom environment is an essential key to setting the precedent and model behaviors that will make students more successful and capable of high level learning. (Tyson, 2013)

Creating a literacy-rich environment is one of the key elements of supporting children’s literacy development. Literacy-rich classrooms tend to look quite different than the traditional classroom, covered in pre-made posters and arranged with individual desks in rows, and instead, allow for teachers to design their classrooms with their students’ needs in mind. According to an article on the Sadlier School’s blog, all elements in a classroom must be meaningful, intentional, purposeful, and engaging when creating a literacy-rich classroom. This means that classroom design is created in a way that it provides frequent opportunities to be exposed to text via environmental print, instruction, and hands-on learning as well as encouraging communication and collaboration (Sadlier School, 2017).

a) The author intends to show the reader how parents (or households) play a crucial role in the development of their children’s literacy skills. Specifically the article sheds light on the importance of shared reading between parents and children. The article also discusses different techniques or strategies that can be used during said shared reading, in order to ensure proper literacy training.

My philosophy of literacy is centered on providing a learning environment rich in authentic literature, instruction that is engaging, fun, and balanced, collaborative, and also involving families in the child’s education. My ultimate goal of literacy instruction is to help children become lifelong readers and writers by providing the skills necessary to comprehend, construct, and make meaning of text, speak, and write. (Torgesen, 2002). According to the National Reading Panel, there are five essential components that must be taught in effective reading programs: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. (Reading Horizons). According to Konza (2014), reading instruction should be changed to six foundational reading elements, adding oral language and early literacy. I also believe that early literacy should be