Helping Young Children Learn Language and Literacy

Emphasizing diversity, this book provides instructional assessment guidelines, teaching strategies, and classroom management suggestions designed to facilitate reading, writing, speaking, and listening development for children between the ages of two and five. Case studies give concrete illustration to major points. Appendixes feature reading lists and Internet resources. The authors teach education, curriculum, and instruction at American universities. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

In the Third Edition of this widely popular book, pre-service and in-service teachers get sound instructional strategies for teaching the language arts to young children from birth to kindergarten and enhancing their reading, writing, speaking, and listening development. In a very readable manner, the internationally recognized  authors place children at the center of all good language and literacy teaching, while focusing on four central themes that run throughout the book: two perspectives in children’s language and early literacy learning–emergent literacy and scientifically based reading research–the increasing diversity of our society and schools, the connection between assessment and good teaching, and the importance of the family in young children’s language and literacy development.

 

The unique focus of the book integrates emergent literacy and scientifically based reading research, diversity, and instruction-based assessment and translates principles into practice for teachers of early literacy. A wealth of pedagogical features is included to make the concepts clear and in this new edition . . .

 

·         Information on organizing the classroom and creating time schedules that maximize children’s learning opportunities is now included in a new chapter (Ch. 4

 

·         The importance of meeting the needs of children whose home language is not English is emphasized.

 

·         The importance of early childhood teachers connecting with their young learners’ families is a focus of the new edition.

 

·         A case study of a young English-speaking child’s early literacy acquisition is presented in Chapter 3.

 

·         The book stresses the importance of national and state standards in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten education.

 

·         Information on assessment of young children’s language and literacy development has been organized into one chapter (Ch.9).