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Supporting Language and Literacy in the Early Years
David K. [email protected]
Lynch School of EducationBoston College
New York State Even Start Conference
Language & Literacy and Social Development & Self-Regulation
• Language is social. It is used to:– Create and deepen relationships.– Solve problems.– Share experience and knowledge.– Play with friends.
• Language helps with self regulation:– It helps with understanding emotions.of
oneself and others.– It can provide self-control strategies.
• Strong language and literacy builds a sense of competence and efficacy.
Language Is Fostered In and Helps Build Strong Relationships
• Teachers’ ratings of closeness to children is linked to children’s rate of growth.
• More positive emotional climate is linked to more extended and intellectually challenging conversations.
• Why? – Teachers learn about children through
extended conversations.
– Children feel valued.
Question
Language is key for social/emotional development of
children. What strategies would you model with parents to
promote language in ways
that will help children grow socially and emotionally?
Question
Adults learn about children through extended conversations with them. Give examples of what you do now to encourage
conversation between you and the child. What are some new ideas
on how you will do this?
Why Such a Focus on Literacy?• Reading failure is bad for you.
– Poor employment opportunities.
– More likely to be involved in crime.
– Poorer health.
• Early difficulty has serious implications.– Less likely to have academic success.
– More likely to drop out.
• The children you serve are at increased risk of reading failure.
• Your program can have a huge impact.
Components of Early Literacy
Reading & Writing
Extended Discourse
Rich Vocabulary
PhonologicalSensitivity
PhonemicAwareness
Letter knowledge
Sound-symbolcorrespondence
Uses of Print
WorldKnowledge
Question
What new ideas did you gain that you might use to design future
intentional instruction sessions with parents to implement the
components of early
literacy?
Question
What resources would you use to help explain the different components of
early literacy to parents and how they all fit together?
Question
What are some strategies and activities staff can demonstrate for
parents, to reinforce their children’s skill development in the various components of early literacy?
Oral Language: From Conversations to Literacy
Conversations• Short turns• Check understanding• Shared experiences &
knowledge• In the same location:
– Gesture– Eye gaze
• Intonation signals how you feel, marks importance
Reading• No turns!• You monitor alone• Cannot assume
shared knowledge• Not shared location• No “voice” to signal
feeling or importance• Rely on words, syntax
(grammar), world knowledge
Occasions That Give Rise to Literacy-Supporting Language
Content that moves beyond the
immediate present: • recounting past and future events
• discussing objects that are not present
• considering ideas and language
• speculating, wondering
• pretending
Finding Time: Implications for Classrooms and Homes
• Find special times to talk– Meal times
– Waiting
– Traveling
– Book Reading
– Others …
• Protect those special times– Set up and maintain routines for talking
– Model good listening by ignoring distractions
– Draw other children into the conversation
Question
What do you do now to promote literacy supporting language with
parents?
Question
How can you help parents use
conversation that moves beyond the
immediate present?
Question
Give specific examples of how, where and when this can happen.
Why Your Efforts to
Support Language Are Vital
Vocabulary Experience VariesHart & Risley, Meaningful Differences
Home & School Study of Language & Literacy
• Visited homes & classrooms from age 3. • Audio-taped teachers and children
throughout the day. • Assessed language & literacy beginning
in kindergarten. Continued to grade 7. Dickinson & Tabors, 2001, Beginning Literacy
with Language, Paul Brookes Publishing Co. (www.brookespubishing.com)
Predicting Children’s Kindergarten Receptive Vocabulary Scores
Using Home Control and Classroom Variables from Dickinson & Tabors, Beginning Literacy with Language, Brookes Publishing
18
41
28 27
49
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
*Significant composites
Controls*
Extended TeacherDiscourse (ETD)*
Curriculum Focus(CF)*
Controls + VocabularyEnvironment (VE)*
Controls + ETD* +CC* + VE*
Correlations Between Kindergarten Predictors and Grade Seven Reading & Oral Vocabulary
from Dickinson & Tabors, Beginning Literacy with Language, Brookes Publishing
Comprehension7th Grade(n = 51)
Decoding7th Grade(n = 51)
ReceptiveVoc. (K)
.69 .58
Early Lit. (K) .62 .54
Closing Questions
As David Dickinson said, “we play an important role in the effort to
improve the language/literacy statistics of most-in-need families.”
Question 1
What is your greatest accomplishment in moving your parents towards the Even Start
Parenting education literacy goals.
Question 2
How can you accomplish the goal of helping parents realize their role
in supporting their child’s language and literacy
development?
Question 3
Based on what you learned in the video and from other research, what
are your specific next steps for parenting education?