Designing Early Literacy Programs, First Edition

Taking professionals and students step-by-step through conceptualizing, planning, and implementing an effective early literacy program, this practical book focuses on preventing reading difficulties and promoting success in at-risk 3-5 year olds.

The authors draw on their extensive research and many years of influential work in real classrooms to create realistic and readily usable resources. A comprehensive framework is shown for helping young children construct meaning from different kinds of texts, develop key oral language skills and learn concepts about print and the alphabet. Ideas for tailoring instruction to the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse learners are accompanied by clear assessment guidelines.

Concluding chapters bring the authors' approach to life with vivid depictions of a preschool and a kindergarten classroom in action. Two invaluable appendices provide additional useful resources: reproducible sheets for conducting literacy assessments and a primer on phonics for teachers.

With a current lack of resources for pre-kindergarten, this book offers practical, how-to-do-it suggestions for setting up literacy activities and arranging the classroom environment.