Synopses & Reviews
Help the children in your school or district become successful early readers with the second edition of this field-tested, activity-based curriculum, an effective way to supplement children's instruction without giving up current language arts programming. This book gives teachers more than 60 culturally sensitive, developmentally appropriate activities that were tested for 10 years under research and practical conditions. Activities are organized into three sections emphasizing key elements of reading success: print awareness, metalinguistic skills, and oral language skills. Modifications are included for children with disabilities, and the early literacy activities for children and parents help strengthen the home–school literacy link.
Revised in response to ongoing field testing and research, the new edition of this popular activity book retains the first edition's focus on preacademic language and literacy skills and gives teachers practical updates and timely new material. Teachers will get
- a new, two-part literacy assessment
- a sample record sheet for tracking children's progress
- 11 new activities
- more explicit teaching instructions
- helpful Tips for Teachers
- updated research
With the fun, proven activities in this book, kindergarten teachers will equip children with the emergent literacy skills they'll need to succeed in school.
Review
"An exemplary resource for guiding high-quality literacy instruction in kindergarten programs. It provides a theoretically sound, scientifically based, and comprehensive approach to differentiate literacy instruction for general learners as well as those who are struggling." Laura Justice, Ph.D.
Synopsis
This book gives kindergarten teachers more than 60 field tested, developmentally appropriate activities that help children develop the emergent literacy skills they'll need to succeed in school.; ;
About the Author
Rollanda E. O'Connor, Ph.D., is a reading specialist and an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh and has a doctoral degree in special education from the University of Washington in Seattle. Dr. O'Connor taught reading in special and general education classrooms for 16 years, directed an in-service consortium for general and special educators on strategies for educating children with disabilities in general education classes, and conducted research to develop literacy skills for young children with disabilities. Dr. O'Connor's research has focused on two themes: the feasibility and effectiveness of incorporating phonological awareness instruction into programs for children at risk for reading difficulties in general education classes and factors that influence accessibility of reading instruction. She has taught teachers to use activities designed to improve the reading development of their children during large- and small-group instruction. The factors identified in these studies have been incorporated in the activities in Ladders to Literacy.
Angela Notari Syverson, Ph.D., is Senior Researcher at the Washington Research Institute in Seattle. Her work focuses on early literacy and language assessment and intervention. She has authored books and journal publications in these areas and is co-author of Ladders to Literacy: A Preschool Activity Book (Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 1998), an early literacy curriculum developed for use in inclusive education environments. Dr. Notari Syverson's educational background includes degrees in psychology and communication disorders from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and a doctorate in early childhood special education from the University of Oregon in Eugene. Her professional experience involves working with children who have a variety of communication disorders and developmental delays and their families both in the United States of America and in Switzerland. She has directed federal research, demonstration, and training projects in the area of early language and literacy at the Washington Research Institute and the University of Washington, Seattle. Dr. Notari-Syverson's current research interests are adult–child interactions, assessment, and intervention in multicultural and multilinguistic contexts. She has lived and worked in different countries and is fluent in three languages.
Patricia Vadasy, Ph.D., is Senior Researcher at Washington Research Institute in Seattle, Washington, where she conducts research on early reading instruction. She is most interested in research that may help children at risk for reading disabilities and children who are English language learners. Patricia and her colleagues have developed programs that paraeducator tutors can effectively use to supplement reading instruction for beginning readers.
Table of Contents
About the Authors
Foreword
Joseph R. Jenkins Acknowledgments
I: Theoretical Framework for Early Literacy- The Development of Early Literacy
- The Role of Scaffolding
- Implementing Ladders to Literacy
- Measuring Early Literacy Skills
II: Print AwarenessShared Storybook Reading with Finger Pointing
Snack/Lunch/Treat Menu
Letters and Sounds
Following Recipes
Morning/Afternoon Message and News
I Found . . .
Fill in the Blanks
Making Books
Cumulative Letter Knowledge
Photography
Sorting Objects
Pocket Children
Science Projects
Long Jump
Writing Words
My First Journal
Classroom Post Office
Landscapes and Maps
Bend It Back
The Transition to Reading Words
Segment-to-Spell
III: Phonological AwarenessRhythmic Activities
Listening to Songs
Clap the Syllables
Sound Isolation
Blending Stretched Sounds
Nursery Rhymes
Rhyming Pictures
Rhyming Triplets
Stop on a First Sound—Stretched Segmenting
Stop on a First Sound—Iteration
Pretend Play with Miniature Toys
First Sound Song
Guess the Word (Blending)
I'm Thinking of a...(Blending by Category)
Word to Word Matching Game: First Sound/Last Sound
Sing a First Sound
First Sound and Last Sound Bingo
Segmenting with Onset-Rime Boxes
Stop on a Last Sound
Segmenting into Three Phonemes
Where Is It?
Onset-Rime with First Letter
IV: Oral LanguageShow and Tell
Food Talk
Power Words
Enacting Storybooks
What Did You Hear?
Portraits
Feeling Objects
From This to That
Treasure Boxes
Book Review/Story Grammar
Book Buddy
Interviews
Movie Reviews
Foreign Languages: Let's Say it Another Way!
Special Words
My Dream
Brainstorming
Let's Find Out! Bibliography
Appendix A: Blank Forms
Appendix B: Early Literacy Activities for Children and Parents & Parents' Guide to Literacy Activities
Appendix C: Glossary
Index