Helping Young Children Learn Language And Literacy: Birth Through Kindergarten

The unique focus of this second edition of "Helping Young Children Learn Language and Literacy: Birth through Kindergarten" integrates constructivist learning, diversity, and instruction-based assessment, and helps translate principles into practice for emergent literacy teachers. "Why Reviewers Can't Put This Book Down: " "This text provides far more examples of real children's language and literacy acquisition than other texts do. It grounds theory in practice, and its strong emphasis on using children's literature to support language and literacy acquisition make it a valuable resource for instructors and students alike." "-Jennifer Geringer, University of Northern Colorado" "The philosophical base for this book is absolutely right on target. Constructivism, respect for diversity, and instruction-based assessment are essential for any effective Early Childhood program. The authors did an excellent job keeping these threads throughout the book." "-Mary Medo, University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee" "I love the organization of the text! It will be a great help for students who may not be motivated to read because of the vignettes, questions, and term definitions at the start of the chapters and the summaries at the end. This is SQ4R in action! This is also a good model for the students as future teachers." "-Diane S. Maletta, Purdue University North Central" Unlike any other book on the market for ages birth--kindergarten, "Helping Young Children Learn Language and Literacy" blends a constructivist/emergent literacy perspective with science-based instructional practices that have proven successful in supporting young children's reading, writing, and speaking development. Renowned andrespected authors Vukelich, Christie, and Enz describe a continuum of approaches to reading instruction, ranging from emergent literacy to scientifically based reading research. They advocate a combination of meaningful engagements with print and age-appropriate instruction on core literacy skills. There is also extensive coverage of working with children from diverse backgrounds, family literacy, and assessment strategies that can be used to inform instruction. What's NEW TO THIS EDITION?

• New chapters cover the national literacy policies and initiatives, and science-based reading research.
• Increased attention to standardized tests, while maintaining strong emphasis on classroom-based, ongoing assessments with new strategies.
• Bold new activities, such as "Linking Knowledge to Practice," help students connect theory to practices they observe in preschool and kindergarten classrooms.

"The unique focus of this text integrates constructivist learning, diversity, and instruction-based assessment, and helps translate principles into practice for emergent literacy teachers." Unlike any other text on the market for ages Birth-Kindergarten, this text blends a constructivist/emergent literacy perspective with "science-based" instructional practices that have proved successful in supporting young children's reading, writing, and speaking development.