Keyword: Early Literacy
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The Science of Reading in Preschool
The science of reading is the body of research focused on how we learn to read. In this Q&A, we respond to several questions about the science of reading in preschool.
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Communication and Oral Language Development in Infants and Toddlers
This resource list provides a collection of resources on how infants and toddlers develop communication and oral language.
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Communication and Oral Language in the Preschool Years
This resource list provides a collection of resources on how preschool-aged children develop communication and oral language.
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Learning Literacy Through Songs and Music
This resource list provides a collection of resources on how young children learn literacy through songs and music.
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Early Reading and Writing with Preschoolers
This resource list provides a collection of resources on preschool early reading and writing.
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Helping Young Children Get Ready to Read
Even very young children are learning to listen to words in order to gain speech and language skills. While this is happening, they are exploring print in books and throughout their environment in order to make connections between print and spoken words. This tool kit will provide information on print awareness, oral language, phonological awareness,…
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The Power of Open-Ended Questions
Open-ended questions and phrases allow children to provide a full and meaningful answer that conveys their thoughts and feelings.
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Maybe We Can Make a Road!
In this video, two children are playing at a sensory table filled with gravel, miniature road signs, and toy cars. The teacher introduces two unique words, terrain and yield, to the children as she plays side by side with them.
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Resources to Help Serve Dual Language Learners (DLLs)
Across Illinois, early childhood programs serve a very culturally and linguistically diverse group of children and families.
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Sing Pío, Pío, Pío
A strong foundation for early literacy learning is created when caregivers and children read together, starting in infancy. Every time a caregiver reads, sings, and talks with a young child, they are building the child’s vocabulary and language skills.
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Let’s Write a Grocery List
Caregivers can engage children in early writing experiences such as list making to support their early literacy skill development.
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Toot, Honk, Splish
Reading books is an important way a caregiver can support the development of a young child’s language and literacy during the infant-toddler years. As children grow, they become more attentive and able to participate in book sharing.
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Strategies for Developmentally Appropriate “Show and Tell” in Early Childhood Classrooms
The key to Show and Tell is to make it developmentally appropriate for the children who are participating to encourage optimal engagement and learning.
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Language and Literacy in Inclusive Early Childhood Programs
In this interview, we speak with Elise Prosser, a speech language pathologist from the Urbana Early Childhood School in Urbana, IL. Ms. Prosser received her bachelor’s degree in speech and hearing science and master’s degree in speech language pathology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has been working in the schools as a…
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Language Development, Communication, and Literacy
This Early Learning Moment provides an overview of the Language Development, Communication, and Literacy domain of the Illinois Early Learning Guidelines for Children Birth to Age 3. This section of the guidelines describes how infants and toddlers learn to understand and communicate about the world with other people. This section also describes how children develop…
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Get Ready to Read
Set your young child up for reading and writing by building knowledge, skills, and habits that create a strong foundation for future literacy.
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Preventing That Summer Slide
Increasing young DLLs’ language skills and vocabulary in their heritage language is important for learning future academic skills.
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Retelling “Caps for Sale”
Children gain great comprehension and communication skills when they have the opportunity for rich discussion during read-aloud times. Stories read aloud also can provide opportunities for children to use their memory skills and retell stories with their peers and teachers.
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Talking About Numbers and Letters
In this video, 4-year-old Martín plays with letters in a bilingual prekindergarten classroom, where teachers provide instruction in both Spanish and English.
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Maintaining Home Language Is a Great Gift
Young children are like sponges and take in a lot of information from their environment and process it to learn new things.
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Phonological Awareness in Young Children
This list contains a variety of resources associated with phonological awareness in young children.
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Encouraging Literacy Development in Preschoolers
This list contains a variety of resources associated with literacy development for preschoolers.
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Encouraging Literacy Development in Infants and Toddlers
This list contains a variety of resources which can be helpful to teachers, parents, and caregivers in order to encourage literacy development in infants and toddlers.
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Supporting the Literacy Development of Diverse Language Learners in Early Childhood Classrooms
This list contains a variety of resources associated with supporting the literacy of development of diverse language learners in early childhood classrooms.
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Pretty Up High
This clip shows the caregiver engaging in a nice interaction with Devan and expressing interest in what he is doing.
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Down There
The video takes place in a toddler room of a university laboratory child care and preschool. Max (19 months) and Levi (27 months) are in the glider chair looking at a nursery rhyme book together. They are engaged in the books for a short while and then begin to rock the chair together. The nearby…
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Reading Partners: Sharing the Lead in Storybook Reading
Bilingual couples often hope that their children will grow up fluent in each of their languages. Reading storybooks in both languages can help support this ability. This clip shows the benefits of repeated readings of a familiar book in both English and Spanish.
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Dads Read
In this clip, the two dads model several ways to encourage very young children to begin to engage with the process of reading books.
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Connecting with Concepts and Skills
In this video Lisa models several ways you can help children connect with new vocabulary and concepts through reading their favorite books with them.
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Mack Reads His Book
The teachers have encouraged Mack and his classmates to make their own books related to what they have learned during the project.
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Sharing Informational Books With Young Children
This Q&A describes informational books and the many ways they can be shared with young children.
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Scribbling as Early Steps to Reading and Writing
Young children tend to love colors and making marks with pens, pencils, crayons, and markers. An easy home activity is setting up a “coloring or writing” space with markers, paper, tablets, and even old magazines.
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Celebrate Multicultural Children’s Book Day
It’s wonderful to have a special day to focus our awareness on multicultural children’s books and their authors.
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Project Approach: Phase 1—Getting Started
Here are some tips to help with getting the project started.
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Sharing Books with Your Preschooler
Read aloud to your preschooler—for enjoyment and for long-term benefits!
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Things to Do While You’re Waiting: Language and Literacy
You can help your child get ready to read while you’re on the move!
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The Gift of Words: Reading and Games
Knowing many words and understanding them are important in developing thinking skills and in getting ready to read.
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The Gift of Words: Conversation and Routines
Here are some ways for busy parents to add to a child’s school readiness with the gift of new words.
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Reading Stories Can Feed the Imagination and Spur Brain Development
Reading stories introduces children to new words that go beyond their daily conversations.
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Creating Books With Young Dual Language Learners
Young children love to hear and tell their own stories.
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Read with Your Toddler!
Making reading a part of family life will help your child be ready to do well in school.
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Learning New Words Through Read Alouds
One of the delightful ways to engage with young children is through reading books aloud.
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What Puppets Can Mean to Children
Part of the appeal of puppets is that they can “behave” like people while not exactly being people.
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Maintaining Home Language Is Key to Later Reading in English
One of the most important ways families, teachers, and caregivers of young dual language learners (DLLs) can promote development is by connecting words children have learned in their home language to words in English.
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Literacy across the Preschool Curriculum
Adults can combine words and pictures to create printed materials that children can easily read.
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Young Authors at Work: Story Dictations
Preschoolers who haven’t yet learned to write can still be authors when they dictate their stories to an adult.
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Young Authors at Work: Literature Response Journals
Literature response journals encourage children to draw, write, and talk about the books you share with them.
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What’s Next? Predictions at Story Time
You can involve older preschoolers in making predictions when you read them a book that they haven’t heard before.
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Using Predictable Books with Young Children
A predictable book is one that features patterns, sequences, and connections in the illustrations or words that enable children to guess “what comes next” in the story.
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The Power of the Pen: Let Children Choose Writing Centers!
When children see the power of written words, they want to write, too.