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Early Language & Literacy KnowledgeBase

The Early Language and Literacy KnowledgeBase is an online resource supporting language and literacy development in early learners from birth through age eight. Its focus is to support parents and caregivers in helping early learners with their language and literacy development, and teachers in enhancing their instruction for early learners from pre-Kindergarten through Grade 3.

Element 1: The Developing Early Learner

Purpose: Understanding the early learner's overall development lays the foundation for effective early language and literacy development. As early learners develop their language and literacy skills, cognitive abilities, emotional and social maturity, and physical capabilities, it is important to be aware these domains are all interconnected. This interconnectedness is a critical piece in the support of literacy and language development. Possessing such awareness may be helpful to teachers of early learners to enhance their teaching methods. Element 1 provides resources about the development of early learners and the role of family, caregivers, and first teachers with language and literacy development from birth through age eight.

Activity 1: Understand the Continuum of Child Development of the Early Learner

Activity 2: Understand the Role of Literacy in the Family

Element 2: Developing an Early Language and Literacy Learning Profile

Purpose: Understanding the status of early language and literacy in the early childhood care and educational environment at the community level is necessary to improve language and literacy development among early learners. Gathering information about the community helps members, including families, schools, and early childhood educators and caregivers, to understand the local landscape of early language and literacy.

Gathering information about the community is an important part of understanding the early childhood educational environment.

Activity 1: Build a Community Literacy Profile

Activity 2: Build an Early Child Care and School Literacy Profile

Element 3: The Foundation for Learning to Read and Write

Purpose: The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) defines early literacy as "what children know about reading and writing before they actually learn to read and write." This Element explores the foundation for learning to read and write, focusing on language development and emergent literacy skills.

Activity 1: Understand Language Development

Activity 2: Understand Emergent Literacy Milestones, Terminology, and Stages

Activity 3: Intentional Instruction to Enhance Language and Emergent Literacy Development

Sub-task 1: Ready Schools


Tools

Transitioning to Kindergarten: A Toolkit for Early Childhood Educators

This link to the Recognition and Response website provides a toolkit to help early childhood educators support the transition to Kindergarten for early learners. As noted at the website, the toolkit "is a comprehensive resource for educators that include tools and materials to help implement strategies to facilitate and enhance children's transition to kindergarten." The Response and Recognition website was developed and is managed by the National Center for Learning Disabilities.

Practical Tips

Transition to Kindergarten...Ready, Set, Go

This link is to information about the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools program supporting early learners in their transition to Kindergarten. The information is offered as an example of how one urban school district approaches this transition. Links to information sheets for families and teachers are available through this link.

References

Dual Language Learners in the Early Years: Getting Ready to Succeed in School

This National Clearinghouse on English Language Acquisition report explores the issues associated with school readiness among young dual language learners.

Easing the Transition from Pre K to Kindergarten

This strategy brief of the National Center for Family and Community Connection with Schools explores what schools and families can do to ease an early learner's transition from Pre K to Kindergarten.

Enhancing the Transition to Kindergarten Linking Families, Children, and Schools

This manual, developed by the National Center for Early Development & Learning Kindergarten Transition Project at the University of Virginia, describes an approach to facilitating the transition to Kindergarten. As noted in its introduction, it "focuses on forming a network of social connections that support children and families during the transition to school. These connections include interactions between children and teachers, children and peers, parents and teachers, as well as preschool teachers and kindergarten teachers."

Successful Transition to Kindergarten: The Role of Teachers and Parents

This article from the Early Childhood News describes the role of teachers and parents in early learners' transition to Kindergarten.

Terrific Transitions

This link to the Terrific Transitions website provides information on the early learners' transition from preschool to Kindergarten. As noted at the website, "it is a collaborative effort of the SERVE Regional Educational Laboratory and the National Head Start Association. Our goal is to provide a wide variety of transition information and resources for families, professionals, and community partnerships to use as they address children's transitions into kindergarten."

The Roles and Responsibility of an Early Childhood Teacher

This article from the Childcare Education Institute's August 2008 newsletter discussed the roles and responsibilities of an early childhood teacher.

The Vital Role of Early Childhood Teachers in Children's Literacy and Language Development

This brief summarizes the finding from the Foundations of Literacy Study, University of Nevada, Reno. The brief identifies the role early childhood teachers have in early literacy and language development. Though intended for Nevada educators, the findings may be useful to educators of early learners in other states.


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Element 4: Becoming a Reader and Writer

Purpose: This Element explores learning to read and write, focusing on the transitions from pre-school to Kindergarten and Kindergarten to first grade and the importance of a child-centered curriculum. Additionally, the Element delineates the research-based components of learning to read and write.

Activity 1: Transitions

Activity 2: The Learning Environment

Activity 3: A Child-Centered Curriculum

Activity 4: Reading Instruction

Activity 5: Writing Instruction

Activity 6: Creative Expression

Activity 7: Technology, Reading, and Writing

Activity 8: Teaching All Children to Read and Write

Element 5: Standards for Early Childhood Teaching and Learning

Purpose: Standards for early learning include those for educators of early learners, state-level early learning guidelines or standards, and applicable national standards. Educators of early learners need to be aware of the standards impacting licensure and instruction. This Element provides information about applicable standards impacting educators of early learners and their students.

Activity 1: Be Aware of Standards for Early Childhood Educators

Activity 2: Be Aware of Early Childhood Learning Standards

Activity 3: Align Curriculum and Instruction to Standards

Element 6: Building Support for Early Learning Programs

Purpose: Building support for language and literacy development of early learners involves the participation of parents and caregivers, the business community, local community groups, and educational and state governmental leaders. To promote and enhance early learner language and development, educators need to be aware of the role each group plays and how to communicate with them. This Element provides resources to help educators of early learners gain such awareness.

Activity 1: Develop Parent, Caregivers, and Community Support

Activity 2: Interact with Advocates and Policy Makers

Element 7: Using Data to Improve Early Learning Outcomes

Purpose: Formative and summative assessments and observations provide the basis for planning instruction, making adjustments, and refining future assessments. Assessment results show educators of early learners where changes need to be made in instructional approaches for groups of students or individual students. The assessment outcomes also show parents of early learners how their child is progressing. This Element explores how to use data to improve learning outcomes for early learners.

Activity 1: Use Multidimensional Learning Data

Activity 2: Use Data to Improve Instruction and Increase Learning

Activity 3: Inform and Collect Feedback from Constituencies