Session+IV

Oral Language is the cornerstone of literacy learning.

 * How can you develop oral language for the child at the emergent stage?
 * What benchmarks within the emergent stage of oral language development help you think about how oral language skills develop in children?
 * How can a teacher connect oral language activities and writing?


 * The daily read-aloud has been found to be the single most important activity to build literacy in emergent readers.**


 * Choral reading of patterned books can be used to develop phonemic awareness.**


 * Linguistic awareness: the ability to use one's own knowledge of sounds and syntax when reading. This is a precursor of phonemic awareness.**


 * Phonemic awareness demonstrates that the child can segment the sounds of words.**


 * Instructional method for increasing oral vocabulary is** dialogic reading. The child becomes the storyteller responding to prompts with pictures. Show and Tell is another discourse activity.

Developmental benchmarks: p. 85 Instructional strategies: fingerplays, nursery rhymes, chalk talk, rhyme time, dialogic storytelling (p. 94), flannel board stories, telephone Assessment: rubrics to rate behaviors: p. 91

Stages of writing at the emergent level: 1. differentiation between drawings and letters 2. expanded knowledgeof words through exposure to print 3. child realizes that oral language can be written down; uses inventive spelling

Master Assessment: p. 102: You could use this when you are observing in a Pre K or Kindergarten classroom
=Chapter 4: Linking Oral Language, Literacy, Instruction and Assessment for the Early Literacy Stage=

The early reader needs daily doses of "languaging": the infusion of enriched informal communication as well as instructional language. Peer talk about texts or experiences increases the desire to read and to improve comprehension.

Developmental benchmarks at the Early literacy stage: p. 110 Instructional strategies: storytelling sessions, content area presentations, choral poetry, letter bag game, talk back to books time: What is this? p. 116 ; storyboard stories, characterfor the day

Stages of writing at the early literacy stage: Children write how they speak. They don't plan their writing, they add sentences along the way. As they mature they begin to conclude, evaluate and critique as they write.Writing then becomes the springboard for critical thinking.

When you observe in an elementary classroom observe how the teacher is implementing a "curriculum of talk". What does this mean to you?
=Classroom observations: How is everyone doing with this?=

=Chapter 5: Linking Oral Language, Literacy Instruction, and Assessment for the Fluency Stage?= Literature discussions or book talks enable children to critique a story's literacy elements such as plot, characterization or setting. Developmental benchmarks: p. 101 Accountable talk: children in second and third grade are beginning to use specific detailsin the literature to defend their opinions Instructional strategies: famous speeches, teacher think aloud, story impressions, book talk, arguing a point,reciprocal teaching, Reader's theater, group think-share, paired re-tellings, famous speech presentations,

Checklist of modeling activities: p.135