Preparing Children for Reading Success: Hands-On Activities for Librarians, Educators, and Caregivers will not only familiarize anyone who reads to young children with the essentials of promoting early and emerging literacy, but also contains more than 25 ready-to-go activities that can be immediately used to foster this critical skill development. Following a basic overview of preliteracy skills that prepare children for reading success, the book contains field-tested, proven activities that promote success in each of the following skill sets: · Alphabet knowledge · Print concepts · Book handling skills · Phonological sensitivity · Expressive vocabulary Each of the activities is described in detail and linked to a popular children’s book. This is a must-have how-to for anyone interested in promoting emerging literacy.

Make sure your children grow dendrites! As children′s first teachers, parents need to provide a firm foundation for lifelong learning. In this new book, award-winning educator Marcia L. Tate provides a research-based road map for raising respectful, responsible children who achieve to their fullest potential. The best-selling author, mother, and grandmother shares brain-compatible strategies for guiding children toward personal, academic, and career success. Her latest book provides parents and caregivers with a wealth of practical tips and tools for: Creating a calm and brain-compatible home environment Incorporating positive physical contact and verbal communication Encouraging play that develops creativity and imagination Strengthening children′s auditory, tactile, kinesthetic, and visual modes of learning Preparing Children for Success in School and Lifeshows parents how to help children′s brains "grow dendrites" in everyday ways such as telling them stories, using music to enhance memory, turning homework time into fun time, and allowing them freedom to draw and write. From day one through graduation and beyond, you and your family will reap the benefits of the author′s 30+ years of experience with thousands of children.

A devastatingly large number of people in America cannot read as well as they need for success in life. With literacy problems plaguing as many as four in ten children in America, this book discusses how best to help children succeed in reading. This book identifies the most important questions and explores the authoritative answers on the topic of how children can grow into readers, including: What are the key elements all children need in order to become good readers? What can parents and caregivers provide all children so that they are prepared for reading instruction by the time that they get to school? What concepts about language and literacy should be included in beginning reading instruction? How can we prevent reading difficulties starting with infants and into the early grades? What to ask school boards, principals, elected officials, and other policy makers who make decisions regarding early reading instruction. You'll find out how to help youngsters build word recognition, avoid comprehension problems, and moreâ€"with checklists of specific accomplishments to be expected at different ages: for very young children, for kindergarten students, and for first, second, and third grade students. Included are 55 activities to do with children to help them become successful readers, a list of recommended children's books, and a guide to CD-ROMs and websites. Great strides have been made recently toward identifying the best ways to teach children to read. Starting Out Right provides a wealth of knowledge based on a summary of extensive research. It is a "must read" for specialists in primary education as well as parents, pediatricians, child care providers, tutors, literacy advocates, policy makers, and teachers.

While most children learn to read fairly well, there remain many young Americans whose futures are imperiled because they do not read well enough to meet the demands of our competitive, technology-driven society. This book explores the problem within the context of social, historical, cultural, and biological factors. Recommendations address the identification of groups of children at risk, effective instruction for the preschool and early grades, effective approaches to dialects and bilingualism, the importance of these findings for the professional development of teachers, and gaps that remain in our understanding of how children learn to read. Implications for parents, teachers, schools, communities, the media, and government at all levels are discussed. The book examines the epidemiology of reading problems and introduces the concepts used by experts in the field. In a clear and readable narrative, word identification, comprehension, and other processes in normal reading development are discussed. Against the background of normal progress, Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children examines factors that put children at risk of poor reading. It explores in detail how literacy can be fostered from birth through kindergarten and the primary grades, including evaluation of philosophies, systems, and materials commonly used to teach reading.

TEACH YOUR STUDENTS TO READ WITH PRECISION AND INSIGHT The world we are preparing our students to succeed in is one bound together by words and phrases. Our students learn their literature, history, math, science, or art via a firm foundation of strong reading skills. When we teach students to read with precision, rigor, and insight, we are truly handing over the key to the kingdom. Of all the subjects we teach reading is first among equals. Grounded in advice from effective classrooms nationwide, enhanced with more than 40 video clips, Reading Reconsidered takes you into the trenches with actionable guidance from real-life educators and instructional champions. The authors address the anxiety-inducing world of Common Core State Standards, distilling from those standards four key ideas that help hone teaching practices both generally and in preparation for assessments. This 'Core of the Core' comprises the first half of the book and instructs educators on how to teach students to: read harder texts, 'closely read' texts rigorously and intentionally, read nonfiction more effectively, and write more effectively in direct response to texts. The second half of Reading Reconsidered reinforces these principles, coupling them with the 'fundamentals' of reading instruction—a host of techniques and subject specific tools to reconsider how teachers approach such essential topics as vocabulary, interactive reading, and student autonomy. Reading Reconsidered breaks an overly broad issue into clear, easy-to-implement approaches. Filled with practical tools, including: 44 video clips of exemplar teachers demonstrating the techniques and principles in their classrooms (note: for online access of this content, please visit my.teachlikeachampion.com) Recommended book lists Downloadable tips and templates on key topics like reading nonfiction, vocabulary instruction, and literary terms and definitions. Reading Reconsidered provides the framework necessary for teachers to ensure that students forge futures as lifelong readers.

The Hanen Centre's newest guidebook brings to life the most current research on promoting children's emergent literacy in early childhood classrooms. With the goal of preparing preschool children to learn to read and write successfully, ABC and Beyond shows educators how they can build language and literacy learning naturally into everyday conversations and activities. By translating the most current research into user-friendly strategies for educators, ABC and Beyond addresses the various prerequisites of literacy, including vocabulary, story comprehension, decontextualized (abstract) language, print knowledge and phonological awareness. More than 120 color photographs and many easy-to follow charts with detailed, practical examples beautifully illustrate how the strategies are applied in real-life contexts.