Sharing high-quality storybooks and nonfiction books not only is enjoyable for young children and teachers—it is also a powerful way to build crucial literacy skills. This engaging guide provides effective strategies for selecting books and using read-alouds to develop children's oral language, vocabulary, concepts of print, alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness, and comprehension. Illustrated with rich examples from diverse classrooms, the book takes teachers step by step through planning and setting goals for read-alouds, as well as reflecting on each lesson to inform future instruction. Helpful planning templates can be reproduced for repeated use; the large-size format facilitates photocopying.

"Sharing high-quality storybooks and nonfiction books is not only enjoyable for young children and teachers--it is also a powerful way to build crucial literacy skills. This engaging guide provides effective strategies for selecting books and using read-alouds to develop children's oral language, vocabulary, concepts of print, alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness, and comprehension. Illustrated with rich examples from diverse classrooms, the book takes teachers step by step through planning and setting goals for read-alouds, as well as reflecting on each lesson to inform future instruction. Helpful planning templates can be reproduced for repeated use; the large-size format facilitates photocopying"-- Provided by publisher.

Preschool teachers and early childhood professionals know that storybook reading is important, but they may not know how to maximize its benefits for later reading achievement. This indispensable guide presents research-based techniques for using reading aloud to intentionally and systematically build children's knowledge of print. Simple yet powerful strategies are provided for teaching preschoolers about book and print organization, print meaning, letters, and words, all while sharing engaging, commercially available books. Appendices include a detailed book list and 60 reproducibles that feature activities and prompts keyed to each text.

The Creative Curriculum comes alive! This videotape-winner of the 1989 Silver Apple Award at the National Educational Film and Video Festival-demonstrates how teachers set the stage for learning by creating a dynamic well-organized environment. It shows children involved in seven of the interest areas in the The Creative Curriculum and explains how they learn in each area. Everyone conducts in-service training workshops for staff and parents or who teaches early childhood education courses will find the video an indispensable tool for explainin appropriate practice.

The reds, the yellows, and the blues all think they're the best in this vibrant, thought-provoking picture book from Arree Chung, with a message of acceptance and unity. In the beginning, there were three colors . . . Reds, Yellows, and Blues. All special in their own ways, all living in harmony—until one day, a Red says "Reds are the best!" and starts a color kerfuffle. When the colors decide to separate, is there anything that can change their minds? A Yellow, a Blue, and a never-before-seen color might just save the day in this inspiring book about color, tolerance, and embracing differences.

How do early childhood educators foster young children’s understanding of reading and writing during this emergent literacy period? Moreover, how can they nurture a love of reading and writing? With these two questions at its core, the revised edition of this bestselling resource provides: A comprehensive and updated overview of what literacy development looks like for children from birth through age 5; Instructional approaches that support robust early language, literacy, and content knowledge learning; Considerations for choosing and sharing materials and for designing the physical environment in ways that support language and literacy learning; Recommendations for developmentally appropriate books that engage children’s minds and imaginations; Authentic writing samples that showcase young children’s thinking around and explorations with mark making. Grounded in new research and drawn from the authors’ extensive experience, this book gives educators the tools they need to create and build on learning opportunities that will lead to thriving, motivated readers and writers.

How one activity can lead to lifelong benefits for your child: “Parents, teachers, and all who love children will be inspired.” —Amy Dickinson, New York Times bestselling author of Strangers Tend to Tell Me Things Longtime elementary school teacher Kim Jocelyn Dickson believes every child begins kindergarten with a lunchbox in one hand and an “invisible toolbox” in the other. In this book, she shares with parents the single most important thing they can do to foster their child’s future learning potential and nurture the parent-child bond that is the foundation for a child’s motivation to learn. Drawing on both neuroscientific research and her own experience as an educator, she concludes that the simple act of reading aloud has a far-reaching impact that few of us fully understand—and our recent, nearly universal saturation in technology has further clouded its importance.In The Invisible Toolbox, parents, educators, and early literacy advocates will discover:Ten priceless tools that fill their child’s toolbox when they read aloud to their childTools parents can give themselves to foster these gifts in their childrenPractical tips for how and what to read aloud to children through their developmental stagesDos and don’ts and recommended resources that round out all the practical tools a parent will need to prepare their child for kindergarten and beyondHow parents can build their own toolboxes so they can help their children build theirs