This article addresses the characteristics of learners in the emergent stage of literacy development and describes two instructional practices that facilitate the development of the alphabetic principle and concept of word in text.

A hallmark of skilled reading is recognizing written words automatically from memory by sight. How beginning readers attain this skill is explained. They must acquire foundational knowledge, including phonemic segmentation, grapheme-phoneme knowledge, decoding, and spelling skills. When these skills are applied, spellings of words become bonded to…

A firm foundation in alphabet knowledge is critical for children learning to read. Under new literacy standards, letter name knowledge in preschool and kindergarten can function as a gatekeeper to the rest of the curriculum. Teachers need data about their students' alphabet knowledge early and often to plan differentiated instruction that moves…

The authors emphasize the importance of cultivating autonomous motivation for literacy in early childhood by supporting students' basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness while building foundational skills. Additionally, the authors highlight four key findings specific to early childhood (pre-K-2) literacy development:…

Providing preschoolers with rich writing experiences can help to lay a foundation for their later reading and writing success. Early writing experiences can be greatly enhanced by how preschool teachers answer young children's questions about writing and engage them in productive writing instruction. With appropriate scaffolding, early writing…

The authors describe how alphabet books teach so much more than just the ABCs. They provide excellent resources, allowing teachers to link and integrate the reciprocal processes of reading and writing. Encapsulated within the writing workshop framework, the authors use multigenre and multicultural alphabet books as anchor texts for a literacy…

In this article, a reading specialist tells her own story of making parental involvement work with kindergarten children in her school. Using a research-based instructional routine that involves parents and children in repeatedly reading a rhythmical text followed by a brief activity involving letter learning, phonemic awareness, and phonics, this…

Preschool is a complex place, and some preschool educators come to their classrooms without formal training in language and literacy pedagogy. As a result, they need practical guidance and support to ensure that they are facilitating literacy success. An area ripe for targeted language and literacy instruction is shared storybook reading. We have…

Presents some examples of bilingual and Spanish materials that can be prepared in the classroom based on current practical theories on the teaching of literacy. Describes ways to incorporate the alphabet into bilingual activities. Considers the use of an illustrated songbook. (SG)