Pages: 436 Price: $49.95 ISBN: 978-1-55766-780-9
Building Language Through the Years: The Preschool Early Literacy Curriculum is a valuable resource for the facilitation of language and literacy skill development for any preschool classroom. The focus on vocabulary in each of the lessons helps to address a key feature of literacy development that is often overlooked in other curricula. This emphasis is supported by a review of research included in the text with specific suggestions for teachers to follow to maximize the vocabulary development and subsequent learning taking place in their classrooms. The authors also provide definitions and descriptions of the teachers' roles in using the Building Language Through the Years curriculum, focusing on the need for assessment, preparation of the physical aspects of the learning environment, appropriate lesson planning, implementation of the lessons, and the importance of both explicit and opportunistic instruction to scaffold literacy learning.
Of note, the curriculum integrates as enrichment words more than 60% of the 1000 words used in conversation on a daily basis. Weekly language concept suggestions encompass language and literacy development and general cognitive development as well. Similarly, the Building Language Through the Years curriculum provides for socio-emotional development as well as early math and science skills, providing seamless assimilation of development of these concepts throughout the curriculum.
The introduction includes a table of Head Start domains related to language and literacy development, indicators for the domain, and how the domain is addressed through the use of this curriculum. Additional chapters provide helpful tables highlighting the skills used by successful kindergartners in a variety of literacy domains that are also addressed by the curriculum. This sets a framework for the curriculum while also drawing attention to the importance of implementation of the content.
The curriculum was developed with a typical early childhood classroom in mind, emphasizing the role of the curriculum within the existing preschool schedule. The curriculum supports the typical classroom function by providing suggestions for preliteracy activities as well as using dramatic play, group time, shared book reading, art, and music/rhythm activities suggestions for each day of the week. This curriculum highlights not only the importance of play in developing literacy skills, but it also helps to ensure the integration of language and literacy development in areas of early childhood education settings that can often go neglected. Most importantly, explicit information related to the instruction of language is provided, including techniques such as repeat-model-expand, think- and talk-alouds and the use of open-ended questions. Suggestions for and examples of using each technique are further elaborated to maximize teacher interactions with children.
There are 42 themed units included. Each unit begins with a weekly schedule that includes the language concepts of the week as well as the specific domains and abbreviated descriptions of activities within those domains. A bulleted list of components of the week's lesson is provided for teachers, with a brief research citation linking the activities with research-based practice and an additional list of aspects of the lesson that teachers have found through implementation (based on a previous pilot study). Antecedent pages provide more specific information for each activity as well as space for teacher notes, with a final page consisting of a one-page newsletter for parents.
Suggestions for working with parents through both sharing classroom activities and encouraging reinforcement of learning include specific suggestions for activities parents and children can enjoy at home. They will help parents realize the value of their role as the child's first and most important teacher. While a parent component is typical of many curricula of this nature, the explicit suggestions and the predominant theme of co-teaching offered here are a reflection of recent research suggesting the need for cooperation between home and school to develop language and literacy.
The Building Language Through the Years Curriculum Forms allow teachers to track the progress of individual children and include space for individualization of plans. Forms include the Teacher Observation Scale for Classroom Behavior providing a mechanism to track individual progress. This provides a critical instrument for differentiating learning while also empowering a teacher to track and monitor the progress of each student. A Table Talk Tally Sheet allows teachers to track conversations among children and adults, including an observation summary to note words and sentences heard within the conversations. A Parent Self-Observation Form further encourages the integration of parents into the curriculum, while a Teacher Self-Assessment form enables teachers to note the areas in which they can further develop to meet the needs of the children they teach. These forms are not only useful, they underscore the deliberate nature of language and literacy development activities and capitalize on opportunistic moments for learning within preschool classrooms.
A list of suggested books and music is alphabetized by title in an index at the end, providing a quick and easily used reference. The chapters preceding the lessons are lengthy, yet provide a rationale for both the curriculum and its components as well as a framework for successful integration in the classroom. The authors also include the results of the comparison pilot study which suggests the curriculum was effective for the participants in the pilot study, but caution the need for additional research and further evaluation.
Overall, Building Language Through the Years is a helpful reference that can be used in any preschool classroom. Lybolt, Armstrong, Techmanski, and Gottfred have provided a practical set of lessons to develop language and literacy in the preschool classroom. The use of deliberate planning and careful implementation of lessons is based on noted research in emergent literacy development and provides an appropriate framework for the text.
MSU is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution