Expectations for accountability have led policy makers to create standards designed to educate children to their highest potential. In addition to k-12 standards, the Commonwealth of Virginia created Foundation Blocks for a state-sponsored preschool program called the Virginia Preschool Initiative. This study included assessment of Virginia's Foundation Blocks for Early Learning: Comprehensive Standards for Four-Year-Olds as they relate to theories of Piaget, Vygotsky, and Rogoff. This assessment included play, scaffolded instruction, emergent literacy, and spatial reasoning. The Foundation Blocks were examined to determine how they were interpreted and implemented by preschool classroom teachers. Using a case-study format, four volunteer teachers participated in three days of classroom observations, be interviewed, and complete a survey. Evidence showed that the standards were theoretically based, and the participating teachers' pedagogy included play, emergent literacy, and spatial reasoning. Scaffolded instruction was not observed. There were concerns about teachers' low expectations and low-level questioning techniques. / Ph. D.

My goal in undertaking this research was to contribute to strengthening kindergarten educational practices in Kuwait with particular focus on literacy development. I was interested in the instructional techniques, tools, methods, language activities that would make sense to Arabic kindergartners and help them learn the formal, written register (i.e., formal literary Arabic) required in Kuwait. To this end, I used part of my graduate studies in education visiting and observing several kindergarten classes in the United States. During those visits, I noted that storybook reading was given a great deal of attention. Storybook reading is the process by which the teacher shares the content of storybooks with students, while at the same time encouraging social interaction (reading, showing illustrations, and encouraging student participation and conversation). This early exposure to storybook reading appears to support early literacy for American school children. My aim in undertaking this study was to develop an appropriate and effective literacy program for young children in my country. Specifically, I wanted a case of literacy development and storybook reading that might reveal important patterns in teaching early literacy. I planned four research objectives: (1) to document and analyze a Head Start teacher's verbal explanation of literacy teaching and storybook reading; (2) to observe the teacher's practices with respect to literacy teaching and storybook reading; and (3) to examine the extent and nature of students' participation in classroom literacy activities including storybook reading. My method of data collection was ethnographic, incorporating participant observation and verbal exchanges. I used the two methods simultaneously. Participant observation (including field notes, jot notes, reflective journal, audio-tapes, video-tapes, pictures, and artifacts) gave me richer access to the internal dynamics of the storybook reading event. Verbal exchanges, including in-depth interviews and informal discussions, enabled me to examine the participants' perceptions of literacy and literacy events. In-depth interviews enabled me to probe for participants' explanation of any unusual observations. Informal discussion enabled me to probe certain situations that I did not anticipate, ask for explanations of things that just cropped up, and give the teacher and the students opportunities to share with me things they felt I should know. The Head Start teacher explained that literacy spans most other activities and is a part of every day life. According to her, literacy occurs naturally while children are engaged in everyday routines at home, school, or in the community. She added that children learn reading and writing long before formal instruction and that there is a connection between print and the visual symbols that surround it. The use of storybook reading, she said, helps children to develop a positive attitude to books and a global sense of the world. To help children acquire literacy, the teacher provides an appropriate physical environment, including storybook reading, interaction with others, extensive involvement in literacy activities, and a generous display of print. The teacher used a multi-method approach and stimuli before, during, and after reading the story. Storybook reading was used to increase children's access to books, introduce the children to book conventions, integrate literacy and other curricular activities, encourage and empower students to actively participate in their learning, and to encourage cultural appreciation, and intercultural sensitivity. The students played several important roles during storybook reading: listening, conversing, collaborating, making decisions, choosing the books to be read, making seating arrangements, and helping the teacher. The four focal children manifested different reading characteristics including play reading, reading awareness, reading skills, reading development, writing and art, writing play, writing awareness, and writing skills. The findings of this study indicate that storybook reading is not only a source of enjoyment but an important stepping-stone to other language skills and a great stimulus for creativity in young children. To extend the insights that I have gained from the study to my country, and as instructor in the Kindergarten Curriculum Instruction Department of the Kuwait Basic College of Education, I plan to model some of the most significant findings of the study in my teaching and teacher training activities. Aspects of the findings that I plan to model are: (a) integrated learning; (b) learner-centered education; (c) collaborative learning; (d) variations in method; and (e) student empowerment. In addition, I plan to implement a follow-up action research enabling my students to develop and implement a more child-centered, and more meaningful instructional practices in Kuwaiti kindergarten classrooms. Another way in which I plan to extend the benefits of this research to my country and other Arab-speaking countries is to publish this study in Arabic. / Ph. D.

<p>Detta examensarbete lyfter fram sju olika lärares kunskap om högläsning och på vilket sätt de medvetet använder sig av högläsning i sin undervisning. Avsikten är att lyfta fram hur pedagoger som undervisar yngre barn arbetar med att läsa högt för sina elever.</p><p> </p><p>Aktuell forskning kring grundläggandet av läs- och skrivutvecklingen påvisar betydelsen av att läsa högt för små barn. Undersökningens resultat visar att lärare upplever högläsning som ett bra och mångsidigt pedagogiskt redskap. Det framgår dock att de pedagoger med längst yrkeserfarenhet och högst utbildning är de som använder sig av högläsning på ett mer medvetet och komplext sätt. Därigenom synliggörs vikten av att pedagoger har kunskap om högläsningens användningsområden.</p><p>Pedagogernas insikter som kom fram under undersökningen har relaterats till forskning i ett jämförande perspektiv. I arbetet bearbetas egna hypoteser kring vad det är man kanske kan förbättra i undervisningen med högläsning som redskap i förhållande till forskningsrelaterade aspekter.</p><p>Läsaren kan ta del av litteraturstudien och undersökningsresultaten för att skapa sig en bild kring vilka av forskningsresultaten som fått genomslag i pedagogernas arbete.</p><p> </p> / <p>This examination project illustrates the knowledge and consciousness of seven separate teachers' concerning how to adopt reading aloud when teaching. The teachers results are related to research made in a comparative prospect.</p><p>Reading research stresses the importance of reading aloud to young children not only for pleasure but for a variety of reasons. The aim of this study is to learn how and why teachers read aloud to young children and if they are aware of the fact that reading aloud can be used for stimulating the development of word, language and reading comprehension. The result show that the most experienced and well educated teachers are those who use reading aloud not only for pleasure, but for above reasons, compared with less experienced and less educated teachers. Thus, this highlights the importance of having a deep understanding of how children can benefit from teachers' reading aloud.</p><p>The reader may take part of the compilation to get a deeper insight and deeper understanding of the result of this examination.</p> / Uppsatsen skrevs ursprungligen vid Institutionen för individ, omvärld och lärande (IOL) men har efter Lärarhögskolans sammanslagning med Stockholms universitet flyttats till Institutionen för utbildningsvetenskap med inriktning mot språk och språkutveckling (USOS).

English fluency is a strong predictor of later academic success in the U.S. (Espinosa, 2007) In fact, a child who enters kindergarten with weak English language skills is most at risk for academic failure and dropping out of school; while a child with strong home language (L1) skills is more likely to attain fluency in English (Espinosa, 2007). A large portion of young English learners are acquiring their first and second languages at the same time. It is important to young dual language learners (DLL) that research reveals the best ways to provide effective instruction which helps maintain the home language and supports acquisition of English. This study examined the effects of an early reading intervention on preschool-age DLL children’s early literacy skills. Phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge have been identified as skills that can transfer from L1 to English (L2) to enhance the acquisition of the second language among young children (Dickinson, 2004; Durgunoglu, Nagy, & Hancin-Bhatt, 1993). There is evidence of the effectiveness of shared-reading interventions to increase children’s oral language skills across languages, race/ethnicity, and SES. The current study embedded instruction in phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge in a group of interactive reading strategies known as Dialogic Reading (DR). The intervention was delivered in the children’s home language, Spanish. Children’s growth in emergent literacy skills in Spanish and in English was monitored using a single subject with multiple baselines across subjects design. Visual analysis of single subject graphs indicated gains across all participants. In addition, paired-samples t-tests showed significant growth between pre- and post-tests in both English and Spanish of participating children. The findings have implications for research, policy, professional practice, and home literacy practices.

A análise da literatura demonstra acentuado interesse no conhecimento de como acontece a aprendizagem da leitura e da escrita, e como é possível contribuir para que seu ensino ocorra com fundamento na identificação das habilidades cognitivas e linguísticas subjacentes a essa aprendizagem. A perspectiva do letramento emergente considera que competências linguísticas, metalinguísticas e conhecimentos sobre a linguagem escrita, desenvolvidos precocemente nas crianças, antes de seu ingresso no ensino fundamental, podem facilitar o processo de alfabetização. Dessa forma, a etapa pré-escolar constitui um período particularmente propício para o desenvolvimento dessas competências e alguns programas educacionais vêm sendo desenvolvidos com essa finalidade. Este estudo visou investigar os efeitos do Programa DECOLE, voltado para o desenvolvimento das competências de letramento emergente, sobre as habilidades de consciência fonológica, conhecimento de letras, vocabulário e compreensão oral, de alunos da Educação Infantil. A metodologia utilizada contemplou um delineamento com pré-teste, intervenção e pós-testes 1 e 2. Participaram do estudo 37 crianças com idade média de 5,4 anos (DP = 3,6 meses), alunos de duas turmas do último ano de uma pré-escola pública do interior de São Paulo. Tanto no pré-teste quanto nos pós-testes foram aplicados testes para avaliar as seguintes habilidades de letramento emergente: consciência fonológica, vocabulário, compreensão oral e conhecimento de letras. Após o pré-teste, os participantes foram divididos, de forma balanceada em relação às habilidades avaliadas, em grupo 1 (G1) e grupo 2 (G2). Aos participantes alocados no G1 foi aplicado pela pesquisadora, durante o primeiro semestre letivo, o Programa DECOLE. Devido a uma greve de servidores municipais, com o G1 foram realizadas apenas 24 sessões de intervenção, tendo sido desenvolvido cerca de 50% do Programa. Nesse período, os alunos do G2 participaram somente das atividades de rotina, com as professoras. No início do segundo semestre letivo foi realizado o pós-teste 1 avaliando as mesmas habilidades de letramento emergente em todos os participantes. Em seguida, os alunos do G2 passaram pela intervenção, tendo sido possível desenvolver com esse grupo cerca de 90% do Programa, durante 38 sessões. Ao final da intervenção com o G2, novamente todos os participantes foram avaliados através das mesmas provas, durante o pós-teste 2. Os dados foram analisados quantitativamente, através de técnicas de análise estatística descritiva e inferencial, a fim de comparar o desempenho dos grupos, visando identificar as relações de causa e efeito entre as variáveis estudadas e a contribuição do Programa sobre as habilidades de letramento emergente consideradas. Os resultados obtidos no pós-teste 1 não mostraram diferenças significativas entre o G1 e o G2, embora o G1 tenha obtido resultados superiores ao G2 em todas as habilidades avaliadas, com exceção do teste de nomeação, utilizado para avaliar o vocabulário expressivo. Observaram-se, entretanto, no pós-teste 2, diferenças significativas a favor do G2 no desempenho em consciência fonológica e compreensão oral, sugerindo a eficácia do programa para o desenvolvimento dessas competências de letramento emergente / The analysis of the literature demonstrates a great interest in the knowledge of how reading and writing learning happens, and how it is possible to contribute to their teaching, based on the identification of the cognitive and linguistic abilities that underlie this learning. The emergent literacy perspective considers that the linguistics and metalinguistics skills and the knowledge about written developed by children before their entry into primary school can facilitate the literacy process. In this way, the preschool stage is a particularly propitious period for the development of these competencies and some educational programs have been developed for this purpose. This study aimed to investigate the effects of the DECOLE Program, aimed at the development of emerging literacy skills, on the phonological awareness, letter knowledge, vocabulary and oral comprehension of students in Early Childhood Education. The methodology used included the following stages: pre-test, intervention and post-tests 1 and 2. Participants were 37 children with a mean age of 5.4 years (SD = 3.6 months), students from two classes of the last year of a public pre-school in the interior of São Paulo. Both in the pre-test and in the post-tests there were assessed the following emergent literacy skills: phonological awareness, vocabulary, oral comprehension and letter knowledge. After the pre-test, the participants were divided, in a balanced way in relation to the skills evaluated, in group 1 (G1) and group 2 (G2). To the participants allocated in the G1 it was applied by the researcher, during the first semester, the DECOLE Program. Due to a municipal server strike, only 24 intervention sessions were carried out with the G1, and approximately 50% of the Program was developed. During this period, G2 students participated only in routine activities with the teachers. At the beginning of the second semester, post-test 1 was applied, evaluating the same emergent literacy skills in all participants. After that, the G2 students went through the intervention, and it was possible to develop about 90% of the program for 38 sessions. At the end of the G2 intervention, all participants were again evaluated through the same tests during post-test 2. Data were analyzed quantitatively using descriptive and inferential statistical analysis techniques to compare the performance of the groups, aiming to identify the causal relationships between the variables studied and the Program\'s contribution to the emerging literacy skills considered. The results obtained in post-test 1 did not show significant differences between G1 and G2, although G1 obtained superior results in all the skills evaluated, except for the naming test used to evaluate expressive vocabulary. However, in post-test 2, there were significant differences in favor of G2 in performance of phonological awareness and oral comprehension, suggesting the program\'s effectiveness in developing these emergent literacy skills

Este trabalho se enquadra na linha de Pesquisa em Psicologia da Educação e tem por interesse entender quais são as informações e dados relevantes que a Neurociência tem produzido para sustentar uma educação de qualidade para as crianças de 0 a 5 anos de idade, circunscrevendo, assim, o que se compreende como letramento emergente uma prática de leitura, escrita, escuta e multiplicidade de expressões linguísticas que compreendem um conjunto de códigos socialmente construídos a partir do referencial teórico e empírico neurobiológico. O interesse pelo tema provém das relações entre as áreas que investigam o cérebro e a aprendizagem da criança pequena, que são citadas, mas pouco discutidas no ambiente educacional e também no campo das ciências humanas no geral. A fundamentação consistiu na busca de alguns referenciais teóricos clássicos da Pedagogia (Comenius e Montessori), da Psicologia Cognitiva Educacional (Bruner e Gardner) e da Neurociência da leitura (Dehaene, Goswami, Gazzaniga, Kuhl, Luria, Morais, entre outros) a fim de elaborar uma investigação interdisciplinar com relação à aprendizagem dos aspectos linguísticos da criança pequena. Utilizamos como metodologia investigativa a revisão sistemática em três áreas do conhecimento (Educação, Psicologia Cognitiva e Neurociência). A identificação de variáveis comuns como, por exemplo, criança pequena, letramento emergente, pré-escola, aprendizagem, neurociência, neurologia, neuropsicologia e assim por diante possibilitou delimitar nossa pesquisa a um tema específico e fundamental nesse nível de ensino e nos anos subsequentes da escolarização. O letramento emergente pode ser investigado como uma práxis que envolve aspectos neurobiológicos, sociais, históricos e políticos. Uma nova perspectiva teórica é necessária para interligar de forma multidisciplinar os cuidados e as atividades educativas propostas voltadas para a primeira infância. Acreditamos que essa lacuna ou clivagem entre o conhecimento das ciências humanas e das ciências biológicas dificulta o surgimento de novas teorias e novos desenhos de pesquisa para aprofundar as relações sob uma perspectiva multidisciplinar do letramento na criança. Ao analisar uma parte da produção acadêmico-científica que circunscreve a elaboração do conhecimento sobre a criança pequena nos últimos anos, verificamos que existe a necessidade de novas teorias que fundamentem o encadeamento da perspectiva biológica às perspectivas culturais do letramento emergente, principalmente naquela que a investiga de forma multidisciplinar. Novas abordagens teóricas baseadas em evidências acadêmico-científicas são importantes para fundamentar uma práxis profícua dos educadores, pais e cuidadores e políticas públicas que relacionem aspectos complementares do cuidado, da educação plena à criança pequena e dos impactos do futuro na sociedade. / The present work comprises a research in the field of Psychology of Education, and aims at highlighting what relevant data and information Neuroscience has recently produced that could support quality education for children between the ages of 0 and 5 years. This study encompasses, therefore, from the theoretical and empirical point of view of Neurobiology, what has come to be known as emergent literacy understood here as reading, writing, listening, and a wide range of linguistic manifestations, all of which constitute a set of socially constructed codes. The interest in this subject comes from the relationships among different fields of study that have as objects the brain and the learning processes of small children. Such fields are mentioned, but rarely discussed in depth, in the educational environment, as well as in the more general field of Humanities. In order to investigate in a multidisciplinary fashion the learning processes related to the linguistic behaviors of small children, we took into consideration a number of classical and theoretical parameters from the fields of Pedagogy (Comenius and Montessori), Educational and Cognitive Psychology (Bruner and Gardner), and Neuroscience of Reading (Dehaene, Goswami, Gazzaniga, Kuhl, Luria, Morais, and others). The identification of common variables present in all of these sources key terms such as small children, emergent literacy, pre-school, learning process, Neuroscience, Neurology, Neuropsychology, and so on has made it possible to circumscribe our study to a specific theme, essential both to the pre-school level of teaching and to subsequent years of schooling. It is possible, then, to analyze emergent literacy as a praxis involving neurobiological, social, historical, and political, aspects. However, if we are to establish a multidisciplinary relationship between the care and the educational activities typical of early infancy, a new theoretical perspective is necessary. We believe that the knowledge gap between Humanities and Biology hinders the development of new theories and studies that could strengthen the relationship between these fields of study, in relation to a multidisciplinary approach to child literacy. In a selective analysis of recent academic and scientific studies on the development of small children, the need for new theories capable of substantiating the link between the biological and cultural aspects of emergent literacy was evident, especially when it comes to multidisciplinary investigations. New theoretical approaches based on academic and scientific evidence are important to properly guide public policies, as well as to ground a praxis that will allow parents, caregivers and educators to efficiently integrate complementary aspects of the care and full education of small children, with an eye towards their future impact on society.

Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo investigar a influência do letramento emergente no processo de alfabetização em um grupo de alunos que cursaram o primeiro ano do Ensino Fundamental de nove anos em uma escola municipal em Santa Isabel. Tendo constatado a necessidade da recuperação lúdica do letramento emergente para estas crianças, buscamos desenvolver atividades que contemplassem habilidades orais, escritas e leitoras, sempre tendo em mente, o desenvolvimento do letramento que permeava tais habilidades. Com a crença no fato de ser o letramento fundamental na constituição de um cidadão que se posicione criticamente na sociedade, desenvolvemos, por meio de uma pesquisa-ação, um trabalho que buscou ampliar o letramento dos alunos, possibilitando uma passagem pelo processo de alfabetização da maneira mais natural possível, tencionando amenizar as eventuais diferenças existentes devido a fatores sócio-culturais, quando do ingresso destes alunos no Ensino Fundamental. Para tanto, lançamos mão de recursos como: diário de bordo com anotações detalhadas sobre o desenrolar das atividades ao longo das aulas, questionários sócio-culturais com as famílias dos alunos, e entrevistas com algumas mães, além de portfólios e atividades diagnósticas recolhidas ao longo dos anos letivos de 2009 e 2010. Autores como Bakhtin, Vigotsky, Freire, Lahire, Ferreira, Colello, Kishimoto, Soares, Semeghini-Siqueira, entre outros, constituem a fundamentação teórica a partir da qual esta pesquisa foi desenvolvida. A análise dos dados aponta para o fato de que, quando uma criança tem a possibilidade de experimentar eventos de letramento em sua primeira infância, essas vivências a conduzem por um processo de alfabetização sem grandes dificuldades, entretanto, a análise dos dados também nos indica que, embora este processo se desenvolva quase que naturalmente, alguns sujeitos da pesquisa fogem a ele, o que nos permite vivenciar uma riqueza de possibilidades própria da diversidade humana. / This research aims to show the influence of literacy in the process of emergent literacy in a group of students from the first level of the elementary school in Santa Isabel. Based on the search for the playful recovery of emergent literacy, we seek to develop recreational activities addressed to writing, reading and oral skills, always bearing in mind the development of the inner literacy skills. With the belief that literacy is crucial in the formation of a citizen who is critically positioned in society, We tried to developed through an action-search, a work that aimed to improve the literacy of students in order to allow a passage through the process of acquiring literacy the most natural way possible, seeing minimized any differences due to existing socio-cultural factors, previous to the admission of students in elementary school. For this purpose we used features such as diary book with detailed notes on the conduct of activities throughout the school, socio-cultural research with the students families and interviews with some mothers, as well as portfolios and diagnostic activities collected over the academic years of 2009 and 2010. Authors such as Bakhtin, Vigotsky, Freire, Lahire, Ferreira, Colello, Kishimoto, Soares, Semeghini-Siqueira among others, constitute the scope on which this study was developed. The data analysis points to the fact that when a child has the chance to experience literacy events in his early childhood, these experiences lead to a process of literacy without major difficulties, however, the data analysis also indicates that, although this process develops almost naturally, some research subjects flee to it, allowing us to experience the wealth possibilities of human diversity itself.

No description available.

Researchers have long argued the importance of shared book reading and its potential impact on future reading growth. With the increasing popularity of e-books and the introduction of interactive iPad books, more and more parents are sharing books with their children in digital format. This may have a direct impact on the nature of the interactions that occur during young children's early book sharing experiences. This multiple-case study examined the nature of the interactions between six mother-child dyads as they read a story on an iPad compared with the interactions that happened during a traditional book reading. A coding system was developed to categorize behaviors during the reading sessions. The categories included (a) meaning talk, (b) text and print talk, (c) technology talk, and (d) the nature of the affective climate.The results of this study indicate that mother-child traditional read-alouds and digital iPad read-alouds are different experiences. During digital readings there was an increase in the number of vocabulary-related (a subcategory of meaning) interactions but a decrease in the number of interactions related to text and print. The results also showed that as the dyad shared a digital storybook, they engaged in many interactions about the technological elements of the iPad texts, which may be important to the development of digital literacies in young children. The findings also indicate that a child is more engaged with digital texts than with traditional texts, which is important because engagement is an essential component in literacy development. However, sometimes the child's increased engagement with the digital texts resulted in both members of the dyad being less sensitive to the other. Digital storybook reading is a relatively new experience for many parents and thus, they may not know how to interact with their children in ways that promote the development of traditional and digital literacies.

Many American preschool children enter kindergarten without the emergent literacy skills needed to learn to read. To address this problem, this multicase qualitative study investigated the emergent literacy practices at Steiner Waldorf-inspired and Reggio Emilia-inspired schools. The research questions focused on how alternative preschool philosophies help staff cultivate emergent literacy skills in young children. The conceptual framework came from Piaget's cognitive development theory, and Vygotsky's sociocultural theory. The study included eight participants from two Reggio Emilia-inspired and two Steiner Waldorf-inspired preschools. Data were collected through open-ended interviews, observations, and analyses of de-identified student work, then subjected to thematic cross-case analysis. Regarding the role of the two philosophies in the development of emergent literacy skills, findings indicated that teachers cited the philosophies leading them to honor their students, focus on the development of the whole child, and act as facilitators for children's oral language development through play. Regarding how program staff apply their program philosophies to creating emergent literacy through the learning environment key, the findings showed that both Steiner Waldorf-inspired and Reggio Emilia-inspired staff viewed the environment as another teacher. Reggio Emilia-inspired staff carefully organized the indoor and outdoor learning environments to provide numerous opportunities for authentic experiences and play, while Waldorf-inspired staff was more likely to draw from nature itself to create opportunities for imaginary play. When children start school with a solid foundation in emergent literacy, they are more likely to be successful readers.