This article provides an overview of the critical elements of emergent literacy, discusses specific strategies for using storybooks with preschoolers to facilitate language development and emergent literacy skills, and provides specific strategies for children learning English as a second language. Sample phonological awareness activities are also…

Describes how primary teachers can use decoding strategies within a literature-based, whole-language setting. A three-stage approach involves the book stage (real reading), the word stage (learning words), and the letter-sound stage (learning sounds). The article provides sample activities. (SM)

Integrating reading and writing at the primary level is important because writing and then reading back what has been written gives purpose to both, and the sense of overall purpose enhances reading while the sense of audience enhances writing. Another reason for starting this integration with beginning students is that writing creates a purpose…