The authors describe their resources for raising awareness and encouraging positive water behaviours among young children. The DRY (Drought Risk and You) project brought together a multidisciplinary team to create a research-informed storybook and teachers' notes for 7- to 11-year-olds. This article takes a brief look at the book and reflects on…

Assistive technology enables young children with disabilities to more effectively access their environment, facilitating the development of social-emotional, communicative, and cognitive skills. Research indicates that when service providers make decisions about assistive technology, they are more likely to choose low-tech options over high-tech…

Good literacy instruction begins with immersing children in diverse texts--educators need to marinate students in literature so that, over time, it soaks into their consciousness and, eventually, into their writing. In this article, the author describes her experiences with a writing workshop for the 5- and 6-year-old children in her class. She…

Vocabulary instruction is a critical component of early language and literacy programs. Vocabulary skills in the early elementary school years are strong predictors of later reading achievement and there is a correlation between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension. Children who have limited vocabulary in kindergarten are at high risk of…

Early encounters with environmental print, words, and other graphic symbols found in children's surroundings are among their first concrete exposures to written language. These experiences: (1) provide an introduction to making meaning of abstract symbols; and (2) offer children their first opportunity to make sense of the world through print. As…

The children's literature market has experienced enormous growth in recent years, providing teachers with an abundance of resources with which to teach reading. High-quality informational texts abound. Yet, teachers often are uncertain about how to select appropriate informational texts to use with younger readers when including them in…

The overarching goal to create life-long learners who are enthusiastic readers requires a two-pronged approach: (1) enhancing dispositions; and (2) simultaneously teaching reading skills. This approach is powerfully portrayed in the children's book, "Thank You, Mr. Falker" (Polacco, 1998). This article explores how teachers of young children can…

Well-informed teachers of young children recognize the importance of children's social development. The development of social skills lays a critical foundation for later academic achievement as well as work-related skills. Social development is such a key issue with young children that a number of methods to address social skills have been…

The process of creating handmade books with children is a great way to experience communication through art and words. One of the important literacy skills children need to learn is "concepts of print." These include the basic understanding of what a book is, the ability to recognize the front and back covers, and the capacity to turn the pages…

Activities and teaching methods for involving children (especially young children) in literature are presented in order to establish positive attitudes towards reading. Ideas are provided for use with wordless books, patterned or repetitive books, books organized around a theme, and picture books. The activities, each related to specific…

Noting that the terms "Native American" and "American Indian" are both legitimately used to refer to the indigenous people of North America, this digest identifies stereotypes about Native Americans that children gain from media portrayals and classroom role playing, and suggests strategies for teachers to use to counter…

Noting that a creative approach to early childhood education allows teachers to reinforce the foundation of achievement by encouraging and expanding upon children's play activities, this book provides teacher-developed ideas and strategies for creating learning communities in the early childhood classroom. The beginning chapter introduces creative…

Intended to help early childhood educators examine ways in which guidance can be infused into daily instruction, this manual aims to enable teachers to act as facilitators in the guidance process without adding a new assignment to an already busy schedule. Section A describes the integration of five guidance strands into the early childhood…

Noting that the conflicts arising daily for young children provide an opportunity for adults to model and teach skills for handling conflict peacefully, this guide provides tips for preventing unnecessary conflict, offers "first aid" for conflict moments, and provides resources for addressing common situations that can cause conflict.…

Noting that the early enjoyment of reading and writing provides a foundation for a lifetime of ongoing learning, this book details a literacy curriculum for preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. Chapter 1 describes the stages of writing development and discusses how early childhood teachers can facilitate emergent reading and writing. Chapter…