While research consistently demonstrates that young children learn best through play and social interactions, this developmental insight is not often reflected in current classroom curricula. Through action research, I examined how a play-based kindergarten environment could impact student writing and writing engagement. This article specifically…

This article explores learning through modes of signification in literacy activity books for early childhood learners in Kenya. These modes of signification are important for the cognitive and social development of children. Early childhood education in Kenya aims to prepare children for primary school by building foundational skills in a…

Engaging in frequent, meaningful conversation during the early years of schooling is foundational for children's literacy development. Specifically, developing oral language through daily conversations is essential for language comprehension, and eventually, reading comprehension. In this article, we discuss how teachers can use the…

In recent years, there has been a special interest in promoting literacy learning in early childhood education programs. It is presumed that teaching literacy early can ensure better literacy outcomes in later years. Currently, in a renewed effort to improve children's literacy learning through science of reading supported practices, most states…

Making personal connections to words is a strategy that can bolster young students' vocabulary learning. The personal connections strategy involves teacher-initiated prompts that propel teacher-student conversations that connect students' experiences with new word learning. In this article, we draw from complementary theoretical frameworks,…

In primary-grade classrooms, young children are expected to participate in rich conversations as they build their speaking and listening skills. One way to support students' success with these types of conversations is to explicitly teach them academic conversation skills. Academic conversations are intentional, focused on school-related topics,…

Shared book reading is a common and effective way to support vocabulary knowledge. However, it is not the only pedagogy for supporting this learning goal. We propose a "toolbox" of activities that teachers can use to foster vocabulary acquisition in young children. We first discuss the science behind why these activities are effective…

Question asked in a preschool/primary teacher PD session on read-alouds: "After our Family Night presentation on home read-alouds, we got so many questions from families and caretakers. How can we give follow-up support?" This teaching guide suggests three simple ideas for supporting parent home-read-alouds with preschool, kindergarten,…

This article (a) explores the experience of an early childhood teacher researcher as she intentionally uses interactive read-alouds to promote social justice and to encourage critical consciousness in her preschool classroom and (b) offers guidance for educators to embark on their own social justice journey. Over the course of a 2-year study, the…

Although development of young children's vocabulary knowledge is critical for their literacy, it often is neglected in classrooms, especially those pressed for time. In this article we explore a literacy coach's implementation of SAIL (Survey, Analyze, Interpret, Link), an instructional framework that integrates academic vocabulary (AV)…

Young children's meaning-focused skills are foundational for reading comprehension and begin to develop prior to formal reading instruction. In this article, we argue for the importance of supporting meaning-focused skills in early childhood classrooms. We describe authentic, real-life examples of engaging preschool children in activities that…

In this manuscript we show how readalouds can significantly enrich student vocabulary and comprehension by demonstrating enhancements that will foster student learning and language development. We anchor our examples to empirical evidence demonstrating that the content of a readaloud (i.e., the what we teach) as well as the quality of the…

Supporting early writing skills in pre-kindergarten lays an important foundation for later writing achievement as well as reading achievement. Specifically, encouraging children to write affords teachers the opportunity to provide scaffolds to improve spelling development. Teachers, however, tend to provide more support than necessary to guide…

A third-grade educator and university researcher collaborated to develop an after-school virtual book club curriculum for students during the pandemic. Third-grade students were encouraged to explore social justice issues prevalent in their community first by reading relevant children's books, doing research, and collaborating to develop potential…

This article shares a case study of a classroom of multicultural and multilingual children in an early childhood center to explore how iPad apps can support young children in learning English as an additional language. Situated in Sydney, Australia, this study found that iPad apps have the potential to promote 4- and 5-year-old children's language…