Families face adverse experiences in gentrified urban areas, including dangerous living conditions, eviction, and homelessness. Parents and caregivers often work long hours to avoid these outcomes, leaving children with reduced home literacy interactions lacking necessary letter knowledge for kindergarten. This study examines the effectiveness of direct instruction literacy methods for prekindergarteners in gentrified urban areas. Similar direct instruction methods in preschools have shown significant letter knowledge gains for kindergarten readiness. This qualitative study examined multiple observations of children's letter knowledge skills, and several hours of semistructured interviews with teachers and parents. Over an eight-week period, the observational data revealed how children identified letters naturally at play. In both classrooms, 97% of all letter observations were in a conversation with a teacher, 54.3% of observations were children identifying letter sounds, and 62.9% of children demonstrated letter knowledge mastery. When interviewed, teachers unanimously agreed the "Big Day for PreK" curriculum was effective and that children enjoyed the rhyming games immensely. Parent interviews revealed positive views on the Asbury Park School District and confirmed children using letter knowledge in the home. These optimistic results on letter instruction for our youngest learners may shed light on the inequity in this area, in which adverse childhood experiences are associated with fewer literacy interactions in the home. This this study hopes to promote the belief that all children deserve an equitable and high-quality literacy education, regardless of their race, religion, or financial background. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]