Interactive Literacy for Toddlers and Preschoolers is a professional development course for Even Start instructors wishing to provide students with a strong foundation for learning. The material can also be useful in providing parents with the tools to interact with their children in ways that foster language skills and pre-reading skills. This course is a combination of class lectures, demonstrations, homework assignments, and various reading resources focused on helping toddlers and preschoolers develop print awareness, vocabulary, oral language comprehension, and oral language production.
Click here to learn how to use this course.
Shelley Gray
Shelley Gray is the instructor for Interactive Reading for Toddlers and Preschoolers. Dr. Gray is an associate professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science at Arizona State University. Her research in the Child Language and Literacy Lab http://chilll.asu.edu/ focuses on language and early literacy development and assessment and the treatment of language disorders in preschool and school age children. Her particular interests include vocabulary, early childhood curriculum development, and professional development training.
Wings on Words
Special thanks to the teachers, students, and parents at Wings on Words in Tucson, AZ, for demonstrating interacting reading techniques and allowing us to video tape their work. Wings on Words is a full-day program that provides an enriched, language-based curriculum for young children. The curriculum emphasizes oral language development because future success in reading and writing depends on a strong oral language foundation, and because good communication skills foster self-esteem and social success. Speech and language therapy is provided when needed as an integral part of the program.