50 Early Childhood Literacy Strategies is the answer to the early childhood teacher's dilemma of how to teach reading to children 3, 4, and 5 years of age as mandated by the state and national governments. This book presents an easy-to-use, easy-to-understand approach involving young children's own emergence into the world of speaking and listening, reading and writing. Teachers will quickly learn what picture books and activities to use with children, how to use them, and how children can benefit from their use. They will learn what to expect as young children's writing emerges from scribbles to pictures and real words. Finally, they will come to terms with the concept of emergent literacy as it appears in preschool children and evolves into conventional literacy as it is taught in elementary school. *A brief introduction to each strategy--Discussing the literacy concept associated with the strategy and what the particular strategy teaches. Sets the stage for students understanding of when, how, and with whom to use each strategy -- supplies the background needed to create additional strategies to reinforce each lesson.* Use of materials, content, and activities found in most early childhood classrooms--Blocks, chalk, crayons, computers, cooking, dolls, dramatics, finger paints, puppets, scissors, storytelling, etc. Makes the books' strategies immediately useful for prospective teachers' first classrooms -- allows these fifty ideas to serve as templates for hundreds of additional strategies. *Photos, children's art, and pupils' actual writing samples--Accompanying each strategy. Offer a genuine picture of each strategy's desired outcome -- illustrate real children's authentic literacy efforts and show actual children actively engaged in each strategy.

Table of Contents

Part I Children's Speaking/Listening 1. Emergent Literacy 2. Saying Words Aloud 3. Listening 4. Conversation 5. Dramatic Play 6. Bilingual Speaking 7. Rhyming, Alliteration 8. Chanting 9. Singing 10. Book Reading to Children 11. Storytelling 12. Flannel Boards 13. Story Reenacting 14 Puppets 15. Book Tapes, Video Tapes, DVDs 16. Assessing Speaking Progress Part II Children's Writing 17. Emergent Writing 18. Writing Center 19. Environmental Print 20. Alphabet 21. Names 22. Easel Painting 23. Caption Pictures 24. Finger Painting 25. Chalk, Crayons 26. Shared Writing 27. Invented Spelling 28. Journals, Literature Logs 29. Messages 30 Recipe Charts 31 Block Building 32. Assessing Children's Writing Part III Children's Reading 33. Emergent Reading 34. Book Center 35. Visual Literacy 36. Children Reading Books 37. Computer Books 38. Shared Reading 39. Book Buddies 40. Big Books 41. Large Font Words 42. Sound Words 43. Syllables 44. Predictable Books 45. Song Storybooks 46. Book Characters 47. Literacy Bags 48. Webs 49. Assessing Reading Progress 50. Words, Words, Words